What is working people’s income?

The income of people in the Netherlands with a paid job in 2021 was just under 47 thousand euros a year on average. Work was the main source of income for 8.1 million people in that year. More than half of them (4.2 million) had an income of between 20 and 50 thousand euros.

The group earning less than 10 thousand euros of income consisted of 377 thousand people. At the other end of the scale, 448 thousand people (5.5 percent) earned at least 100 thousand euros, and 1.6 thousand had an income of more than 1 million euros a year.

As these high incomes pull up the average Dutch income from work, CBS also calculates the median income. This is the amount positioned in the middle when all workers’ incomes are ordered from low to high. In other words: 50 percent of workers earn less than this median, and 50 percent earn more. While the average income per working person was 46.9 thousand euros in 2021, the median income was substantially lower, at 39.1 thousand euros.

Show datatableDistribution of personal annual income, people in work, 2021 (People in work (x 1,000) per income class of 1,000 euros)Hide datatableDistribution of personal annual income, people in work, 2021 (People in work (x 1,000) per income class of 1,000 euros)

Distribution of personal annual income, people in work, 2021 (People in work (x 1,000) per income class of 1,000 euros)

1,000 euros	People in work
<0	22
1	38
2	29
3	29
4	28
5	29
6	34
7	37
8	41
9	43
10	47
11	51
12	56
13	61
14	71
15	89
16	98
17	103
18	107
19	113
20	116
21	122
22	125
23	132
24	141
25	145
26	147
27	150
28	150
29	149
30	151
31	151
32	149
33	149
34	152
35	152
36	153
37	151
38	150
39	148
40	146
41	144
42	141
43	135
44	131
45	131
46	127
47	120
48	120
49	111
50	107
51	107
52	97
53	93
54	88
55	85
56	82
57	82
58	78
59	72
60	67
61	67
62	63
63	65
64	63
65	59
66	54
67	52
68	50
69	48
70	47
71	46
72	44
73	43
74	38
75	37
76	35
77	33
78	32
79	32
80	32
81	30
82	29
83	26
84	25
85	25
86	23
87	22
88	22
89	21
90	19
91	19
92	17
93	17
94	16
95	15
96	15
97	15
98	14
99	13
100	13

Large differences between self-employed

Income disparities are larger between self-employed people than between employees. This is because self-employed people can make large profits, but they can also incur losses. As a result, they are often found in the highest income groups, but also in the groups with low or negative income. Although one in six of all working people in the Netherlands are self-employed, in the group earning at least 100 thousand euros, this is one in three.

The questions

1. What keeps people from eating healthier?
2. What is working people’s income?
3. How much of the energy we consume is renewable?
4. What percentage wears glasses?
5. How are the dragonflies and butterflies doing?
6. How many housing units are there?
7. How does home burglary affect people?
8. In what occupations do most people work from home?
9. How much more expensive did food get?
10. How many babies were born to unmarried mothers?
11. From which countries do most immigrants come?
12. How many centenarians are there?
13. How do fathers and mothers divide work and care?
14. How many cars are there?
15. How much milk does a cow produce?
16. What portion of income went to food in 1936?
17. How many pigs were there in 1910?
18. How many cattle and pigs in the Netherlands?
19. What do we import from China?
20. What type of shop is seen less and less?
21. How many nights are spent in Dutch hotels?
22. How often do older people have contact with neighbours?
23. How many adults comply with the physical activity guidelines?
24. Where do international students in the Netherlands come from?
25. What are the major religions?
26. How many litres of water do we use per day?
27. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
28. How many inhabitants in the Netherlands??
29. Where can we ride our bikes?
30. At what age do workers retire?
31. Which day has the most birthdays?
32. How many people have a student debt?
33. How does CBS handle your privacy?