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Salary Calculator Seek: How Your Pay Compares to the National Index
Learn how Seek's salary calculator estimates pay and where it sits on the Australian Salary Index. Compare your earnings to the national line with our guide.
The Seek salary calculator provides estimates based on job ads, but its figures are uncertain against the national index; use the index as a benchmark.
What is the Seek salary calculator?
The Seek salary calculator is a free online tool that estimates pay for thousands of job titles across Australia. You enter a role and location, and it returns a typical salary range based on recent job ads and anonymous user data. It is a practical starting point when you are negotiating a raise, planning a career move, or just curious where your pay stands.
But how do you know if that estimate is high, low, or about average? That is where the Salary Index comes in. The index sets a national line of 100, which equals full-time adult ordinary-time earnings of $108,352 per year (from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026). By comparing a salary calculator figure to this line, you get a clear picture of where it sits in the broader economy.
How the Salary Index compares
The index is not a guess or a survey of job ads. It is built from official ABS data on what Australian workers actually earn in ordinary time. For example, the national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $52,255 per year, which gives an index of 48.2 – well below the line. At the other end, the mining industry index is 154.7, meaning the typical full-time worker in mining earns about 55% more than the national average.
When you use a tool like the Seek salary calculator, you are seeing market rates that may be influenced by supply and demand, location, and employer size. The index gives you a stable benchmark. If the calculator says a role pays $120,000, that is an index of roughly 111 – above the national line. If it says $80,000, that is 74 – below the line. You can also check how the index works for the full formula.
Using the calculator with the index
Let us walk through an example. Suppose you are a retail manager in New South Wales. The Seek calculator might show a range of $75,000 to $95,000. The retail trade industry index is 75.9, meaning the average retail worker earns about 24% less than the national line. So a $85,000 estimate (index 78) would be slightly above the retail average but still below the national line. That makes sense because retail tends to pay less than industries like professional services (index 114.7) or mining.
You can also factor in your state. New South Wales has an index of 101.2, a touch above the national line. Victoria is 98, Queensland 97.9, and Western Australia is 106.9. If you live in WA and the calculator gives a figure, it may be higher than the same role in Tasmania (index 88.6). The states page breaks down these differences.
Example: Retail trade
Take a full-time retail sales assistant covered by the General Retail Industry Award. The award minimum from 1 July 2026 is $25.74 per hour for an adult Level 1 employee, which works out to about $978 per week or $50,856 per year (index 46.9). But many retail workers earn above the award. The Seek calculator might show $55,000 to $65,000 for an experienced sales assistant in a city. That would be an index of 51 to 60 – still well below the national line but above the award floor.
If you are in accommodation and food services (index 72.5), the typical pay is even lower. A chef or waiter might see estimates around $60,000 to $70,000, which is index 55 to 65. The index helps you see that these industries are structurally lower-paying, not just your personal situation.
Caveats
The Seek salary calculator is a guide, not a guarantee. It does not include superannuation (12% from 1 July 2026) or bonuses. The Salary Index uses gross ordinary-time earnings, so it is a direct comparison of base pay. Also, the index is an average for all full-time adults in a category, not a median. Your individual experience, qualifications, and employer can push your pay higher or lower.
If you are using the calculator to check a job offer, remember that modern awards and enterprise agreements may set higher minimums than the national minimum wage. For example, the national minimum wage is $26.44 per hour, but many awards pay more. Always check the relevant award via the Fair Work Ombudsman.
For a deeper dive into specific fields, see our industries page, which lists indices for sectors like health care (97.8) and education (105.5). And if you want to calculate your own index, the how the index works page explains the simple maths.
Final thoughts
The Seek salary calculator is a handy tool, but it only tells part of the story. By combining it with the Salary Index, you can see where any pay figure sits against the national line. Whether you are above or below 100, the index gives context that a simple dollar amount cannot. Use both to make informed decisions about your career and pay.
Questions people ask
How accurate is the Seek salary calculator?
Seek's salary calculator draws on job advertisements and user-submitted data, so it reflects market rates rather than official benchmarks. It is a useful guide but can vary by location, experience, and industry. For a standardised comparison, use the Salary Index which is based on ABS Average Weekly Earnings.
How do I use the Salary Index with Seek?
Take the annual salary shown by Seek's calculator and divide it by the national line of $108,352 (index 100), then multiply by 100. For example, a $90,000 estimate gives an index of about 83, meaning it is below the national average. You can also compare to state or industry indices from our site.
Does the Seek salary calculator include super?
No, Seek's estimates are typically base salary (gross) excluding superannuation. The Salary Index also uses gross ordinary-time earnings before super. Remember that from 1 July 2026 the super guarantee is 12%, so add that for total remuneration.