Average salary in Malaysia 2026: median and mean pay

There is no official "good salary". What the data can tell you is where a salary sits. In June 2026, between 60% and 70% of formal employees earned less than RM4,000, and between 70% and 80% earned less than RM5,000. The table adds the take-home pay at each level and how it compares with the national median of RM2,940.

The 10th percentile is RM1,700, the same as the minimum wage, so the bottom of the distribution is set by law. The 90th percentile is RM9,600: one formal employee in ten earns more than that.

The mean adds up every salary and divides by the number of employees, so a few very high salaries raise it. That is why it sits RM863 above the median. For "what does a typical employee earn", the median is the better figure.

The median rose 5.3% from RM2,793 in 2024 to RM2,940 in 2025, and from RM1,942 in 2015. It fell from RM2,442 in 2019 to RM2,076 in 2020 and passed its 2019 level again in 2023.

W.P. Putrajaya has the highest median (RM4,828), followed by W.P. Kuala Lumpur (RM3,938) and Selangor (RM3,547). Kelantan has the lowest, RM1,860. Kuala Lumpur's mean is RM4,955, RM1,017 above its median. Selangor has the largest workforce, 2.7 million employees.

Johor, with the second-largest workforce, has a median of RM2,688, and Pulau Pinang RM3,107. These are survey figures by state, from the same 2025 report.

DOSM's monthly formal-sector series comes from EPF and SOCSO contribution records rather than a survey. It is more recent and covers only employees on a contract of service, so its figures differ from the table above. On this measure Kuala Lumpur's median was RM4,245 in June 2026.

DOSM revises the latest 15 months of this series when more contribution data arrive, so recent months can still change.

Pay rises with age up to the 40-44 group: the median is RM1,931 at 20 to 24, RM2,285 at 25 to 29, and peaks at RM3,826 for ages 40-44. Older groups earn less than the peak.

Qualification matters as much as age, as the next table shows.

Employees whose highest certificate is a degree have a median of RM5,276, against RM3,779 for a diploma and RM2,203 for SPM and below. These cover all ages, not only new graduates.

By occupation group (MASCO), managers (RM6,186) and professionals (RM6,124) have the highest medians, and elementary occupations the lowest (RM1,758).

By industry, education (RM5,990), human health and social work activities (RM4,976) and information and communication (RM4,723) lead. Agriculture, forestry and fishing is lowest at RM1,813. These groups are broad: for public-sector pay scales see the SSPA salary table.

Industries follow the MSIC 2008 sections used by DOSM, sorted by median.

Men's median was RM3,014 and women's RM2,788, a gap of 7.5%.

Urban employees had a median of RM3,022 and rural employees RM2,035.

The Salaries & Wages Survey interviews households alongside the Labour Force Survey. Its salaries and wages are the monthly pay from the main job: basic pay, cost-of-living and other regular allowances, and overtime. Bonuses are excluded. Employers, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, domestic workers employed by households and casual workers are not covered.

The formal-sector series is built from EPF and SOCSO contributions of citizen employees on a contract of service. Its wages include bonuses, commissions and allowances and exclude overtime, so December figures jump when bonuses are paid. Gig workers and the self-employed are not in it.

Neither series covers foreign workers. Use the survey for comparisons by age, qualification, job and industry, and the formal series for the most recent month. Decile figures for June 2026:

Every figure above is gross pay. Your take-home pay is lower by your EPF, SOCSO and EIS contributions and PCB. Work out yours with the salary calculator, see the EPF contribution table, or check the minimum wage if you are near the bottom of the range.

For pay at the start of a career see fresh graduate salary, and for household income groups see B40, M40 and T20.