Income percentiles · ATO 2023–24 · Updated July 2026
What income puts you in the top 10% in Australia?
About $149,000 a year in taxable income puts you in the top 10% of all Australian taxpayers (ATO 2023–24). But the bar moves a lot by age and sex — among men aged 45–54 it takes roughly $219,000, while for under-25s it's under $80,000.
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Top 10% by age and sex
The national threshold hides huge variation. Here's the taxable income needed to crack the top 10% of your own demographic:
| Age band | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | $76,700 | $66,500 |
| 25–34 | $140,100 | $112,300 |
| 35–44 | $191,500 | $142,900 |
| 45–54 | $219,500 | $155,600 |
| 55–64 | $193,900 | $133,500 |
| 65+ | $133,200 | $105,500 |
What the gap between the columns tells you
The male–female gap at the 90th percentile peaks in the 45–54 band at about $64,000 a year. That's not an hourly-pay gap so much as a full-time/part-time, occupation and seniority gap compounding over careers — visible directly in the raw ATO distributions.
Note the 65+ thresholds: most retirees draw tax-free super, which doesn't show up as taxable income. A modest taxable income after 65 can coexist with substantial actual spending power.
Common questions
Is a $150,000 salary top 10% in Australia?
Just about — the 2023–24 threshold sits near $149,000 of taxable income. If you're under 40, $150,000 puts you comfortably inside your age group's top 10%; between 45 and 54, you'd need closer to $190,000+ to say the same.
What about household income?
These are individual taxpayer figures. Two median earners together (~$117,000) out-earn most single incomes — a household in the top 10% needs roughly $270,000+ combined, depending on the measure. Our ranking page compares household income separately.
Does the top 10% pay most of the income tax?
Yes — the top 10% of earners consistently pay around half of all net personal income tax, a product of progressive brackets and how much of total income they earn.