# Minimum Wage vs Median Income: What a Typical Malaysian Salary Looks Like > The gazetted RM1,700 minimum wage next to DOSM's median and mean figures for household income and individual salaries — with the reference year for every number, so you can see where a given pay figure actually sits. - Category: cost-of-living - Language: en - Status: published - Updated: 2026-07-24 - Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/cost-of-living/minimum-wage-and-median-income --- ## At a glance | Metric | Value | Reference year | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Statutory minimum wage (monthly) | RM1,700 | In force since 1 Aug 2025 | Minimum Wages Order 2024, P.U.(A) 376 | | Statutory minimum wage (hourly) | RM8.72 | In force since 1 Aug 2025 | Minimum Wages Order 2024, P.U.(A) 376 | | Median individual salary & wages | RM2,793/month | 2024 | DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2024 | | Mean individual salary & wages | RM3,652/month | 2024 | DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2024 | | Median household income | RM7,017/month | 2024 | DOSM Household Income Survey Report 2024 | | Mean household income | RM9,155/month | 2024 | DOSM Household Income Survey Report 2024 | These three series measure different things and should not be read as one ladder. The minimum wage is a legal floor set per employee. Median/mean salary is what an individual earns from work. Median/mean household income pools every income source across everyone living in one household — DOSM records an average of 1.8 income earners and 3.7 persons per household for 2024. ## Why median and mean are both shown Malaysia's income and wage distributions are right-skewed: most earners sit below the average, and a smaller number of high earners pull the mean upward. - Individual salary: median RM2,793 vs mean RM3,652 — the mean is about 31% above the median. - Household income: median RM7,017 vs mean RM9,155 — the mean is about 30% above the median. Whenever only a mean ("average salary") is quoted, it will read higher than what a typical worker or household actually takes home. The median is the better number for "what does a typical person/household earn" — the mean is useful mainly for totals (e.g., estimating aggregate wage bills). ## The minimum wage floor The Minimum Wages Order 2024 (P.U.(A) 376) was gazetted on 4 December 2024 under the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 and set: - RM1,700 a month - RM8.72 an hour - RM65.38 / RM78.46 / RM98.08 a day for a six-, five- or four-day working week respectively It applied from 1 February 2025 to MASCO-classified professional employers and employers with five or more employees, and to every remaining employer from 1 August 2025 — the small-employer deferment has since ended. Full rules on scope, deductions and payment timing are covered in [Minimum Wage and the Rules on Paying Wages](/en/employment/minimum-wage-malaysia). At RM1,700, the minimum wage sits at roughly 61% of the 2024 median individual salary of RM2,793 — a gap, not a coincidence, since the median is pulled up by mid-career and skilled wages that the floor was never meant to track. ## Household income vs individual salary — why they diverge so much A median household income of RM7,017 looks nearly two and a half times the median individual salary of RM2,793. The difference is mechanical, not a contradiction: - The household figure **sums every earner in the home** — DOSM's 2024 survey records an average of 1.8 income earners per household. - It also includes **non-salary income**: self-employment, property, investment returns and current transfers, not only wages. - The two surveys use **different sampling units** (households vs individual salaried/wage employees), so they are not simply the same pie sliced two ways. ## Common mistakes - **Quoting the mean as "the average salary" without noting the median.** The gap between them (around 30% in both series above) is large enough to materially mislead a budget or a pay comparison. - **Comparing a personal salary directly against the household income figure.** A single-income household should be benchmarked against median individual salary, not median household income. - **Assuming the minimum wage tracks the median.** It is a statutory floor set through a separate legal process (the National Wages Consultative Council), not a fixed percentage of any DOSM income series. - **Treating either DOSM figure as current-year.** Both releases above report on 2024 as the reference year; check the release date against the year you are quoting, since DOSM issues each report roughly 9–12 months after the reference year closes. ## What's next - For the legal detail behind the RM1,700 floor — scope, deductions, payment deadlines: [Minimum Wage and the Rules on Paying Wages](/en/employment/minimum-wage-malaysia) - For the labour market these salaries sit inside: [Malaysia's Unemployment Rate and the Labour Force Behind It](/en/economy/unemployment-labour-force) - Primary sources: the [Minimum Wages Order 2024 portal](https://gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my/) and DOSM's [Household Income Survey Report 2024](https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/household-income-survey-report--malaysia--states-2024) and [Salaries and Wages Survey Report 2024](https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/salaries-and-wages-survey-report-2024). ## Sources - Sekretariat Majlis Perundingan Gaji Negara (Minimum Wages Order 2024 portal) — https://gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my/ (Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR)) - Perintah Gaji Minimum 2024 — P.U.(A) 376 — https://gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/PUA%20376.pdf (Attorney General's Chambers / MOHR) - Household Income Survey Report 2024 (Malaysia & States) — https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/household-income-survey-report--malaysia--states-2024 (Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM)) - Salaries and Wages Survey Report 2024 — https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/salaries-and-wages-survey-report-2024 (Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM)) --- Source of truth: https://github.com/negaraku-md/NegaraKu.md License: CC BY-SA 4.0