The average annual pay in New Zealand stands at around NZ$77,130 before tax. And IT salaries are among the most highly-paid in the country.
Tech occupations in-demand in New Zealand include software engineers and developers, project managers, business analysts, computer systems designers, and interactive gaming specialists. Among the popular programming languages are C#, Java, and PHP.
How much you can earn
According to the Trade Me website, the median annual pay in New Zealand’s IT sector is NZ$100,000 (based on advertised jobs). It varies from NZ$45,000 to NZ$207,000 per year depending on the specialization, experience, location, type of the contract, and a specific company.
And here are median IT salaries in New Zealand (NZ$, before tax) according to Glassdoor (based on users’ reports):
- Software developer: 76,130 (55,000 – 101,000)
- Front-end developer: 78,580 (75,000 – 85,000)
- Full-stack developer: 80,440 (60,000 – 95,000)
- DevOps engineer: 79,070 (55,000 – 124,000)
- Database administrator: 78,370 (39,000 – 103,000)
- Web designer: 77,280 (65,000 – 79,000)
- System administrator: 49,600 (40,000 – 65,000)
- IT project manager: 102,800 (65,000 – 137,000)
- QA engineer: 105,270
- Technical writer: 36,490 (33,000 – 40,000)
- Security analyst: 60,153 (46,000 – 84,000)
All the above-mentioned salaries are calculated before taxes. For example, if you earn NZ$80,000 per annum, you’ll take home just about NZ$60,000 per year or NZ$4,930 per month. You can use one of the online salary calculators to calculate your net salary (a take-home pay).
→ Salaries in New Zealand cities
Cost of living in New Zealand
Is the net monthly salary of NZ$4,930 enough to live in New Zealand? It depends on your spending and the size of your family. The minimum expenses are about NZ$2,700 per month and can reach as much as NZ$5,500 or even more. Here are examples of monthly expenses in New Zealand (NZ$):
- Rental accommodation: 1,500 – 2,000
- Food and alcohol: 250 – 1,300
- Clothing and footwear: 70–140
- Health: 120–150
- Leisure activities: 280–580
- Utilities and Internet: 170–400
- Transport: 340–930
Keep in mind that life in Auckland in Wellington (especially rent) is more expensive than in smaller cities in New Zealand.