CompareMyIncome

Insights

Has pay kept up with prices since 2015?

Measured against 2015, pay rates had risen 32% by the June quarter 2026. Prices had risen 37% over the same time. By the September quarter 2026, prices were 39% above their 2015 level.

  • Pay rates (Wage Price Index)
  • Prices (Consumer Price Index)
90100110120130140150201520172019202120232025Pay 132Prices 139
Both indexes rebased so their 2015 average is 100. Quarterly. Sources: ABS Wage Price Index Table 1 (total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, all sectors) and ABS Consumer Price Index Table 17 (All groups, Australia).

Prices have been ahead of pay rates in every quarter since the March quarter 2022. When prices rise faster than pay, the same pay buys less.

What the Wage Price Index measures

The Wage Price Index tracks the pay rate for the same jobs over time. It leaves out raises from promotions or changing jobs, so many people's own pay grew faster than the index. It measures hourly pay rates, so changes in hours worked don't show up.

Check your own pay

Enter what you earned in an earlier year and what you earn now.

Has my pay kept up?