What is the median salary for ages 20-24 workers in Japan?

About 314万円 (MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure).

What do the bottom 10% / 25% earn at ages 20-24 in Japan?

Bottom 10% earn at most 247万円; bottom 25% at most 278万円.

How does the Japanese salary "hensachi" (deviation score) work for ages 20-24?

[Estimate] On a normal approximation (mean 50, SD 10), the median (~314万円) maps to a hensachi of 50, the top 25% (~351万円) to about 57, and the top 10% (~394万円) to about 63. Pay is right-skewed, so treat these as estimates (see "Methodology" below).

2026 reference

Japan salary, ages 20-24

Based on MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2024) Table 6

ages 20-24 Japanese full-time workers earn about 277万円 on average. Median is about 314万円; top 10% earn at least 394万円. On the hensachi (deviation-score) scale, the median maps to 50 and the top 10% to about 63 ([Estimate] normal-approximation method).

What is the median salary for ages 20-24 workers in Japan?: About 314万円 (MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure).
What do the top 10% / 25% earn at ages 20-24 in Japan?: Top 10% earn at least 394万円; top 25% at least 351万円.
What do the bottom 10% / 25% earn at ages 20-24 in Japan?: Bottom 10% earn at most 247万円; bottom 25% at most 278万円.
How does the Japanese salary "hensachi" (deviation score) work for ages 20-24?: [Estimate] On a normal approximation (mean 50, SD 10), the median (~314万円) maps to a hensachi of 50, the top 25% (~351万円) to about 57, and the top 10% (~394万円) to about 63. Pay is right-skewed, so treat these as estimates (see "Methodology" below).

In Japan, ages 20-24 full-time wage and salary earners have a median annual salary of about 314万円 and an average of 277万円. The top 10% earn at least 394万円, top 25% at least 351万円; the bottom 25% earn at most 278万円 and the bottom 10% at most 247万円. Monthly pay is about ¥26M, hourly wage about ¥1,556. Source: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2024) Table 6.

Distribution within this group

High earnerstop 10%
394万円
Above the middletop 25%
351万円
Middle of the packhalf earn more, half less
314万円
Below the middlebottom 25%
278万円
Low earnersbottom 10%
247万円

Longer bar means higher earnings

Per month, per hour

Based on a typical (median) earner

Monthly26万円annual ÷ 12
Hourly1,508円assuming 40 hrs/week, 52 weeks
Take-home monthly21万円single filer · no dependents

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At a glance

25% higher than the next-older cohort
16% lower than the next-younger cohort
Top 10% earn 1.6x more than the bottom 10%
¥5M annual is in the top 5.5% for this age group

About this page

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How we calculated

These figures come from each country's official statistics, filtered to full-time year-round wage and salary earners. Self-employed and part-time workers are excluded. Updated automatically whenever new releases arrive.

[Estimate] The annual-salary hensachi is approximated as T = 50 + 10z (z = standard-normal quantile) over this page's official percentile data, assuming a normal distribution: median = 50, top 25% ≈ 57, top 10% ≈ 63. Real pay is right-skewed, so values may differ especially at the high end (a site approximation, not an official figure).

Data Sources

Japan MHLW 'Basic Survey on Wage Structure' (2024) Table 3 + NTA Private Salary Statistics: https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files?stat_infid=000040247784

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