Puzzling statistics

[Esceptico]

Out of interest I was trying to find out the median salary in NZ. I found this site:

http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?lo...

According to this the median salary is NZD 91,000 (around £45k). That seems high compared to the U.K. (more like £32k)

What was more puzzling is that the survey says that a quarter of the population have a salary above NZD 247,000 (£125,000). That seems very high. What is more puzzling is that there is a list of jobs in the link with salaries and none of them (including dentist, chartered accountant, CEO, CFO) are above the NZD 247,000.

I am wrong in finding the statistics odd/unbelievable?

[klootzak]

Sounds a bit optimistic to me.

Stats NZ have the median income from wages and salaries as $55k pa, which is closer to what I would expect.

They don't publish a breakdown by salary band (not that I can find, anyway). But this site ... https://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/new-zealand is close to the Stats NZ figure on median and has less than 2.4% earning over $200k pa, which feels about right based on other demographic info I've seen over the years.

k

[Esceptico]

Those figures are much more in line with what I thought they would be.

[sospan]

Be careful with the NZ v UK comparison.
One reason NZ salaries look higher is because living costs can push them up.
Looking at a statistic in isolation is ignoring contributing factors.
Within NZ itself there will be reasons for the way their salaries are what they are. Another country will have different reasons and hence a different mix.