The share of South Korean workers earning an average of 3 million won ($2,100) or more a month topped half of all wage earners for the first time in the first half of this year, while the proportion making 5 million won or more reached a record high.
Wage earners accounted for 22.37 million of all employed people as of April, according to the 2026 first-half regional employment survey on the industrial and occupational characteristics of the employed, released on the 27th by the Korea Data Agency. Of those, 51.9% earned an average of 3 million won or more a month, the first time the figure has exceeded half in a first-half reading since the data series began.
Workers earning between 3 million and 4 million won made up 22.8%, those earning between 4 million and 5 million won 11.5%, and those earning 5 million won or more 17.6%. The share in the top bracket rose 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier, the highest for a first half since the series started in 2013. The 3 million-to-4 million won and 4 million-to-5 million won brackets rose 0.4 percentage point and 0.3 percentage point, respectively.
Average monthly pay in the survey is calculated by averaging a worker's total receipts from their main job over the previous three months, including wages, bonuses and in-kind compensation. Bonuses paid in the first half, largely in the semiconductor industry, are seen as having helped widen the high-wage group.
Finance and Insurance Leads at 40.5%, Health and Welfare Trails at 5.8%
By industry, the share of workers earning 5 million won or more a month was highest in finance and insurance at 40.5%, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 37.5% and information and communications at 35.8%.
In manufacturing, the share widened 2.5 percentage points to 25.4% from 22.9% in the first half of last year. Health and social welfare services, by contrast, stood at just 5.8%.
Aging Drives Welfare and Medical Jobs, With Non-Residential Welfare Facilities Up 155,000
Health and social welfare services led the growth in employment. Workers at non-residential welfare facilities, a category that includes community welfare centers and home-visit services, numbered 1.843 million, up 155,000 from the same period last year. Their share of total employment reached 6.4%, crossing the 6% mark for the first time.
Hospital employment rose 64,000 from a year earlier, and clinics added 26,000 workers. Real estate-related services added 29,000.
Crop farming, by contrast, shed 82,000 workers. Architectural engineering and related technical services lost 62,000, and general retail fell by 31,000.
By age, young people aged 15 to 29 added 9,000 workers each at hospitals and higher education institutions, but general retail employment in that group fell by 18,000. Among those aged 30 to 49, hospital employment rose 38,000 while architectural engineering and related technical services declined by 34,000. Among those aged 50 and over, employment at non-residential welfare facilities rose 141,000.
Also notable was a gain of 66,000 male workers in non-residential welfare facility operations, a field where women have long made up the bulk of employment.