Average salary in Chile 2026: CLP 962,945 net a month

A net figure for everyone in work

Most countries publish gross pay for employees. Chile's headline is different on two counts. It is net: the employee's pension (AFP) and health deductions are already taken out. And it covers all employed persons, including own-account workers and employers, not only salaried staff. So it is not directly comparable with gross employee averages in Argentina or Peru, and it is not GDP per capita or household income, which are different measures.

The mean of CLP 962,945 is 1.42 times the median of CLP 680,000, a wide spread. Men averaged CLP 1,062,864 and women CLP 832,566, a 21.7% gap. Salaried employees earned more than the overall figure: CLP 1,019,104 in the private sector and CLP 1,321,228 in the public sector.

Only three regions came in above the national mean: Antofagasta at CLP 1,196,754, the Santiago Metropolitan Region at CLP 1,102,043 and Magallanes at CLP 1,074,556. INE did not list the others in the release, and it gave occupational groups rather than an industry table.

Average salary in Chile by region

Average salary in Chile by industry

What employing someone in Chile costs

Employer contributions apply to gross taxable pay (remuneración imponible), so start from the contract salary, not the INE net figure. The part we can price with confidence is the employer pension contribution under Ley 21.735: 3.5% from August 2026, which the Subsecretaría de Previsión Social guide says includes 1.5% for disability and survivor insurance (SIS); we have not confirmed whether a separate SIS premium still applies. On each CLP 1,000,000 of gross pay that is CLP 35,000 a month. The rate steps up every August: 4.25% in 2027, then 5.0%, 5.7%, 6.4%, 7.1%, 7.8% and 8.5% in 2033. The taxable base is capped at 90 UF a month from February 2026, a figure we read in a trade-body summary citing the Superintendencia de Pensiones.

Employer unemployment insurance and the work-accident mutual come on top; their rates were not confirmed in our research, so the 3.5% is a floor, not the total. The Chile employer of record page covers severance and notice.

An employer of record (EOR) handles AFP, health and insurance filings for a monthly fee: list prices checked October 16, 2026 run from $99 (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster), and Deel charges $599. On a salary near the Chilean median, the fee is a big share of the total, so compare EOR fees by provider and the cost index.

Minimum wage and working hours

The monthly minimum income (ingreso mínimo mensual) is CLP 553,553 gross for workers aged 18 to 65 from May 1, 2026 (Ley 21.830), and CLP 412,938 for those under 18 or over 65. A CPI adjustment follows on January 1, 2027. Because the minimum is gross and the INE median is net, the two do not compare one to one. The legal work week fell to 42 hours on April 26, 2026 and will reach 40 hours in 2028. More on our Chile minimum wage page.

Neighbors for comparison: the Argentine RIPTE average and average pay in Peru. Providers are scored in our EOR rankings.