City of Sails falls behind in salary race

A surprising pay survey shows Auckland is no longer offering the highest wages – so which region has ousted New Zealand’s biggest city?

The results of a recent study have been surprising employers across New Zealand as data shows Auckland is no longer the place to be for pumped-up pay packets.

Job search company Seek revealed that Wellington had the highest advertised salaries last year – sitting at a considerable $80,438 despite a 0.2 per cent drop from 2014.

In contrast, the average advertised salary in City of Sails stood at $75,856 – placing Auckland in second position ahead of Taranaki where the average advertised salary fell four per cent to $72,475.

"Unlike Auckland, Wellington doesn't have much of a manufacturing sector which has lower wages,” explained Andrew Whiteford, managing director at Wellington-based economic research firm Infometrics.

“The average salary [for Wellington] reflects a more highly skilled workforce,” he told the New Zealand Herald. “Auckland is more typical of the whole of New Zealand," he added.

Whiteford also told the news outlet that the slight drop since 2014 was nothing to be worried about.

"The Government has a big impact and when they cut back it affects a lot of people but that has worked through the system and the Government is growing again and spending,” he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, Malborough was identified as the area with the lowest advertised salaries – standing at just $63,601.

Despite the last-place position, there was some good news for the region as it saw a 7.6 per cent jump since 2014.


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