ns typically see their pay levels peak when they hit their late 40s, new tax data shows.
Alarmingly, those in their 30s don’t earn enough to get on the property ladder if they want to buy a home on their own and be paid off by retirement age.
And those in their late twenties are earning a similar amount to baby boomers who are still working into their 70s.
Treasury’s Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement has revealed the average incomes of n workers by age group.
Those aged 45-49 had the highest average salary of $96,200 during the 2021-22 financial year.
Back then, this was 4.5 per cent higher than ‘s average full-time salary of $92,030.
Converted into 2024 earnings, those in their late 40s would now typically be earning $104,549 based on a 4.5 per cent premium over an existing $100,017 average full-time salary.
Emeritus professor Mark Wooden, a labour economics expert from the University of Melbourne, said professionals in their late 40s had often been in an industry for two decades and were more productive.
‘They’ve been there for 20 years, you’ve invested a lot of time in them as they’ve learnt the craft,’ Prof Wooden told Daily Mail .
‘So, the last thing you want is for them to leave and them employ some younger, new person who then has to learn it all over again.’
But Prof Wooden suggested salaries were likely to peak later in their 50s, for professionals working in white collar industries.
‘Where it peaks will probably vary enormously depending on the occupation,’ he said.
‘If you’re in a white collar-type job, I would expect the peak to be later than the late 40s – your careers are likely to be longer lasting, you’re not doing manual labour so your body failing you is not an issue.
‘If the sort of skills are cognitive skills, which are developed with experience, you might expect wages to keep growing.’
Someone earning a peak salary of $96,200 would now be able to buy a $625,300 house with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit.
That kind of borrowing limit would buy an apartment but not a median-priced house in ‘s major capital city markets.
Workers in their early 50s had the second highest average salary of $95,500, followed by those aged 40-44 on $90,600.
Those aged 55-59 earned $88,400, ahead of those aged 35-39 on $80,500.
The older workers close to retirement, aged 60-64, were on $75,200.
They beat the 30-34 age bracket on $69,400.
With a 20 per mortgage deposit, that would only buy a $451,100 home, which would be enough for a small, Melbourne city unit but not a house.
That is bad news for those hoping to buy a home with a 30-year mortgage and be paid off by the time they retire in their sixties.
‘s youngest adult workers produced the most income taxpayers with 1.815million 18-24-year-olds – the age when someone is more likely to be working part-time and doing a university degree.
Their average pay of $36,500 was less than half the $75,200 average for those in their early 60s able to access their superannuation.
Prof Wooden said older workers with high pay had typically been at a firm for a long time, but added these people would often struggle to find another job on the same pay if they were retrenched.
‘A lot of the people who are in their sixties who are working have been in the same job for a long time,’ he said.
‘Those people have quite high salaries – they’re unlikely to get them cut unless the firm actively wants them to leave but if a firm goes through a downturn, if an older worker loses their job, then they’re very unlikely on average to get another job earning anything like what they were earning.’
Workers in their late 20s earned a similar amount to baby boomers still working in 70s.
Their average salary of $58,400 was similar to those aged 70-74 on $55,100 and the 75-plus group of $56,600.
The Treasury paper also divided personal taxable incomes into deciles, or ten equal parts.
High-income earners on more than $136,700 were in the highest decile.
Above-average earners on $100,401 to $136,700 were in the second-highest category while those on $79,801 to $100,400 were in the third-highest decile.
Just 13.1 per cent of workers belong to a trade union in August 2024, separate n Bureau of Statistics data showed.
A little more than a third or 36 per cent of professionals worked from home.
‘s median or mid-point salary stood at $72,592 in August, with this figure including full and part-time workers.
For full-time workers, the middle salary was $88,400 compared with $35,937 for part-time workers.
18 to 24: $36,500
25 to 29: $58,400
30 to 34: $69,400
35 to 39: $80,500
40 to 44: $90,600
45 to 49: $96,200
50 to 54: $95,500
55 to 59: $88,400
60 to 64: $75,200
65 to 69: $62,900
70 to 74: $55,100
75+: $56,600