Educated 40 Y/O S’poreans earn a median of over S$9000. How much should you make at your age?

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. Data sourced from the Ministry of Manpower.

Median salary across the entire resident labour force in Singapore was last reported to have hit S$5,500 in 2024 (including employer’s CPF contributions).

That figure, however, is entirely meaningless to most Singaporeans, as it includes thousands of people that you can’t really relate to—from teenagers making a quick buck on the side to the elderly helping their families in exchange for some pocket money addition to their pensions.

It says nothing about the real pay in the economy that you should expect at your specific age and education level.

Since around 60% of younger Singaporeans attend university and 70% or more end up with a career in the PMET category (Professionals, Managers, Executives & Technicians), it makes sense to look at how these groups fare in the labour market to gauge the earning potential of most Singaporeans entering and going through the labour force today—at their prime age, without the figures being distorted by those not yet in or out of regular employment.

Who makes the most? When do your earnings peak? What should they be at your current age to stay above average? We have the answers.

Are you at your peak yet?

We all strive to earn ourselves a better life, and often enviously look at those who already have more. But the reality is that good times are coming for most of us, too—it just takes some time.

Unsurprisingly, our earning potential peaks once we collect the necessary experience and climb up the career ladder, while still being young enough to understand the world around us, and not yet devoid of youthful energy—that is in our 40s.

This is true for all Singaporeans and the PMET subset alike, with salaries peaking around the mid to late 40s, when they reach a median of around S$7,500 for all, and over S$9,000 for PMETs, before gradually tapering off towards retirement.

The median, of course, is the middle value, which means that half of the people in that age group make more and half make less. So, you’re above average if you exceed that amount—this is what you might ambitiously aim for.

But what’s interesting is that the PMET premium over the entire economy is relatively small in the early years (in the range of around 10 to 15%) but then proceeds to grow with age. This is likely due to the lack of career opportunities in more manual, clerical jobs, where you top out your earning capabilities sooner.

It may also be due to the burden of the workload, which is lower for office jobs, allowing people to stay close to their professional peak for longer.

Education pays very well

Simply pursuing tertiary education is not enough. To make significantly more money, you really have to get a university degree. The gulf between a diploma or other professional qualification and a degree is enormous.

Starting with an already hefty 50% premium at the very outset, in your late 20s, to practically twice your earnings later in life.

Of course, as these are median figures, it doesn’t mean you couldn’t make a comparable amount of money, but it is demonstrably much, much harder. And most people do not. In fact, as you can see, degree holders reach their peak earnings in the early 50s, with half of them hitting S$10,000 in monthly earnings then.

Moreover, these amounts show that unless you have a degree, you can’t actually even hit the national median of S$5,500 at any age! It really is the case of university or bust.

The good news is that, as I said, most younger Singaporeans enrol in local (and rather excellent) universities and enter more advanced PMET jobs, lifting the entire nation as a result. Older generations weren’t nearly as well educated and didn’t have as many career opportunities, which is why national averages, which include them, distort the full picture of transforming Singapore and the huge leap the society is making before our eyes.

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