INCOME

IMPROVING TREND

Following a period of slow growth, since 2015 the real median household income in the Waikato region has rebounded to a record high level.

This indicator is real median household income in the Waikato region. It is calculated from median weekly household income from the New Zealand Income Survey, adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (a measure of the average price of consumer goods and services purchased by households).

Why is this indicator important?

How much households earn determines their purchasing power and material standard of living, which has a direct link with the health of our regional and national economy. This measure identifies the midpoint of the range of weekly household income reportedly received during that year.

Income

What is this indicator telling us? 

• Median weekly household income in the Waikato region is around $30 below the national average. Weekly household income in the Waikato region was $1678 in 2018 compared to $1708 for New Zealand overall.
• Median weekly household income in the Waikato region was at a record high in June 2018. At the regional and national levels, after adjusting for inflation, real median weekly household income was more than twenty per cent higher in 2018 than in 2007.

Check out related information on our website and other organisations’ websites listed on our Waikato Progress Indicators’ Useful Links page.

DATA SOURCE AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Data are found online using Statistics New Zealand's (SNZ) NZ.Stat Table Builder(external link) for median weekly household income by region.

These SNZ data have been inflation adjusted to June 2018 dollars using June quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI) values(external link).

Update details: Annual series with June quarter survey results available in the first week of October.

Customised data request requirements: Nil

DATA AVAILABILITY – OTHER THAN WAIKATO REGION:

Territorial Authority (TA) disaggregation: No

Other regions: No 

New Zealand: Yes 

Other countries/ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): Comparative data between New Zealand and other countries/OECD are available for various measures of income per capita(external link).