Average salary in Singapore 2026: SGD 5,775 median a month

Why the SGD 5,775 includes CPF

MOM counts employer CPF as part of income from work. So to compare SGD 5,775 with a salary offer, take the employer share out. For a citizen or permanent resident aged 55 or under, the employer contributes 17%:

• Gross wage: SGD 5,775 / 1.17 = SGD 4,935.90
• Employer CPF at 17%: SGD 839.10
• Employee CPF at 20%, deducted from the wage: SGD 987.18
• Pay before income tax: SGD 3,948.72

This is an illustration: the median covers workers of all ages, and older workers carry lower CPF rates. The ordinary wage ceiling for CPF is SGD 8,000 a month from January 1, 2026, well above these numbers. The figure covers residents only (citizens and PRs), excluding full-time National Servicemen; foreign employees on work passes are not in it and do not pay CPF.

How the median has moved, and the mean

MOM's June median, including employer CPF, has climbed each year: SGD 5,070 in 2022, SGD 5,197 in 2023, SGD 5,500 in 2024 and SGD 5,775 in 2025, up 13.9% over three years. MOM also publishes a quarterly mean for all employed residents, full-time and part-time, including employer CPF but excluding bonuses: SGD 6,442 in the fourth quarter of 2025. The mean is 1.12 times the median. We have no regional or industry breakdown from the table we read.

Cost to employ at the median

Because the median already contains the employer's 17% CPF, the statutory monthly cost of a resident employee at that level is close to SGD 5,775, plus the Skills Development Levy (a small levy whose rate was not in our research) and any benefits. Bonuses are not statutory. For a foreign hire on an Employment Pass, there is no CPF at all, so the same SGD 4,935.90 wage costs about that amount. The Singapore employer of record page covers notice periods and leave.

An employer of record (EOR) adds its own fee in US dollars: $99 a month (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster) at list prices checked October 16 and 18, 2026, with Deel at $599. Rank providers in our EOR scores and compare employer costs in the country index.

No minimum wage, but a pay floor for some

Singapore has no general statutory minimum wage. Firms that hire Work Permit or S Pass holders must pay local staff at least the Local Qualifying Salary of SGD 1,800 a month for full-time work (SGD 10.50 an hour part time) for them to count fully toward the foreign-worker quota, and sector Progressive Wage Model ladders set basic pay in cleaning and other listed sectors. The median wage of SGD 4,935.90 is 2.74 times the LQS. Details are on the Singapore pay floor page. For a regional benchmark, see Hong Kong's median wage or average pay in Malaysia.