Shanghai is the highest-paying city in China.
Today we’re breaking down multiple sources of public, local data to see what the average salary level really is in this megacity.
So let’s get to it! A dive into some 2024 Shanghai salary data…
💡 Why not use data from international sources, you ask? When it comes to salary figures in China, we’ve found a big discrepancy in the data provided by most outlets.
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Average Salary in Shanghai: Government Data
Human Resources Bureau Stats
In July 2024, Shanghai’s Human Resources & Social Security Bureau[1] released its most recent data on urban salaries. Here are the figures they put out:
Average annual income: ¥147,684 RMB ($20,725 USD)
Average monthly income: ¥12,307 RMB ($1,727 USD)
Data considerations:
Coming from an official government bureau, this release uses data reported by firms for Social Insurance purposes.
In practice, firms may compensate employees in other ways that are not considered in these figures. Examples of this include things like commissions, bonuses, alternative perks, and offering extra social insurances.
Shanghai Historic Salary Growth
In 2023, the average monthly salary was ¥12,183 RMB ($1,718 USD), an increase of 1.02% from the previous year into 2024.
However, if we look further back into the bureau’s reports, the average wage in Shanghai has risen rapidly over the last 10 years:
Average Salary in Shanghai: Local HR Data
Shanghai Salary Data (Zhilian Zhaopin)
Local HR giant Zhaopin regularly releases salary data for 38 core cities across China. The above photo shows these top cities’ average and median salary levels in Q2 2024.
Shanghai has held the top spot on this list for quite some time and comes in at the #1 spot again with an average monthly salary of ¥13,486 RMB ($1,879 USD)/month. The median salary for Zhaopin’s data set is ¥11,501 RMB ($1,614 USD)/month.
Shanghai Salary Compared to Other Top Cities
Beijing followed with an average monthly salary of ¥13,438 RMB ($1,872 USD)/month.
Shenzhen ranked third with an average monthly salary of ¥12,774 RMB ($1,780 USD)/month.
Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Ningbo round out the top 8.
We also have median salary data here and can see the median salary of the top 3 cities – Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen – exceeded ¥10,000 RMB ($1,393 USD)/month.
It’s also interesting to note that there is a 59% difference in the median salary between the first (Shanghai) and last (Harbin) cities on this list.
Related Resources:
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