Mean, median and modal salary: why they are not the same
The mean is pushed up by high salaries, and there are few of them. That is why it is worth looking at three figures at once. The average annual salary was 29,540.26 euros (about 2,462 euros a month over 12 payments, or 2,110 euros over 14). The median, which divides workers into two equal halves, was 24,497.17 euros: half of all employees earn less than that. The modal salary, the most common, stood at 16,520.18 euros.
In addition, 29.5% of employees earn between 16,000 and 23,000 euros a year. When planning a salary for a vacancy, the median tells you better than the mean what an ordinary candidate in each sector expects.
How much you earn by sector of activity
The difference between sectors is huge and shapes the recruitment budget. INE data for 2024, in gross annual salary:
Key points
- - Electricity, gas and air conditioning supply: 57,931.81 euros
- - Financial and insurance activities: 51,862.90 euros
- - Information and communications: 42,741.94 euros
- - Manufacturing: 32,881.61 euros
- - Health: 32,224.93 euros and education: 32,210.11 euros
- - Construction: 26,965.09 euros and retail: 25,778.97 euros
- - Arts and entertainment: 20,383.16 euros
- - Hospitality: 17,653.42 euros, the lowest
Average salary by autonomous community
Territory also drives pay. The Basque Country leads with 35,170.28 euros, followed by Madrid with 34,410.01 and Navarre with 32,605.28. At the other end are Extremadura with 24,979.44, the Canary Islands with 25,120.38 and Castilla-La Mancha with 26,062.05.
Between the highest and lowest ends there is more than 10,000 euros a year. If your subsidiary hires remote or technical profiles, setting the salary benchmark in the wrong office will make you overpay or lose candidates.
From gross to net: what the employee keeps
From gross salary, the employee's Social Security contribution is deducted (around 6.4% for a permanent contract) and personal income tax withholding, which rises with salary and depends on personal and family circumstances. On the minimum wage of 1,221 euros in 14 payments, net pay is around 1,140 euros per payment. With 3,000 euros gross per month, net pay typically ranges between 2,250 and 2,350 euros.
For the company, the cost does not end at gross: employer contributions add around 30%, so an employee on the minimum wage costs the company about 1,590 euros per month. That is the figure to compare with other European countries when deciding where to locate your workforce.
