Last updated: 8 September 2026*
Italy’s average annual full-time adjusted salary was €33,523 in 2024, equivalent to €2,794 gross per calendar month when divided by 12. This Eurostat benchmark is useful for international comparisons, but it is not a typical Italian monthly payslip. Contracts may distribute annual pay across 13 or 14 instalments. The figure comes from Eurostat’s annual salary dataset, with the Italian observation also accessible in the Eurostat series reproduced by DBnomics.
Newer domestic evidence gives a different perspective. INPS’s report published in July 2026 puts average gross annual employee earnings in 2025 at €27,649, or approximately €2,304 when spread over 12 months. This broader earnings measure reflects differences in employment duration and working intensity; it is not a replacement observation for Eurostat’s full-time adjusted series. See the official INPS report announcement.
For a job offer, the most useful starting point is your guaranteed annual gross salary, followed by the payment schedule and an estimate of the deductions that apply where you live. A headline monthly average cannot answer all three questions.
Average Salary in Italy — Key Numbers
The measures below cover different populations and periods. Monthly equivalents are annual amounts divided by 12, rather than observed regular monthly salaries.
| Measure | Gross amount | Reference period and interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Average annual full-time adjusted salary | €33,523 annually; €2,794 per calendar month | Eurostat, 2024; international comparison benchmark |
| Average annual employee earnings | €27,649 annually; €2,304 per calendar month | INPS, 2025; broader actual earnings measure |
| Average annual earnings in the private-sector observatory | €24,486 annually; €2,041 per calendar month | INPS, 2024; includes part-time and partial-year work, with some public-sector employees also covered |
| Median hourly gross earnings | €13.35 per hour | ISTAT, 2022 structure of earnings survey; covered units with at least 10 employees |
| National statutory minimum wage | None | Eurostat, July 2026 |
| Illustrative net income on €33,523 gross | About €25,284 annually; €2,107 per calendar month | Finorum calculation using 2026 rules and the Milan assumptions below |
Sources: Eurostat salary release and methodology, INPS’s January 2026 earnings analysis, ISTAT’s structure of earnings release and Eurostat’s July 2026 minimum-wage statistics.
Why Official Salary Figures Differ
Eurostat combines national accounts and Labour Force Survey information, adjusting part-time salaries to full-time equivalents. Its annual measure incorporates remuneration across the year; annual supplements should not be added again to the published total. It is not a survey of the contractual base salary offered for a particular vacancy. Eurostat explains the construction of the indicator here.
INPS administrative earnings instead reflect the pay recorded for covered workers. Someone employed for only part of the year can therefore pull down the annual average without receiving a particularly low wage during the months they worked. Part-time hours also matter. The 2024 private-sector observatory excludes agricultural and domestic workers but includes certain public employees subject to the relevant contribution arrangements. Its annual earnings are recorded contributory remuneration, not a standardized full-year contractual RAL. See the methodology in the INPS statistical bulletin, hosted by Informazione Fiscale.
The newer 2025 INPS headline and the 2024 private-sector figure should consequently not be used to calculate a year-on-year wage increase. The populations differ. INPS reports growth of 3.6% for its own 2025 annual employee earnings measure, using its corresponding prior-year comparison. Sistan’s official summary identifies the reference year and growth rate.
Average vs Median Salary
The mean divides total earnings by the number of employees. The median identifies the middle of the distribution, making it less sensitive to a small number of very high salaries.
Italy does publish official median earnings statistics. In the 2022 structure of earnings survey, ISTAT reported a median gross hourly wage of €13.35, below the mean of approximately €16.40. The survey covers economic units with at least 10 employees within its defined scope. These are historical hourly observations, not a 2026 national monthly median. ISTAT’s survey results.
Multiplying that hourly median by an assumed working week would create a hypothetical figure, rather than an official median monthly salary. For the same reason, applying a tax calculator to a gross mean does not establish the mean net salary of all employees: their deductions and personal circumstances differ.
RAL, the Thirteenth Salary and the Fourteenth Salary
Italian job offers often quote RAL — retribuzione annua lorda, or annual gross remuneration. Ask which components are guaranteed, whether variable bonuses are additional, and how many instalments the annual amount covers.
Collective agreements can provide additional monthly payments, commonly called tredicesima and quattordicesima. Their entitlement and calculation depend on the applicable agreement. EURES identifies these as components of remuneration alongside contractual minimum pay, individual supplements and variable payments. Official guidance on Italian remuneration.
For an annual gross amount of €33,523, the arithmetic is:
| Division of the same annual gross amount | Equivalent amount |
|---|---|
| Annual total divided by 12 calendar months | €2,793.58 |
| Annual total divided into 13 equal gross instalments | €2,578.69 |
| Annual total divided into 14 equal gross instalments | €2,394.50 |
These are illustrative divisions, not a claim that every contract divides every pay component equally. Receiving more instalments does not increase an annual salary already quoted as including them.
For budgeting, request both the expected ordinary monthly net payment and the annual net total. An annual average can be adequate for comparing offers while still overstating the amount available in an ordinary month.
Gross vs Net Salary: A 2026 Milan Example
The following Finorum calculation models a 35-year-old, single, childless employee resident in Milan throughout 2026, working for the full year under ordinary private-sector taxation. It assumes €33,523 annual contributory gross pay, including contractual annual supplements, with no additional variable bonus, other income, deductible expenses, special inbound-worker relief or preferentially taxed payments.
For illustration, employee contributions are set at 9.19%, with no additional sector or fund deduction. This is a modelling assumption, not a universal contribution rate: employer classification and insurance arrangements can change the actual deduction. The Italy Net Salary Calculator explains these contribution differences and its own assumptions.
| Annual calculation | Amount, rounded |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | €33,523 |
| Employee social contributions | −€3,081 |
| Income subject to the modelled income taxes | €30,442 |
| National IRPEF before credits | −€7,246 |
| Ordinary employment tax credit, including the applicable €65 increment | +€1,763 |
| Additional employment tax credit | +€1,000 |
| Lombardy regional surcharge | −€432 |
| Milan municipal surcharge | −€244 |
| Estimated annual net salary | €25,284 |
| Annual net divided by 12 calendar months | €2,107 |
The calculation uses the national income-tax bands and employment-credit rules summarized by the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the additional employment relief introduced from 2025, Lombardy’s progressive regional rates and Milan’s municipal surcharge.
At the modelled taxable income, the ordinary employment credit is calculated as €1,910 × (€50,000 − taxable income) ÷ €22,000, plus €65. The additional credit is €1,000. Calculations use unrounded amounts before displaying whole euros.
Dividing the same annual net by 13 gives approximately €1,945, or €1,806 when divided by 14. These are equal-division equivalents, not predictions of individual payslips. Credit allocation, additional payments, local-tax withholding and year-end adjustments can change the payment pattern.
Use the Net Salary Calculator to explore your offer, checking its stated local-tax assumptions against your actual municipality and region.
Income Tax and Social Contributions in 2026
Italy’s national personal income tax, IRPEF, is progressive. The second rate fell to 33% in 2026; a table showing 35% describes the previous schedule.
| Annual taxable income slice | 2026 national IRPEF rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €28,000 | 23% |
| Above €28,000 and up to €50,000 | 33% |
| Above €50,000 | 43% |
These marginal rates apply to successive slices of taxable income before credits, not to the whole gross salary at one rate. Current parliamentary tax overview.
Regional and municipal surcharges are additional. Lombardy applies progressive rates of 1.23%, 1.58%, 1.72% and 1.73%, with thresholds at €15,000, €28,000 and €50,000. Milan applies 0.8%, with an exemption for taxable income up to €23,000. Above that exemption threshold, its surcharge applies to the taxable base, not just the excess. These are the locations used in the example, not nationwide rates. Lombardy regional tax guidance; Milan municipal tax guidance.
Employee contributions reduce the amount available to spend and, under ordinary treatment, the income-tax base. Employer contributions are a separate employment cost and should not be deducted again from an employee’s quoted gross salary.
Some eligible contractual increases, performance bonuses and shift-related payments have specific 2026 tax treatment, subject to limits and conditions. The model above excludes those arrangements. A new hire should therefore ask payroll whether the offer contains any such components. See the 2026 measures in the parliamentary overview and Finorum’s Italy Tax Guide.
Does Italy Have a Minimum Wage?
Italy has no universal national statutory minimum wage. Eurostat’s July 2026 release continues to list Italy among the five EU countries without one. A proposed hourly figure should not be presented as an enacted nationwide wage floor. Eurostat minimum-wage statistics.
Collective agreements, known as CCNLs, are central to determining minimum pay by sector and contractual classification. When reviewing an offer, ask for the agreement’s name, your livello or grade, the hours covered and the applicable pay table. A monthly minimum is difficult to interpret without those details. EURES guidance on pay and collective agreements.
Salaries by Industry
The following 2024 INPS figures are actual average annual gross earnings, not full-time vacancy salaries. The source includes part-time and partial-year workers. Annual amounts are preferable here because seasonal employment can make a monthly conversion misleading.
| INPS activity category | Average annual gross earnings |
|---|---|
| Financial and insurance activities | €56,429 |
| Electricity and gas supply | €50,015 |
| Information and communication | €35,227 |
| Manufacturing | €32,487 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | €28,855 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; motor vehicle repair | €23,577 |
| Construction | €22,106 |
| Human health and social work | €18,720 |
| Education, including public-school substitute teachers | €16,451 |
| Accommodation and food services | €11,233 |
Source: INPS private-sector observatory, 2024, table 5. Accommodation and food services averaged 183 paid days; its annual figure is not the salary for twelve months of full-time hotel or restaurant work.
Industry categories also differ from occupations. Information and communication includes employees outside technical roles, while software specialists can work in manufacturing or finance. Use these figures to understand broad differences, then compare an offer with the actual responsibilities and contractual grade.
For public employment, INPS’s separate analysis reports €35,350 average annual earnings in 2024 across its public-employee population. That is approximately €2,946 when divided by 12, but it should not be labelled a public-administration industry salary or inserted into the private-sector table. INPS earnings analysis, public-sector section.
Regional Salary Differences
INPS’s 2024 private-sector analysis shows a substantial geographic divide:
| Geographic area | Average annual gross earnings |
|---|---|
| North-west | €28,852 |
| North-east | €25,723 |
| Centre | €23,850 |
| South | €18,254 |
| Islands | €17,898 |
Source: INPS earnings analysis, table 8.
Classification follows the worker’s last employment relationship, including its workplace, while annual remuneration sums the worker’s jobs during the year. These are not statistics of household income by residence. INPS observatory methodology.
A regional average cannot establish the salary for Milan, Rome or a particular occupation. Nor does it isolate a location premium: differences in industries, hours and employment continuity also affect the result. Someone comparing two cities should match the job and working pattern first, then compare housing and commuting costs using the Cost of Living in Italy guide.
Are Salaries Keeping Up With Inflation?
ISTAT reports that contractual wages increased by 3.1% on average in 2025, while harmonised consumer-price inflation, HICP, averaged 1.7%. Using the same annual period, the implied real contractual-wage increase was approximately 1.4%, calculated as 1.031 ÷ 1.017 − 1. This is a Finorum calculation from the rates in ISTAT’s October–December 2025 wage release.
The latest quarterly release available at this update covers April–June 2026, published on 29 July 2026. Hourly contractual wages in June were 2.4% higher than a year earlier and 0.5% higher than in May. These are negotiated contractual wage indices, not average take-home earnings. ISTAT’s latest contractual-wage release.
A positive annual real change does not mean earlier purchasing-power losses have disappeared. The EU Council’s July 2026 assessment still identifies Italy among the member states with the largest real-wage declines since 2019. Council recommendation on Italy, July 2026.
Gender Pay Differences
ISTAT’s 2022 structure of earnings survey reports an unadjusted hourly gender pay gap of 5.6% in its covered population. This compares mean hourly earnings for women and men; it does not measure unequal pay for identical work. Hours, occupations, seniority and the public/private employment mix all matter when interpreting aggregate differences. ISTAT’s gender-pay findings.
Annual earnings gaps answer a broader question because they also reflect how much paid work people obtain over the year. Neither measure should be substituted for the other when evaluating an employer’s pay practices.
What Is a Good Salary in Italy?
A useful salary target starts with the household budget. Decide how much you need after housing, utilities, food, transport, childcare and savings, then work back to the required annual gross offer.
For example, using the Milan model’s €2,107 monthly net equivalent, a hypothetical €900 rent leaves €1,207 before other costs. A €1,300 rent leaves €807. These rents are budget scenarios, not measured city averages. The €400 difference is nevertheless real in the decision: it has to be covered by higher take-home pay, lower spending elsewhere or lower savings.
Use the Cost of Living Comparison Tool to build comparable budgets, and the EU Relocation Score to explore how changing your priorities affects a relocation comparison. The EU Country Comparison Map provides a wider overview of salaries, taxes and costs.
When comparing Italy with nearby alternatives, read the Austria salary guide, France salary guide and Germany salary guide alongside Finorum’s Average Salary Comparison. Match reference years and definitions before drawing conclusions from the headline figures.
Practical Checks Before Accepting an Offer
Ask the employer to confirm the annual guaranteed gross amount, the CCNL and grade, weekly hours, number of salary instalments and which bonuses depend on performance. Request an illustrative payslip using your intended residence and family circumstances.
Also establish how the package treats meal benefits, supplementary pension contributions and termination-related amounts. Money earmarked for a later payment should not automatically be treated as income available for current rent.
For a remote role, confirm whether the arrangement is employment or self-employment before comparing gross amounts. A contractor’s invoice revenue is not directly comparable with an employee’s RAL. Cross-border work can also change payroll and tax obligations; start with the Italy Tax Guide before relying on an ordinary domestic salary estimate.
If investments form part of your relocation plans, use Investing in Italy for the broader context and the Italy CGT Calculator for supported disposal scenarios. For property income, the Rental Property Tax Calculator EU helps explore rental-income taxation; it is not a complete calculation of ownership costs or investment returns.
Explore More on Finorum
Check your salary, relocation budget and wider financial plans with these Finorum tools and guides:
- Italy Net Salary Calculator — Estimate take-home pay and review the payroll assumptions behind the result.
- Italy CGT Calculator — Explore the tax treatment of supported investment disposals.
- EU Relocation Score — Compare destinations using your financial priorities.
- EU Country Comparison Map — Explore country-level salary, tax and cost indicators.
- Rental Property Tax Calculator EU — Estimate rental-income taxes in supported European scenarios.
- Italy Tax Guide — Understand the wider tax rules behind your salary and other income.
- Cost of Living in Italy — Assess housing and everyday expenses before setting a salary target.
- Investing in Italy — Read about investment accounts, brokers and relevant tax considerations.
- Average Salary Comparison — Compare European earnings with attention to the data definitions.
- Cost of Living Comparison Tool — Build a budget comparison for possible destinations.
- Average Salary in Austria — Compare Austrian earnings and salary-payment conventions.
- Average Salary in France — Explore French salary measures and take-home pay.
- Average Salary in Germany — Compare German earnings and payroll deductions.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information, not tax, legal, financial or employment advice. Official salary statistics describe the stated populations and reference periods. Net-pay figures are illustrative calculations, not official average net salaries or guaranteed payslips. Actual results depend on employment terms, contribution arrangements, residence, other income, credits and individual circumstances. Confirm your position with the relevant authority or a qualified payroll or tax professional.
Iva Buće is a Master of Economics specializing in digital marketing and logistics. She combines analytical thinking with creativity to make financial and investment topics accessible to a broader audience. At Finorum, she focuses on translating complex economic concepts into clear, practical insights for everyday readers and investors.
Sources & References
EU regulations & taxation
- Comune.milano.it — Milan municipal tax guidance
- European Commission / Taxation & Customs — Council recommendation on Italy, July 2026
- EURES guidance on pay and collective agreements
- Eurostat explains the construction of the indicator here
- Eurostat minimum-wage statistics
- Eurostat’s annual salary dataset
- Regione.lombardia.it — Lombardy regional tax guidance
- Temi.camera.it — 2026 measures in the parliamentary overview
Additional educational resources
- Comune.milano.it — Milan’s municipal surcharge
- Db.nomics.world — Eurostat series reproduced by DBnomics
- Fiscooggi.it — additional employment relief introduced from 2025
- Informazionefiscale.it — INPS observatory methodology
- Inps.it — INPS earnings analysis, table 8
- official INPS report announcement
- Istat.it — ISTAT’s gender-pay findings
- ISTAT’s latest contractual-wage release
- ISTAT’s October–December 2025 wage release
- Regione.lombardia.it — Lombardy’s progressive regional rates
- Sistan.it — Sistan’s official summary identifies the reference year and growth rate