Average salary in Jersey: what people earn, by job and by household

Pay rose 4.1 per cent over the year, or 1.2 per cent after inflation, and average weekly earnings ran from £690 in hotels, restaurants and bars to £1,420 in finance and legal. The minimum wage has been £13.59 an hour since 1 April 2026, about £28,300 a year for a 40-hour week, and no rate for April 2027 had been announced by late October 2026. On 2026 tax rules the median salary takes home about £3,160 a month.

Statistics Jersey publishes two measures of pay for Jersey, Channel Islands, and they give different answers. Both are below, with what they mean for someone weighing up a job offer.

The headline figures

The first two come from the Index of Average Earnings, measured each June. The next two come from the newer earnings statistics, built from tax and social security records across the year, so they catch bonuses: Statistics Jersey notes that pay jumps in March and December, mainly in finance and legal. The mean sits well above the median because a minority of high earners pull it up. For a sense of a typical job, use the median.

The rise to June 2026 was the smallest since 2021, against inflation of 2.8 per cent. Private sector earnings rose 3.7 per cent and public sector earnings 5.8 per cent, after a headline public pay award of 3.8 per cent earlier in 2026. Over the longer run the picture is flat: real average earnings were 0.8 per cent lower than ten years earlier, and most of the 18.5 per cent real rise since 1990 came before 2001.

The gender pay gap is modest. In June 2025 the median hourly rate was £22.88 for men and £21.70 for women, a gap of 5.4 per cent.

Pay by sector

Average weekly earnings per full-time equivalent employee, June 2026. These are means; the typical salary in each sector is likely to be lower. Annual figures are the weekly figure multiplied by 52.

Finance and legal pays roughly twice what hospitality does, and the public sector is not far behind finance. Every sector saw pay rise over the year: miscellaneous business activities by most, 6.1 per cent, and utilities and waste by least, 0.9 per cent. Our jobs guide covers which of these sectors hire from off-island.

Average household income

Household income comes from a different source, the Living Costs and Household Income Survey, which Statistics Jersey runs roughly every five years. The latest covers 2021/22 and was published on 30 June 2023, so it predates the current pay figures by four years.

Annual figures are the weekly ones multiplied by 52. "Equivalised" means adjusted for the size and make-up of the household, so that a single person and a family can be compared.

Housing is what bites. After housing costs, median income fell 5 per cent in real terms between 2019/20 and 2021/22. The relative low income line, 60 per cent of the median after housing costs, was £430 a week, and 24 per cent of households fell below it, rising to 54 per cent of one-parent families.

Minimum wage and living wage

Minimum wage. £13.59 an hour from 1 April 2026, up 4.5 per cent from £13.00, with a trainee rate of £10.50 on approved schemes. When it announced the rate in November 2025 the Government said it met its commitment to set the minimum wage at two-thirds of median earnings. A 40-hour week comes to £28,267 a year, and a 37.5-hour week to £26,500.

April 2027. The Employment Forum began consulting on future rates on 28 May 2026. It was due to close on 10 July and was later extended to 18 September. In August a minister argued in a newspaper column that the minimum wage was hurting the economy, and the Chief Minister responded that the Government had no plans to abolish it. The Social Security Minister will decide the rate that applies from 1 April 2027 once the Forum reports. No rate had been announced when this page was checked in late October 2026.

Living wage. The Jersey Living Wage, a voluntary rate that employers can be accredited for through Caritas Jersey, is £15.10 an hour for 2026, up from £14.13. That is £31,408 a year for a 40-hour week.

A catch for newcomers. Under the housing and work rules, a permanent Standard role filled by someone from off-island must pay at least £30,000 or the going rate, whichever is higher. Minimum-wage pay is allowed only for seasonal or temporary roles. The employer must also show that no suitable local applicant was available, so in practice most permanent low-paid jobs are filled by people already living here.

Take-home pay at different salaries

These figures are for a single employee in 2026, with no pension contributions, other income or allowances, over a full tax year. Income tax is the lower of 20 per cent of income or 26 per cent of income above the £21,250 exemption threshold. Social security is 6 per cent of earnings up to £72,744. The long-term care charge is 1.5 per cent of income, or 1.95 per cent of income above the threshold if that is lower. Figures are rounded, so rows may not add exactly.

Child allowances and childcare relief lower the bill for parents on the 26 per cent calculation, broadly anyone under about £92,000. Our tax guide explains how, and our Jersey vs London comparison sets these figures against UK take-home pay.

What is a good salary in Jersey?

It depends on who you are paying for, and on rent, which dominates every Jersey budget. Using the budgets in our cost of living guide, worked through the tax rules above in how much money you need to live in Jersey:

• A single person renting a one-bed flat, no car, spends about £31,000 a year and needs a salary of about £38,000. The median salary of about £48,400 leaves roughly £570 a month spare after that budget. Full-time minimum wage falls about £530 a month short, which is why many lower earners share or live in lodgings.
• A working couple in a two-bed flat with one car spends about £50,300 a year: roughly £29,100 each on two equal salaries, or £67,150 on one.
• A family of four in a three-bed house with a child at nursery spends about £86,800 a year, which takes about £52,250 each, or £104,500 together, once the child allowances and childcare relief are claimed.

Salary also decides your housing. A permanent full-time job paying £60,000 or more can come with Licensed status, which lets you rent or buy most homes; £54,000 can bring Licensed for Lease Only, to rent them. Below that, a newcomer is usually on Standard status and can rent only Registered property. The £60,000 line is about £11,600 above the median, and for many movers it is the number that matters most. See housing qualifications.

So, roughly: £45,000 to £50,000 leaves one person renting alone a few hundred pounds a month to save, about £60,000 makes the housing rules work in your favour, and a family renting a house needs around £100,000 or more between two earners.

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