Compare Your Household Income 2009
 

Want to know how your family's combined income stack up against other families?

Use the following form to compare your monthly household income:



The above tool is based on info recently released by Singapore Department of Statistics.

You may also find these other Salary.sg tools useful:


- Benchmark your annual pay
- Benchmark your pay by age and gender


Reference: Key Household Income Trends, 2008, Singapore Department of Statistics

http://www.salary.sg/2009/compare-yo...d-income-2009/

3892
 

Hi, I do wonder if there's a error with the query. Or am I just misunderstanding the information.

I key in 2000 and it says that my Household Income is higher than 10.9% of all Household.

I would thought that the Household Income can be display as a pyramid and that the lowest income would be the Biggest Base.

But 2000 is only higher than 10.9%? That figure seems low to me.

Or did i misunderstand how this query works?

3893
 

Yes, it's low. See Table 4 in the Key Household Income Trend report. The average is $7,750 - meaning the figure you entered (i.e. $2,000) is already below average, and the average for the 11th to 20th percentile is $2,480, so $2,000 at the 10.9th percentile level is about right.
If you're interested in comparing personal income of an individual, as opposed to combined household income of several individuals, you can use the other Salary.sg tools - just click on the "Benchmark your annual pay" or "Benchmark your pay by age and gender" links.

3896
 

So the info from the Household income is correct. But it's a fact for me as I'm the bread earner with my mum no longer working. But 2000 / 2 = 1000 which doesn't make me eligible for assistance.

For the Annual Income guage.

Your annual income of $35,000
is higher than 21.4% of all resident taxpayers.

Sad to say, the figure still looks weird. 2.7k per mth seems to put me in a low income group?

3898
 

Daniel, why do you find it so hard to believe? I'm curious, that's all--no offense.

3904
 

Hi Goodie, i'm assuming you are asking about why I feel that "2.7k per mth is in low income group."

Situation 1
Well, sincerely I would have thought that 1.5 onwards till I do not know how much is actually middle income.

But it seems that things have changed.

Situation 2
Or maybe 21.4% is already in the middle income range. Then i would wonder is it really true that there's so little low income people in singapore? What happen to all the blue collar? those that earn 900/mth? It's actually a very common wage.

Conclusion
So i'm just surprise. Is it that the low income group is lesser? Or the bench mark for middle income has risen? Or is it that the statistics did not include many of the low income population?

Hope to hear your thoughts on this.

3905
 

Here's my two cents worth. First, there is an underlying skew towards higher income because (a) people near the high income will have such exceeding high income that it pulls up the average figure and (b) median income is skewed towards to the "higher" income because there is no negative income. Still (b) is less skewed and would be more useful as a comparator . I think the age cut-off is about 60, e.g., 60 and above with no income is considered retired, and assuming the median (?) starting work age is 20, then the "average" working age is about 40 years old and on "average", there is about 2 people working per household, making it about 40 years combined job experience. So with 40 years combined job experience, the median monthly income per household will be around 5k. Like a true statistician, I confess half of the "averages" are gut feels which can have be off from the actuals. I guess the bottomline is that statistics are made for policy makers and it is hard to apply it for the individuals. (And for those who are into surveys and want to factor in my personal bias, my household income is in the top quartile.)

3908
 

Hmmm, for annual income, doesn't this only include the tax payers? Those earning 900/month are not included, no? Admin?

Apart from what Kevin said, I don't have much to add, I think he explained it well.

Just one thing about 900 being a very common wage: "very common" is very subjective actually.

It depends on who you hang out with, your industry, etc. As I moved up the salary ranges, my notion of what salary is "common" changes as well. I used to think that my Director who earned 10k was paid sky high. But now, not anymore.

3910
 

Goodie, if you're referring to my other comparison tools that use the Iras stats, then yes, those earning 900/mth are not included.
As for the above tool, I use the numbers from DOS, which I believe include the low earners.

3915
 

Hi Goodie, good point. I guess i totally forgot about that point.

But i do wonder if those high salary range is more common than low salary range. Just trying to think logically.

But sincerely, i'm sad that 2.7k is @ 21%. And base on admin, 900/mth is included.

3928
 

Hi Daniel, no, I don't think high salary range is more common--just that what you think as common might be distorted by the salary ranges you hear in your everyday interactions.

In my humble opinion, you can take this as a wake up call and start seeing how you can break through the 30%, 40%, 50%... and so on.

3929
 

Hi Goodie, thanks for the encouragement. Actually after looking through the comments on the annual income tool, i notice that those non tax payer are not included. Using 19k will put it at 0%. So a rough gauge is 0% (20k) ~ 50% (50k).

Still sad though. But now the picture isn't that clear. I just wonder if include those non tax paying salary, what will the chart look like.

4534
 

what should be an average income for a family to stay in Singapore? If i am looking at a level of AVP (Asst Vice President), what would be the level of compensation per month?

4537
 

household expenditure can range from as low as 1000pm to 10000pm depending on whether u eat out, how often u eat out, where u patronise, where u stay (central, suburban), what house type (hdb, condo, landed), size of house.
if u're an avp in a bank, and if spouse is not working, i think you family can only live slightly above the average of singapore citizens.

4538
 

Hi avp,

I wonder what is your idea of a avp's pay package when you say

"if u're an avp in a bank, and if spouse is not working, i think you family can only live slightly above the average of singapore citizens."

Then again, what is your idea of a "average of singapore citizens."

I just find it weird that a AVP pay package which sounds quite high is = to 2 aver singapore pay package.

4539
 

correction to my last sentence: "... your family can only live slightly above the average singapore family with both husband and wife working as professionals."
there are many people who think expats can live like kings in singapore, but they neglect the fact that these expats have to support spouses who aren't working and kids who go to expensive international schools, and pay for an expensive house or apartment. if you compare materially with singapore families, these expats aren't much better off.

4540
 

Hi avp,

I do not profess to know but I do understand that expats get a Living Allowance on top of their salary. And this allowance is enough to cover all the expenses and more.

For eg: I ve a friend whose from New Zealand. His single and his allowance is 6k which covers his condo rental of 4k. 2k leftover which is equal to his Salary + 2k.

According to him, if his married or with children, the allowance is adjusted. Likewise if his family is not in SG, e allowance is also adjusted for market rate back in his country.

Now times have changed so if this Allowance is reduced, I'm not surprise but I understand that some expats are on Contract so the Allowance should remain at the level as when they signed the contract.

If new contract then of course the allowance would be much lesser.

4541
 

yes you are right. but i would look at the full package. say the expat gets the equivalent of 200k in all, including all benefits like housing and kids education. given the higher tax bracket he's in, and the fact that he "loses out" to locals who get many forms of subsidies (eg hdb), i would say his net income is comparable to a local family with husband and wife each getting 80k.
further, given the general lifestyle an expat leads (locals are extremely frugal in comparison), i would expect his savings to be comparable to a local husband & wife each making 60k.
of cos there are expats out there who really live like kings. but these are the ones getting at least 500k. i don't think there are many of them.

4542
 

There you go. Your definition of Aver Pay is already very skewed ._.

60k per annum average? Just in case you are basing on the Salary tool provided. I believe it only includes those who have to file Income Tax.

So low earners who struggle for monthly expenses are not included.

4543
 

i believe i did clarify that i'm only including working professionals, not blue collar workers. afaik, there isn't any "average" stats on the typical household of working professionals - ie both husband and wife are grads and working as professionals. 60k for a grad professional is average as far as i can gauge from people around me and from all the info i have read.

4544
 

Hmm... could you define professionals?

IT Engineers considered?
Project Managers?
System Engineers?
Network Administrators?

I can't say for other careers but these that I mentioned does range from below 2k to more than 10k. So does being a Grad Professional allow you to earn 60k? It really depends.

Why not just compared expat with a Pay Range instead of the Group of People or the Type of jobs. That would be easier.

Note that I'm just trying to clarify with you that not all jobs, all grads, all professionals get the same range of pay. I think we may all be surprise if the real figures come out.

4546
 

60k PER YEAR my dear.

misleading
 

public media, for example TV program, misleading the public into believe many low income, data says fact. never believe any saying without number as support!!!

I punched in 8,000 and got 64.7%. If the tool is accurate, it's really time to review the 8k ceiling for 4 and 5 room flats. :mad:

Do you mean the 8k HDB income ceiling should be adjusted downwards or upwards?

The 8k is for combined income, so maybe you should try 4k?

Hi John,

I am talking about combined income for households applying for flat. The current ceiling if 8K combined household income which I feel is a bit on the low side given that more than 30% of households are earning more than 8k.

My fiancee and I fall into the 8-10k income range. Under current regulations we are not able to apply for new flats. However if you do the maths, going private is a bit of a stretch. Hence my fustration.

Yes, I get your point now. I also tried using this other comparison tool at Compare your annual salary (2008) | Salary.sg - Your Salary in Singapore which I gather is using Iras official data.

Assuming no bonus, a 4k monthly (hence 48k annual) will put the person at "higher than 45.8% of all resident taxpayers."

So if both husband and wife make 4k, there are more than 50% households earning more than 8k. And I think the Iras data (and the above mentioned comparison tool) does not even include the people earning below 20k/year.

Yeah. And HDB is always saying, "majority" of Singapore households qualify for HDB flats and loans. I really wonder where they get THEIR data from. Many of my peers are in the same situation as I am.

Husky, though you can't apply for a new HDB, I think you can still buy one from the open market, except that you won't get to enjoy the housing subsidy (they call it "a bite on the cherry" or something).

Still cheaper than condos.

Yup. Am currently waiting for the prices to drop a little. Resale flats are still very expensive. Just feel that the HDB ceiling really need to be revised. If I am not wrong the last time they revised it was in 1999.

How confident are you that prices will "drop a little"? Already there are people saying that the next boom cycle is already in the making and those who have not bought a house (be it HDB, condo or landed) will only see higher prices in the future.

Disclaimer: I'm also waiting...

From my observations, seems like a lot of people have bought and are currently paying for "over priced" flats. I am pretty confident, some if not most of these people will eventually run into liquidity problems. When that happens, it should trigger off the start of a property market crash.

Pay freeze, lay offs, shrinking GDP and rising property prices? Doesn't sound right. Eventually the bubble will burst.

Whether the flats are over priced is subjective. I believe many of these buyers genuinely think that with the recent stock market uptrend, the real economy has bottomed and is already on the verge of recovery. So they rushed in, afraid of missing the "boat".

But for people with bearish views (like you and me), there is no "boat" to speak of at the moment. It's just an illusion.

I'm also waiting for the right time to buy an HDB apartment. But I'm not sure if we will be losing out by waiting too long. It seems like this recession - said to be the worse of all modern recessions - has not affected most Singaporeans much. I still see lots of people thronging malls buying things by the dozen. Some people said that those not retrenched in fact are in a very good position to get ahead financially by investing in this downturn. The million dollar question is: exactly when to invest?

Prior to this bearish situation, we had a good bull run, asians in generally save more than the ang mos. Hence, most people's pockets are still padded with cash from the pre sub prime crisis. That could be part of the reason why we are still not seeing the full effects of the recession. There's somewhat of a delayed reaction.

As for people jumping in to buy property for fear prices will spike even higher. The way I look at it, how much higher can it go? People are willing to pay $500k for a flat in the central areas, what about $600k or $700k? There will come a point when they simply cannot afford it, when the price hits the theorical ceiling. Looking at the income stats, I believe the current prices are near that theorical max. Therefore, I choose to continue waiting. If prices rise, it can't possibly rise much more. If prices dip, it may drop up to 30%.

Another factor for the property market revival could be the agents themselves scaring people to believe prices could sky rocket some more if they don't grab their pegion holes soon. :mad:

My feel is that such "pent-up demand" will very soon be exhausted. The situation now is like every single HDB dweller that has some savings is jumping onto the bandwagon to be the next condo upgrader. Typical reasons they give: (1) my job is secure, (2) interest rates are close to historical lows, and (3) prices are low.

The only problem is that (1) is an assumption, (2) may change any time and for (3), prices may go even lower.

Just my 2 cents.

Let's hope we are both right. I don't wanna pay $600k for a flat!!!

Hmm, I find these 2 tools as whole lot of fun (seriously) & somewhat motivational towards myself to strife on with the rat race...

I guess to some its also stressful. But monetary returns aside, let's not forget our health & general well-being too...

It's good to compare, but please, let's not stress ourselves over these & let's all work hard (AND smart) for a better tomorrow ;)

Where are the tools to compare income? I can't find any in this web site.

1. Go to the main site. Salary.sg - Your Salary in Singapore

2. Look out on the right side for the header "Recommended"

3. Choose the benchmark you are interested in. There's annual pay, household income, and by age and gender.