The median monthly wage in Russia is around 34,335 rubles, according to the official statistics. This was the median monthly salary in Russia in April 2019. Thus, half of Russians earn less than USD 540 per month.

How much money do people earn in Russia?

• Monthly wages of top 10% of earners exceed the salaries of the bottom 10% by 13 times. The average wage of top 10% of earners was 157,200 rubles. The bottom 10% earn on average 12,000 rubles.
• Wages of top 20% earners compose 48% of all employees’ income.

We should remember that the official statistics only considers wages of the medium and large companies. Businesses employing just a few people are not in the stats.

Vladimir Gimpelson from the Centre of Labour Research pointed out that because of that, the actual average wages are lower, since small companies are paying lesser wages.

Officially, the average monthly wage in the country is 47,657 rubles (USD 750). It’s much higher than the median salary.

Gimpelson pointed out that such a difference indicated high inequality among workers, many of whom get pay checks much lower than the officially reported average wages. This is why average people see the  numbers reported by media as inadequate, Elena Yegorova from Moscow’s Plekhanov University explained. 14 million people are employed by such enterprises.

Different regions of Russia show various degree of inequality (difference between the median and average wages). Moscow has 31.2% gap between the media and average wages, while in Sakhalin the gap is 28.8%.

The lowest and highest median wages in Russia

National autonomous republics in Causasus have the lowest median wages.

1. Kabardino-Balkaria: 19,800 RUB ($311)
2. Ingushetia: 19,950 RUB ($314)
3. Dagestan: 20,020 RUB ($315)
4. Karachaevo-Cherkessia: 20,790 RUB ($327)
5. Severnaya Osetiya: 21,060 RUB ($331)

Highest median monthly wages are in the northern regions where oil and gas are mined, as well as in the Russian capital.

1. Yamalo-Nenetsky Okrug: 77,540 RUB ($1,221)
2. Chukotka: 76,870 RUB ($1,210)
3. Nenetsky Okrug: 71,300 RUB ($1,123)
4. Magadan region: 69,320 RUB ($1,092)
5. Moscow: 66,100 RUB ($1,041)

So, in Moscow you are poor if you are earning less than USD 1,000 per month (less than the median salary).

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