What is the median salary: calculation, statistics. median income

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

We often wonder why statistics show such huge numbers. Part of the population believes in an uneven distribution of income, which means that officials somewhere at the top are illegally exercising their powers, others believe that against the background of the total number of able-bodied people, a small group with above-average income is in the lead, which causes such statistics. In general, the way it is.

Distinctive features of the average salary

Before we start talking about the median salary, it is necessary to understand what the average salary is and what these two types of accruals have in common. So let's get started.

According to Rosstat, the average salary in Russia is about 40,000 rubles, 50,000 - in St. Petersburg, about 65-70 thousand - in Moscow. But such data seems a little exaggerated to most netizens, and here's why. According to the indicators of the average salary, it is impossible to trace the real dynamics of the standard of living of a group of people. Consider a classic example from economics. In an ordinary Russian village with an average income of 4,700 rubles per inhabitant and a population of 100 people, a magnate arrived with an income of 5,000,000 rubles a month. Since then, the average monthly incomeresidents amounted to more than 50,000 rubles. Do you think the standard of living of the local population has changed? Naturally not, except that the tycoon opened his own company in the village and raised the salaries of its inhabitants.

In order to calculate the standard of living of an average large group of people, statisticians use two tricks: discard 10% of the poorest and richest citizens and average their salaries or figure out the median income. The second method is more common and much more commonly used.

Median salary and its criteria

So that in such a case there are no questions, they came up with a special calculation criterion, called the median. It is this indicator that is used in statistical reports, replacing the average. The median salary is a chart that most accurately reflects the real state.

Median salary in Russia

According to some statistics, if median wages are 23-29% below average, then payments for 55% of Russians in a particular region of residence will be about 25% below the average.

Based on the foregoing, the median salary in Moscow, according to 2016 statistics, was 51,000 rubles a year, in St. Petersburg - 34,500 rubles, in other regions of Russia - within 27,000 rubles.

But don't these figures seem to you to be slightly underestimated and untrue numbers? Absolutely.

Analysis of median wages

According to the portalRabota. Yandex, the average salary in the Russian capital is 62,500 rubles. Although the statistics two years earlier were two times lower. So is the information reliable if the picture had slightly different dynamics in 2015?

Could the MO salaries jump so sharply? Opinions tend to be in the negative. Another thing is the percentage of shadow earnings that evaded the attention of Rosstat.

Experts, summing up, say that confidence is caused by the indicators published by Rosstat. Based on this, the average earnings of Muscovites is about 39,000 rubles and there are deviations of 20% (more/less) from this amount. Although the median is lower.

Relatively to other regions of Russia. One can argue with the figures published above, because the figure of 27,000 rubles is indicated taking into account data for Moscow and St. Petersburg, which, from an economic point of view, account for about 33% of Russia's GDP and only 16% of the country's population. Having discarded the factor of the capital, we will conduct a study and try to calculate the salary in the regions, using a simple system of equations for this:

x/y=27,000 rubles; x - all the money of the Russian Federation, y - the entire proletariat in the Russian Federation.

Calculation: x(1-1/3) / y(1-1/6)=?; in this equation, 2/3x is the total amount of wages in the Russian Federation, excluding the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg, 5/6y is the total value of the proletariat in the Russian Federation, excluding the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg.

Based on this: 27,000 x 0.8=22,400 is the average median income, excluding Moscow and St. Petersburg.

If your regionresidence - Orenburg, Kursk, Krasnoyarsk, Tver or another region of Russia, then most likely your salary does not exceed 22,000, and this is with a probability of 50%.

Calculation examples

Let's look at an example of calculating the median salary for 10 able-bodied people. For example, the earnings dynamics of 9 people looks like this: 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, another earns 10,000 rubles. So, the average salary will exceed 1000 rubles. But the median will be only 104 rubles. Median salary in Russia - what is it? Based on the example, we can say that the median is the salary of the person in the middle in the row / list. In other words, half of the people are paid less than him, the other half are paid more.

This practice is more common in EU member states. In our region, the median wage is calculated somewhat differently. That is why many people have the question: “What is the median salary?”

Another example

The median salary differs from the average, and its indicators are almost always lower. Let's try to understand it with an example.

The organization employs 3 people: a courier, an accountant, a manager. The daily salary of an accountant is 330 rubles, a courier is three times lower, a manager is three times higher.

Calculate the average salary using the formula: (110 + 330 + 990) / 3=476, 6 rubles

Let's try to calculate the median. This term refers to salaryan employee in the middle of the salary list. That is, in our case, the salary of an accountant is 330 rubles, which, according to the example under consideration, is in the middle of the list. As you can see, the median wage was an order of magnitude lower than the average.

Differences in the system for calculating the median and average wages

It's really simple. The whole secret is in the career position of the employee, because the manager can receive a salary several times higher than the accountant, but the courier will not bypass his manager in any way in daily / monthly earnings. Cases of negative wages are extremely rare.

Now about the most important thing: which of the indicators more accurately reflects the real amounts of wages - the average or the median?

Based on median income, you will find out how much the average Russian earns, while the average salary shows how much money this person is willing to spend per month. So, considering the indicators of the standard of living of citizens, the median wage can be considered a more informative indicator.

Special conditions

However, there is one "but"! Considering that in our time the statistics on wages in Russia become outdated too quickly, it becomes clear that in practice the median statistics can only be used in low-grade campaigning, that is, where no one will go into details. More than 70% of publicly available statistics: regional wages, industry incomes, wages in otherstates and at different time intervals - they are based precisely on indicators of average income.

There is one feature of the median salary: 27-30% below the average. Therefore, if necessary, you can calculate the median wage by simply calculating it from the latest average income figures. This is only an approximate figure, but such data can be useful.

As you can see, there is still a difference between the median and average wages, and it is this difference that causes the differences that arise during the formation of statistical reporting on various resources.