Bureau of Statistics: Beijinger Workers Average RMB 6,500 per Month

Patrick Li | Jun 17, 2015 9:00 am | 5 comments | 11471 reads

How much does the average Beijinger make? About RMB 6,500 a month, according to several recent studies.

Earlier this month the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics along with the Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security released a joint report regarding the average yearly income of Beijing residents during 2014.

According to the report, the average employee in Beijing makes RMB 77,560 per year, or RMB 6,463 per month, an increase of 11.6 percent over 2013's figures, which were RMB 69,521 and RMB 5,793, respectively.

Other publications have also released statistics on the same figures. For example, last month the magazine Women of China released their findings from a survey of their readers, which indicates that as of September 2014, women living in the city had an average monthly income of RMB 7,267. This discrepancy in averages is likely to be the result of a sample bias among readers of Women of China. The same report found that only 21.4 percent of women were satisfied with their family's overall income.

Another independent survey comes from Zhaopin.com, one of China’s largest job-seeking sites. According to the Zhaopin report, during the first quarter of 2015, the average worker in Beijing earns a monthly salary of RMB 6,688, which falls relatively close to the official figure of RMB 6,463.

Though different statistics vary in small amounts, we could still reasonably set the average wage in Beijing at around RMB 6,500. 

The following are the top 10 Chinese cities by average monthly salary (RMB) in Q1 2015, according to the Zhaopin report:

Shanghai, RMB 6,774
Beijing, RMB 6,688
Shenzhen, RMB 6,682
Hanghzou, RMB 6,653
Guangzhou, RMB 6,634
Wuxi, RMB 6,613
Ningbo, RMB 6,599
Chongqing, RMB 6,562
Suzhou, RMB 6,487
Chengdu, RMB 6,456

More stories by this author here.

Email: patrickli@thebeijinger.com
WeChat: xinwurenli
Weibo: @lucky__strike

Photo: techinasia.com

Comments

New comments are displayed first.

Comments

PatrickLi's picture PatrickLi Submitted by Guest on Fri, 06/19/2015 - 11:46

These numbers are obviously not crock of bullshit, if you have ever paid attention to the price level in this city and people's living standard, if you have ever seen the iphone6s used by ordinary Beijing subway commuters and the shit loads of BMWs and Audis on the road. I am a firm socialist and I have seen poor Chinese people, but I do believe that an average Beijing worker earns about RMB 6,500 per month.

The numbers are trustworthy also because they come from the bureau of statistics and the bureau of social security. These two departments are the relatively trustworthy ones, even in China. I don't think the bureau of statistics would make up some false numbers on Beijing workers' average income---that'd be ridiculous, and way too much work. If you have ever studied statistics, you will know how hard it is to manipulate with such huge data.

I think some beijing people appear to be poor. Take a construction worker for example. They can now earn about RMB 4000-5000 per month, but a large portion of their money goes back to their original home as remittance, and the rest goes to the rental, and they will end up with about RMB 1500 or so for themselves---but that doesn't mean they earn RMB 1500.

The other good argument you can make is the figures are not representitive. Being correct doesn't mean being representitive, and that's where the government can play an easy game. In data like this, many people may find themselves fall below the average because high earners tend to have astronomically high salaries, which can easily get the average hiked. A more representive figure might be the median or some sort of a curved figure.

squid's picture squid Submitted by Guest on Thu, 06/18/2015 - 22:37

Haha, yea, right, this is the average salary in Beijing. In other news, Beijing was voted the cleaniest air city in the northern hemisphere.

What a crock of bullshit. The survey claims this is the average salary in Wuxi, and Ningbo as well. Wait, I will finish typing after I wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes.

These figures aren't even close. You can't ask a bunch of girls who read a society magazine what their salary is, and make some observations about what the avergae is.

Does this survey include all people, even those without income? What about, does it include the head of Tencent, or Bank of China? Do you think if it did, it might skew the results?

Complete bs figure.

Validate your mobile phone number to post comments.