The personal tax picture.
Six ways to understand what Australians earn, claim and pay. Start with the picture, then explore the figures.
Taxable income is income after allowable deductions. It can include wages, investments and other income. Different views can cover different groups of tax-return lodgers.
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Income after deductions, for the ATO’s taxable-individual population. Excludes non-taxable return lodgers. Assessed net tax, not Budget cash receipts. National totals stay fixed as you explore.
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Who pays income tax?
Terms in this view
Taxable income
Income remaining after allowable deductions. It can include wages, investments and other income, so it is not necessarily someone’s salary or take-home pay. Use annual taxable income when comparing yourself with the national income bands.
Who is included?
The national headline totals and Who pays? use the ATO’s taxable-individual population. Other sections use their stated reporting populations, including broader groups of people who lodged tax returns. These counts and totals can differ. Neither group represents every Australian.
A reporting population is the set of people included in a particular statistic. Each average uses its matching reporting count, which can differ between income, tax and deduction measures.
Quartiles, quintiles, deciles and percentiles
People are ordered from lowest to highest taxable income. Quartiles divide them into four groups, quintiles into five, deciles into ten and percentiles into 100. These percentages describe positions in the income distribution, not tax rates.
Men/Women shows the figures within the same national income boundaries; it does not rank men and women separately. Where do I fit? uses the national All population.
Income share and tax share
Income share is the group’s share of national taxable income. Tax share is its share of national assessed net tax. Neither percentage is the group’s tax rate.
Tax as a percentage of income
The group’s total assessed net tax divided by its total taxable income. This is a group-wide ratio, rather than everyone’s individual rate or their marginal tax rate.
A marginal tax rate applies to an additional dollar of taxable income. It does not apply to all of someone’s income. Where total income is zero or negative, this site does not calculate the ratio.
Average and median
Average adds the amounts and divides by the number of people included. Median is the middle amount when those people are ordered from lowest to highest. Very high incomes can pull the average above the median.
Compare measures with the same population definition. A median for one group and an average for another are not interchangeable.
Choose four, five or ten national income groups, then explore their percentile bands.
How to read the groups: People are ordered from lowest to highest taxable income. The 50–60% band sits above the lowest-income half of taxpayers. Quartiles divide people into four groups, quintiles into five, deciles into ten and percentiles into 100. These percentages describe people’s position in the income distribution—not their tax rate. Men/Women changes the figures within the fixed national income groups. In the table, green bars show income share and gold bars show tax share. “Where do I fit?” always uses the national All population.
What do people earn?
Terms in this view
What occupation income means
These figures describe people reporting that occupation on their tax return. Taxable income can include other income and part-year or part-time work, so it is not a full-time salary guide. Salary/wage and taxable-income measures can cover different groups.
Taxable income
Income remaining after allowable deductions. It can include wages, investments and other income, so it is not necessarily someone’s salary or take-home pay. Use annual taxable income when comparing yourself with the national income bands.
Average and median
Average adds the amounts and divides by the number of people included. Median is the middle amount when those people are ordered from lowest to highest. Very high incomes can pull the average above the median.
Compare measures with the same population definition. A median for one group and an average for another are not interchangeable.
Compare occupation groups or individual occupations, ranked by median taxable income. Use Chart or Table, or search for a particular occupation.
ATO Tables 15A/B/C. Occupations are reported on tax returns. Income may include part-year or part-time work and income outside the job. Salary/wage and taxable-income statistics have distinct reporting populations. Broad groups here are the published sub-major groups. Average salary/wage figures use the publisher’s own statistics at each occupation level; missing or suppressed source values remain unavailable. ATO publication ↗
What does it look like where I live?
Terms in this view
Regions and postcodes
Region means Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4), a large ABS statistical region. It is different from a suburb or council area. The ATO allocates postcodes to regions using its published method; geographic boundaries can overlap.
A list of places associated with a postcode is a reference list, not an exact reconstruction of where people lived in the tax year.
Average and median
Average adds the amounts and divides by the number of people included. Median is the middle amount when those people are ordered from lowest to highest. Very high incomes can pull the average above the median.
Compare measures with the same population definition. A median for one group and an average for another are not interchangeable.
Assessed net tax
The ATO’s assessed tax amount after applicable offsets and adjustments. It differs from tax withheld during the year, and from a person’s refund or bill when they lodge. It is also different from Budget cash receipts.
Tax as a percentage of income
The group’s total assessed net tax divided by its total taxable income. This is a group-wide ratio, rather than everyone’s individual rate or their marginal tax rate.
A marginal tax rate applies to an additional dollar of taxable income. It does not apply to all of someone’s income. Where total income is zero or negative, this site does not calculate the ratio.
Who is included?
The national headline totals and Who pays? use the ATO’s taxable-individual population. Other sections use their stated reporting populations, including broader groups of people who lodged tax returns. These counts and totals can differ. Neither group represents every Australian.
A reporting population is the set of people included in a particular statistic. Each average uses its matching reporting count, which can differ between income, tax and deduction measures.
How to read these figures
Figures cover All; this geography source does not offer a Men/Women split. Table 6B supplies the hierarchy, counts and totals. Average taxable income = taxable income or loss total ÷ its reporting count; average net tax = assessed net tax total ÷ its reporting count. These populations differ. Tax as % of income = matching total net tax ÷ total taxable income; a non-positive income denominator is unavailable.
Open a postcode row for its published medians from Table 25. Published Australian medians from Table 1B are available beneath the Australia row, with their population definition. State and regional medians are not supplied by the retained geographic tables and cannot be calculated by pooling postcode medians. Region means Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4). ATO assigns postcodes to regions using its published largest-weight method; actual boundaries can overlap. Unknown, overseas and pooled records remain included. Use the circled i beside a table label for exact lodger and reporting counts.
Postcode place names are a pinned Open G-NAF August 2026 reference (OD-GEO-POST01), derived from supported active address–locality associations. They are not a complete postal-service directory or historical ATO boundary reconstruction. Retired and unsupported addresses are excluded; missing matches remain explicit. Derived from G-NAF © Geoscape Australia, licensed by the Commonwealth under the Open G-NAF End User Licence Agreement. Source · Copyright and disclaimer. Extracted, joined and deduplicated by Open Data Programme; no Geoscape or government endorsement.
How has the picture changed?
These dollar amounts are not adjusted for inflation. Each year can cover different people and tax rules.
Terms in this view
Nominal dollars and comparisons over time
Nominal dollars are the amounts for each year, without adjusting for inflation. An increase can reflect higher prices as well as changes in activity or services.
Personal tax history compares the people reporting in each year, rather than following the same people over time. Changes can also reflect tax rules and who lodged a return. Budget comparisons likewise do not, by themselves, establish why an amount changed.
Average and median
Average adds the amounts and divides by the number of people included. Median is the middle amount when those people are ordered from lowest to highest. Very high incomes can pull the average above the median.
Compare measures with the same population definition. A median for one group and an average for another are not interchangeable.
Who is included?
The national headline totals and Who pays? use the ATO’s taxable-individual population. Other sections use their stated reporting populations, including broader groups of people who lodged tax returns. These counts and totals can differ. Neither group represents every Australian.
A reporting population is the set of people included in a particular statistic. Each average uses its matching reporting count, which can differ between income, tax and deduction measures.
Tax as a percentage of income
The group’s total assessed net tax divided by its total taxable income. This is a group-wide ratio, rather than everyone’s individual rate or their marginal tax rate.
A marginal tax rate applies to an additional dollar of taxable income. It does not apply to all of someone’s income. Where total income is zero or negative, this site does not calculate the ratio.
Income, net tax and deductions across eleven income years, from 2013–14 to 2023–24.
Published assessed-return statistics, in nominal dollars. Tax rules and reporting populations can change; these are not constant-policy or same-person comparisons.
Explore all annual values
How to read these figures
Average and median use each measure’s published reporting population. Counts differ between measures: the net-tax reporting count is not a count of everyone who lodged a return. Deductions statistics include zero/default-zero amounts in the total population. Tax as % of income divides matching national total assessed net tax by total taxable income or loss; it is neither an average individual rate nor a marginal tax rate. No sex split is available in this historical table.
Charts start at zero. Zoom to data narrows a chart’s vertical scale to show annual changes; a visible notice identifies the changed scale. Reset to zero restores the full context. Hover, focus or tap a point for its exact value; all figures are also in the annual table.
What do people claim?
Deductions reduce taxable income. A $100 deduction generally does not reduce tax by $100.
Terms in this view
Deductions and claimants
Deductions reduce taxable income. A $100 deduction generally does not reduce tax by $100.
Claimants are people reporting that deduction. One person can claim several types, so category counts overlap. Average per claimant uses the count for that deduction; some overall statistics also include people with zero deductions.
Average and median
Average adds the amounts and divides by the number of people included. Median is the middle amount when those people are ordered from lowest to highest. Very high incomes can pull the average above the median.
Compare measures with the same population definition. A median for one group and an average for another are not interchangeable.
Low-value pool
A tax arrangement that groups certain lower-value depreciating assets so deductions for their decline in value can be calculated together.
Explore work-related expenses, donations, super contributions and other deductions. Open a category to see its available detail and annual figures.
How to read these figures
People can claim several deduction types, so category counts overlap. “Total deductions” is the publisher’s total, not the sum of this selected category list. Rental deductions reduce rental income and are not added again to these personal-deduction totals. Published medians are available for All; Men/Women averages use category totals divided by matching claimant counts. Table 1B’s overall deductions statistics include every lodger, including reported and default zeros; individual category statistics generally include non-zero claims.
Where does income come from?
Terms in this view
Franked and unfranked dividends
Franked dividends carry credits for Australian company tax already paid. Unfranked dividends do not carry those credits. A dividend can also be partly franked.
Franking credits
Tax credits attached to franked dividends for company tax already paid. They are included separately in assessable income and are not an additional cash dividend.
Net rent and net business income or loss
Income remaining after the relevant expenses. A negative amount means a reported loss. Rental deductions are already reflected in net rent and are not added again to personal-deduction totals.
Net capital gains
The taxable capital-gain amount after applicable capital losses and concessions. It is different from the total proceeds received from selling assets.
Who is included?
The national headline totals and Who pays? use the ATO’s taxable-individual population. Other sections use their stated reporting populations, including broader groups of people who lodged tax returns. These counts and totals can differ. Neither group represents every Australian.
A reporting population is the set of people included in a particular statistic. Each average uses its matching reporting count, which can differ between income, tax and deduction measures.
Wages, investments, business, rental income and more. Open each source to see its detail and annual values.
How to read these figures
Reporting counts overlap: one person may have several income sources. These rows are a selection of published measures, not an exhaustive decomposition of the income total. Franking credits are separately assessable amounts; rent and business rows use net income or loss. No tax is allocated to individual income sources. Published medians are available for All only. Net-rent statistics include zero amounts where reported; other source-category statistics generally use non-zero values.
Definitions, sources and limits
Unavailable, suppressed and zero
Unavailable means no usable published figure is supplied here. Suppressed means the publisher has withheld a value. Neither should be read as zero. Published zeros are retained.
Not comparable means the figures cannot be compared on the applicable definitions. Missing history and detail are not filled in.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Taxation statistics 2023–24, Individuals Tables 1, 4, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 25. Calculations and presentation by Open Data Programme. No ATO endorsement. Frozen release OD-PIT01-2023-24-0.1.0.
Assessed net tax is not Budget cash receipts. Taxable individuals differ from all tax-return lodgers. Tax as % of income always divides matching group totals, never averages or medians; a non-positive income denominator is unavailable. Men/Women labels correspond to published Male/Female source categories; ATO includes unknown/indeterminate sex in Male. Missing and suppressed values remain unavailable, and published zeros are retained.
ATO publication ↗Incorporates or developed using G-NAF © Geoscape Australia licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia under the Open Geo-coded National Address File (G-NAF) End User Licence Agreement. Postcode/locality reference: August 2026, OD-GEO-POST01-2026-08-1.0.0. Derived from supported active-address associations; street addresses are not displayed. The reference does not reconstruct historical ATO geography.
Historical interpretation sources: Personal super contributions: 2017 reform · Working-from-home claiming methods · Self-education threshold removal · Car-expense methods: 2015 reform · ATO annual report: tax-affairs label split