Hong Kong Household Income Holds at HK$30,000 as Housing Gap Reaches HK$21,000

A flat midpoint hides large income gaps

Hong Kong's median monthly household income stood at HK$30,000 in June to August 2026, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. Across the city's 2,804,700 households, 266,400 had monthly income of at least HK$100,000, while 1,367,400 received less than HK$30,000.

The housing breakdown shows how far household circumstances vary around that midpoint. Median income was HK$20,700 for public rental households and HK$41,700 for households in private permanent housing, a difference of HK$21,000 a month. Among households with at least one economically active member, the citywide median was higher, at HK$40,000.

A median is the middle value when incomes are arranged from lowest to highest. It describes the household in the middle of the distribution, rather than an average calculated by adding every household's income and dividing by the number of households. A small group with very large incomes can pull up an average much more than a median.

The unchanged HK$30,000 figure therefore gives a useful reference point, while the breakdowns by economic activity, housing and household size provide more specific comparisons. A person living alone and a family of four may share the same household income but have very different amounts available for each member.

Where households sit on the income ladder

Almost half of Hong Kong households, 48.8%, had monthly income below HK$30,000 during June to August. Another 20.9% received between HK$30,000 and less than HK$50,000. Together, these two groups accounted for 1,954,700 households, or 69.7% of the total.

The full distribution divides households into four broad income bands:

• Below HK$30,000: 1,367,400 households, or 48.8%.
• HK$30,000 to below HK$50,000: 587,300 households, or 20.9%.
• HK$50,000 to below HK$100,000: 583,600 households, or 20.8%.
• HK$100,000 or more: 266,400 households, or 9.5%.

Combining the two highest bands gives 850,000 households receiving at least HK$50,000 a month, equivalent to 30.3% of all households. Those receiving at least HK$100,000 represented just under one household in ten.

The bands describe how many households fall within each range. They are broad categories: a household receiving HK$31,000 and another receiving HK$49,000 appear in the same group, despite having HK$18,000 between their monthly incomes.

Economic activity changes the comparison

Hong Kong had 2,095,500 economically active households in June to August, approximately 74.7% of all households. Their median monthly income of HK$40,000 was HK$10,000, or one third, above the median for all households.

An economically active household has at least one member, excluding foreign domestic helpers, participating in the labour force. Labour force participation includes people in employment and unemployed people seeking and available for work. The category is therefore broader than households with someone currently earning a wage.

Within this group, 708,300 households, or 33.8%, received less than HK$30,000 a month. Another 559,800, or 26.7%, received HK$30,000 to below HK$50,000. The figures show that participation in the labour force coexists with a wide range of household incomes.

At the higher end, 566,100 economically active households received HK$50,000 to below HK$100,000, accounting for 27%. A further 261,400 received at least HK$100,000, representing 12.5%, or one in eight economically active households.

The share below HK$30,000 was 15 percentage points smaller among economically active households than among all households: 33.8% against 48.8%. Conversely, the combined share receiving at least HK$50,000 was 39.5% among economically active households, compared with 30.3% across the city.

Private housing households have twice the public rental median

Public rental households recorded a median monthly income of HK$20,700, compared with HK$28,000 for subsidised owner occupied housing and HK$41,700 for private permanent housing. Subsidised ownership housing refers to homes bought through government assistance schemes.

The HK$21,000 gap between private permanent and public rental housing means the private housing median was about 2.01 times the public rental figure. Subsidised ownership households occupied the middle position, HK$7,300 above public rental households and HK$13,700 below private housing households.

Among economically active households, the corresponding medians were HK$27,500 for public rental housing, HK$39,000 for subsidised ownership housing and HK$53,600 for private permanent housing. The gap between private housing and public rental households widened to HK$26,100 in this group.

All three housing categories had higher medians when the calculation was limited to economically active households. The increase was HK$6,800 for public rental housing, HK$11,000 for subsidised ownership housing and HK$11,900 for private permanent housing.

For residents comparing their household with others, housing type supplies a more specific reference than the citywide median alone. Private permanent housing covers a housing category, including households that rent and those that own their homes; the income figure describes the households living there.

Household size provides another reference point

Figures for April to June 2026 provide a separate breakdown by household size. The Census and Statistics Department maintains Table 130-06606, its official dataset for median monthly domestic household income by number of household members. The government catalogue identifies it as a quarterly dataset maintained by the department's General Household Survey Section (3).

For April to June, the reported median was HK$11,000 for a household containing one person and HK$24,000 for two people. It reached HK$40,400 for three people and HK$54,400 for four.

• One person: HK$11,000 a month.
• Two people: HK$24,000 a month.
• Three people: HK$40,400 a month.
• Four people: HK$54,400 a month.
• Five people: HK$51,300 a month.
• Six or more people: HK$54,600 a month.

The four person median was almost five times the one person median, using HK$54,400 and HK$11,000 respectively. Income did not rise at every step, however: the median for five person households was HK$3,100 below that for four person households.

Compared with a year earlier, medians rose for households containing one, two, three, four, and six or more people. Five person households were the only size category recording a decline. The figures describe total household income, with each total supporting a different number of people.

Two reporting periods need careful comparison

The 2026 figures cover two overlapping periods. April to June is a calendar quarter, while June to August is a moving period of three months. June appears in both, so the figures share one month of survey coverage.

• April to June 2026: the citywide median was HK$30,000, with additional breakdowns by household size and housing type.
• June to August 2026: the citywide median remained HK$30,000, alongside the income distribution covering 2,804,700 households.

The April to June housing medians were HK$20,500 for public rental households, HK$27,500 for subsidised ownership households and HK$42,400 for private permanent housing. The June to August figures were HK$20,700, HK$28,000 and HK$41,700 respectively.

For economically active households, April to June medians were HK$28,000, HK$37,500 and HK$54,500 across those same housing categories. June to August medians were HK$27,500, HK$39,000 and HK$53,600.

Coverage of foreign domestic helpers also differs in the published descriptions: the June to August figures are described as including them, while the April to June figures are described as excluding them. The precise treatment would need to be reconciled before calculating changes between those two sets of housing figures.

What an unchanged median means for household budgets

The HK$30,000 median was unchanged from June to August a year earlier in money terms. For a household budgeting for food, transport, rent and other expenses, purchasing power also depends on how those costs have changed.

The income figures give no corresponding measure of changes in household expenses. A stable income midpoint can therefore sit alongside different experiences for families facing different housing payments, numbers of dependants and everyday bills.

Household size is especially relevant to a personal comparison. A four person household receiving HK$40,000 would be above the citywide median of HK$30,000 for June to August, yet below the HK$54,400 median reported for four person households in April to June. The two comparisons answer different questions and use different reporting periods.

Some published household counts are rounded. The economically active income bands, for example, add up to 2,095,600 households, which is 100 above the stated total of 2,095,500. The stated percentages and totals are best understood at their published level of precision.

Hong Kong's income picture is therefore more detailed than a single flat median suggests. Nearly half of households received less than HK$30,000, while income among economically active households and residents of private permanent housing sat considerably higher. Household size adds another substantial difference to where a family stands.

Key Points

• Median monthly household income was HK$30,000 in June to August 2026, unchanged from a year earlier.
• Among economically active households, the median was HK$40,000.
• About 1.3674 million households, or 48.8%, received less than HK$30,000 a month.
• Some 266,400 households, or 9.5%, received at least HK$100,000 a month.
• Private permanent housing households had a median of HK$41,700, HK$21,000 above public rental households.
• April to June figures show large differences by household size, from HK$11,000 for one person to HK$54,600 for six or more.
• The two reporting periods have different stated coverage of foreign domestic helpers, requiring care when comparing their figures.