Pay Calculator NSW: Your Take-Home Pay in New South Wales
NSWTake-home pay in New South Wales is gross salary less federal income tax and the 2% Medicare levy on the ATO 2026-27 rates, with 12% super paid by the employer on top. NSW-specific rules sit outside the tax sum: long service leave of 8.67 weeks after 10 years, and payroll tax of 5.45% above $1,200,000 paid by employers, not deducted from wages.
What comes out
To check a payslip, compare the weekly, fortnightly or monthly figure above that matches your pay period with the net pay on your slip; see how to read an Australian payslip.
NSW pay at a glance
- Minimum wage: the national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour ($1,004.90 for a 38-hour week) from 1 July 2026; most jobs pay an award rate above it (see the minimum wage guide).
- Public holidays: 13 in 2026, 6 of them NSW-only. Working one usually attracts 200%–250% of your base rate under an award (dates in the public holiday table below).
- Long service leave: 8.67 weeks after 10 years under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW): NSW long service leave calculator.
- Government jobs: NSW public service pay scales, NSW teacher pay and NSW nurse pay rates.
- Emergency services: NSW paramedic pay, NSW police pay and NSW firefighter pay.
- Workers compensation: if you are injured at work, the NSW scheme (icare NSW) covers weekly payments and medical costs. Your employer pays the premium; nothing is deducted from your pay for it.
Minimum wage and state awards in New South Wales
The National Minimum Wage is $26.44 an hour ($1,004.90 for a 38-hour week) from 1 July 2026, and it applies to adults in the national system whatever the state. Most people earn an award rate above it: see what the minimum wage in Australia is and the award rates guide.
NSW state public sector and local government employees are not covered by the national system and remain under the NSW state system. Most private-sector employees in New South Wales are in the national system.
The NSW Industrial Relations Commission’s State Wage Case 2026 ([2026] NSWIRComm 16, orders made 25 August 2026) adopted the Fair Work Commission’s 4.75% increase for NSW state minimum rates awards, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 for most of them and 1 September 2026 for a few. If you are paid under a NSW state award, check the current rate schedule on the NSW IRC State Wage Case 2026 page.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work system, read 5 October 2026. Check with Fair Work or your state industrial commission if you are unsure which system covers your employer.
How much of a NSW salary do you actually keep?
There is no such thing as NSW income tax. Every dollar of income tax you pay goes to the Commonwealth, on the same scale used in Perth and Hobart. What follows is the arithmetic on $109,658, the average full-time wage in this state, and the highest of any state on the mainland east coast.
Worked example: $109,658 in New South Wales
$109,658 is what a full-time adult in New South Wales earns on average before overtime: ABS average weekly ordinary time earnings of $2,108.80 a week, May 2026, over 52 weeks.
| Gross salary | $109,658 |
| Income tax | − $23,417 |
| Medicare levy (2%) | − $2,193 |
| Take-home pay | $84,048 |
That is $1,616.31 a week, $3,232.62 a fortnight or $7,004.00 a month in the bank.
Effective tax rate 23.4%. The next dollar you earn is taxed at 32%, which is your tax bracket rate plus the 2% Medicare levy.
Superannuation of $13,159 at 12% is paid by your employer on top, making the package $122,817.
With a HECS-HELP debt, a further $6,020 is withheld and take-home pay falls to $78,028, or $3,001.08 a fortnight.
Enter your own salary in the calculator above to see your NSW take-home pay. If you are weighing up an offer, the pay rise calculator shows what a raise is worth after tax, and the 2026-27 tax brackets show where the next threshold sits.
Is your NSW salary normal? What the ABS says
NSW is the highest-paying state after Western Australia and the ACT. Full-time adults in NSW earn $2,108.80 a week in ordinary time earnings. Note the gap between the first and last rows of the table: the "all employees" figure is dragged down by part-time hours, not by lower hourly rates.
| NSW average weekly earnings | Per week | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time adults, ordinary hoursBase pay only: the figure this page's worked example uses | $2,108.80 | $109,658 |
| Full-time adults, including overtimeAdds overtime, so it runs ahead of the ordinary-time figure | $2,177.30 | $113,220 |
| Full-time adult menOrdinary time earnings | $2,204.50 | $114,634 |
| Full-time adult womenOrdinary time earnings | $1,970.70 | $102,476 |
| All employees, including part-timePulled down by part-time hours, not by lower rates | $1,616.00 | $84,032 |
Full-time adults in New South Wales earn 1.2% more than the national average of $2,083.70 a week. Source: ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, released 13 August 2026 (Table 13, original series). Read on 28 August 2026.
The ABS average is not a minimum. If you think you are underpaid in NSW, the legal floor is your award rate. See the Australian award rates guide, or the retail and hospitality rates, the two awards that cover the most NSW workers.
NSW public holidays and what they do to your pay
NSW has the leanest public holiday calendar in the country: 13 days, with no equivalent of Melbourne Cup Day, Canberra Day or the Ekka. What NSW does have is an extra day when Anzac Day falls on a weekend, and the October Labour Day that Victoria and WA hold in March.
New South Wales publishes 13 public holidays for 2026, and 6 of them are not observed Australia-wide. A worker one state over is not paid a public holiday penalty rate on those days, which are marked NSW only in the table below.
| 2026 date | Public holiday | Observed |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 1 January | New Year's Day | Nationwide |
| Monday 26 January | Australia Day | Nationwide |
| Friday 3 April | Good Friday | Nationwide |
| Saturday 4 April | Easter Saturday | NSW only |
| Sunday 5 April | Easter Sunday | NSW only |
| Monday 6 April | Easter Monday | Nationwide |
| Saturday 25 April | Anzac Day | Nationwide |
| Monday 27 April | Additional public holiday for Anzac Day | NSW only |
| Monday 8 June | King's Birthday | NSW only |
| Monday 5 October | Labour Day | NSW only |
| Friday 25 December | Christmas Day | Nationwide |
| Saturday 26 December | Boxing Day | Nationwide |
| Monday 28 December | Additional public holiday for Boxing Day | NSW only |
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, 2026 public holidays, read 28 August 2026. Regional and part-day variations apply, so check the New South Wales government list that covers your town.
NSW public holidays 2026 & 2027: every date, regional days and public holiday pay rates →
Why the NSW list matters to your pay
Under most modern awards, working a public holiday attracts a penalty of 200% to 250% of your base rate. You have a right to be absent on a public holiday. If you are full-time or part-time and the holiday falls on a day you normally work, you are paid your base rate for the ordinary hours you would have worked; casual employees are not paid for a public holiday they do not work. You are entitled to the public holidays where you are based for work, not where you happen to be standing on the day.
Work out what a holiday shift is actually worth with the overtime and penalty rate calculator, or read the penalty rates guide.
Regional NSW also has local show-day holidays declared council by council. Those are not in the state-wide list above; check with NSW Government for your area.
Long service leave in NSW
NSW runs on the oldest long service leave statute in the country, the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW), which still measures the entitlement in months and defines a month as 4⅓ weeks.
Ten years of continuous service with the same employer earns 8.67 weeks (two months) of paid long service leave, then 4.33 weeks for every further 5 years. Between 5 and 10 years a pro-rata payment is only owed if the employer ends the employment for a reason other than serious or wilful misconduct, or you resign because of illness, incapacity, or domestic or other pressing necessity. Past 10 years the accrued long service leave is paid out however the job ends.
| Governing law | Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW) |
| Service before you can take leave | 10 years |
| Leave at that point | 8.67 weeks |
| After that | a further 4.33 weeks (one month) for each additional 5 years of service |
| Pro-rata payment when the job ends | From 5 years |
| Who to ask | NSW Industrial Relations |
Long service leave is paid at your ordinary rate, so the calculator at the top of this page tells you what a week of it is worth after tax. A lump sum paid out when you leave is taxed differently: see the final pay calculator. Source: NSW Industrial Relations, read 28 August 2026.
Work out your own balance and payout with the NSW long service leave calculator.
Building and construction workers are covered separately by the NSW Long Service Corporation's portable scheme, which follows you between employers rather than resetting each time you change jobs.
Does NSW payroll tax come out of your pay?
Does NSW payroll tax come out of your pay? No.
Payroll tax is a cost of hiring you, not a deduction from your pay. Once an employer's Australian wage bill passes $1,200,000 a year it pays 5.45% to the Revenue NSW on top of wages. Payroll tax never appears on your payslip and never reduces your gross salary. Employers can find the rates, thresholds and due dates on the NSW payroll tax page.
Workers compensation premiums (iCare in NSW) work the same way: an employer expense, never a payslip line. The legitimate deductions are listed in the payslip guide; anything else is worth querying.
Pay calculators for other states
Income tax is identical everywhere in Australia. What changes is the public holiday calendar, the long service leave Act and the payroll tax your employer pays.
Employer? NSW payroll tax is on its own page
New South Wales payroll tax for 2026-27: 5.45% above a $1,200,000 threshold, administered by the Revenue NSW. The rates, phase-outs, registration rules, due dates and a calculator set to NSW are on the payroll tax page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Income tax in Australia is levied by the federal government through the ATO. The tax brackets, Medicare levy, and HECS-HELP repayment rates are exactly the same in NSW as they are in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, or any other state and territory. There is no state-level income tax anywhere in Australia.
Full-time adults in NSW earn $2,108.80 a week in ordinary time earnings, about $109,658 a year (ABS, May 2026). The worked example above breaks that down to weekly, fortnightly and monthly net pay.
NSW has thirteen state-wide public holidays in 2026, the fewest of any state or territory. NSW adds a day when Anzac Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend but has no equivalent of Melbourne Cup Day, Canberra Day or the Royal Queensland Show. Regional show days are declared locally and sit outside the state-wide list.
After 10 years of continuous service with the same employer you are entitled to 8.67 weeks (two months) of paid leave under the Long Service Leave Act 1955, then 4.33 weeks for each further 5 years. Between 5 and 10 years a pro-rata payment is only owed in defined circumstances.
No. Payroll tax and workers compensation premiums (iCare in NSW) are both employer expenses. Neither appears on your payslip, and neither reduces your gross salary or take-home pay. NSW employers count these on-costs in their hiring budgets, so they affect salary offers indirectly.
The Medicare levy surcharge applies in NSW exactly as it does in every other state and territory. Untick "I hold private hospital cover" in the calculator above and it adds the surcharge for your income level, so you can see the difference in dollars.
HECS-HELP repayment thresholds are federal and identical in every state. Tick the HECS-HELP box in the calculator to see the repayment withheld at your salary and what your fortnightly pay drops to.
How this calculator works▼
Income tax, the Medicare levy, HECS-HELP and superannuation are calculated with the site's federal engine for 2026-27 Australian residents; there are no state-specific individual income taxes in Australia. NSW earnings come from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings release for May 2026 (Table 13a, original series). Public holidays come from the Fair Work Ombudsman's 2026 list, and long service leave from the Long Service Leave Act 1955 as explained by NSW Industrial Relations. State payroll tax and workers compensation data are sourced from Revenue NSW and iCare, but these only affect employers, not employee net pay.
Sources & References
- 1Individual income tax rates, Australian Taxation Office
- 2Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (May 2026), Table 13a, New South Wales, Australian Bureau of Statistics
- 32026 public holidays, New South Wales, Fair Work Ombudsman
- 4Long service leave (Long Service Leave Act 1955), NSW Industrial Relations
- 5NSW payroll tax rates and thresholds (employers), Revenue NSW
Last verified: 28 August 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.
What to check next
People reading this page usually work these out too.
- Take-Home Pay CalculatorSee your actual pay after tax, super and Medicare.
- NSW Minimum WageThe rate, state rules and take-home at minimum wage.
- NSW Long Service LeaveAccrual and payout under NSW long service leave law.
- NSW Payroll TaxFor employers: the threshold and rate in this state.
- Award Pay RatesMinimum rates for the awards that cover most workers.
- Fortnightly Pay CalculatorThe fortnightly tax calculator: tax and take-home every pay.