Wealth

How much you should be earning in your 30s in 2017

Staff Writer

 ·31 Jan 2017

Salary research group, PayScale, has updated its salary data for 2017, showing what South Africans can expect to earn after their first 10 years of working experience.

It is important to note that PayScale’s salary data is determined by years of experience, and not by age specifically. However, it can be assumed that experience and age are closely aligned if most employees leave university at age 21.

The salary data below also carries some caveats – primarily that it is an overall picture of median salaries, captured across all industries, for people who hold a bachelor’s degree.

Different career paths also “peak” at different times: economists at PayScale note that any career where the majority of training happens in school or within the first few years of work, will likely not see much pay growth after that.

Previous research conducted by PayScale showed that the biggest jump in salary happened when people were leaving their 20s and entering their 30s. From 20 to 30, on average, men and women both saw salaries increase by 60%.

According to PayScale’s data for 2017, this is what South Africans in their 30s can expect to be paid (per annum) with 10 to 19 years of work experience:

• From 10 – 19 years experience: R486,650

The salary data is based on reported information by 31,920 South African employees with up between 10 and 19 years working experience, updated as of 27 January 2017. Figures represent the median salary.

These are the most popular jobs for each bracket of work experience:

Most popular jobs: 10 – 19 years experience