What Is the Average Salary in Perth?
The short answer: average full-time earnings in Perth sit above the national average, largely because Western Australia's resources sector pulls the top of the distribution upward. The average is a poor guide to what you personally would earn — the median and the occupation-specific figures are far more useful.
Why the Perth average runs high
Western Australia's economy is unusually concentrated. Mining, oil and gas, and the engineering and maintenance work that supports them pay well above equivalent roles in other sectors, and they employ a large share of the state's full-time workforce.
That pulls the mean up without moving what a Perth retail assistant or administrator earns. If you are not in or adjacent to resources, the state average overstates your likely pay — which is why "average salary" figures so often feel wrong to the people reading them.
The average versus the median
Averages are dragged upward by high earners. A site superintendent on $250,000 offsets several workers on $60,000 in the arithmetic, but not in reality. Median earnings — the midpoint, where half earn more and half earn less — describe a typical worker far better, and the median always sits below the mean in WA.
When you see a Perth salary figure quoted, check which one it is. They are not interchangeable.
What people actually earn, by occupation
Occupation is a much better predictor than any state average:
- Registered Nurse — around $92,000 average, $72,000 graduate to $130,000 senior
- Electrician — around $100,000, rising to $160,000 on FIFO rosters
- Mining Engineer — around $150,000, up to $250,000 senior
- Accountant — around $92,000 with CPA or CA
- Chef — around $76,000, higher on remote site catering
- Aged Care Worker — around $67,000
- Truck Driver — around $82,000, more for MC road train work
Full breakdowns by experience level are in our Australian salary guides.
The three things that move Perth pay most
1. Roster
The FIFO premium is the single largest factor in WA. The same trade qualification is worth $40,000–$60,000 more per year on a fly-in fly-out roster, with accommodation, meals and flights provided on top.
2. Tickets and licences
In the trades, specific qualifications unlock specific pay bands — high voltage switching, hazardous areas, coded welding, heavy vehicle licence classes. These move pay more than years of experience do.
3. Regional versus metropolitan
Regional and remote postings carry district allowances and often subsidised housing. WA Country Health Service nursing roles and remote teaching positions both pay materially more than their Perth equivalents.
How to find out what you should be earning
Look up your specific occupation rather than any state average, compare against the experience band that matches you, and check what is currently advertised — live job ads are the most current signal available. Browse jobs in Perth to see what employers are offering right now.
Figures are indicative and vary by employer, experience, roster and qualifications.
Hiring in Perth? Post a job from $29.