Mean total earnings for full-time employees were 706 thousand ISK in the year 2017. The median was 618 thousand ISK and thus half of employees received total earnings below that amount. The difference between the mean and the median is mainly due to the fact that collective agreements set minimum wage rates but no maximum wages.

Every other employee had monthly earnings between 500 and 800 thousand ISK. Just below 10% of employees had total monthly earnings below 400 thousand ISK and 12% of employees had one million ISK or more.

Total monthly earnings in the private sector were 730 thousand ISK on average in 2017 for full-time employees. Total earnings in the central government were 774 thousand ISK and 569 thousand ISK in the local government. The distribution of earnings was different as 65% of employees in the local government had total earnings below 600 thousand ISK. The same was true for 30% of employees in the central government and 45% of employees in the private sector.

Average monthly earnings for service, shop and market sales by economic activity
Earnings within the occupational group of service, shop and market sales workers vary between economic activities as this is a diverse group both regarding jobs and working hours. Total earnings were highest in Public administration (O) 745 thousand ISK and lowest in Education (P) 380 thousand ISK. In Public administration, the biggest occupations are police officers and prison guards. In Education the biggest occupation is child-care workers. The difference between the basic salaries was considerably less, as monthly basic salaries for the occupational group were 393 thousand ISK in Public administration and 333 thousand ISK in Education. In Manufacturing (C) and Wholesale and retail trade (G) the biggest occupation is shop sales persons. In Transportation and storage (H) the biggest group is travel attendants and in Information and communication (J) the biggest group is salespersons in speciality stores. In Human health and social work activities (Q) the biggest groups are care-workers in institutions and homes.

Total monthly earnings 522 to 855 thousand ISK in teaching professions 
Basic monthly earnings for teaching professionals were between 494 and 696 thousand ISK, varying with school levels. The distribution of basic earnings is similar for all school levels with the exception of the university level where the teaching profession represent a more heterogeneous group comprising teaching assistants, assistant professors and non-tenured and tenured professors.

Total monthly earnings for teaching professionals were between 522 and 855 thousand ISK on average, displaying similar variations with school levels as basic earnings. Total earnings for upper secondary teachers are more widely distributed than their basic earnings due to overtime pay. At the university level, paid overtime and irregular payments are also a considerable part of the total earnings as only 0.3% of teachers at the university level received basic earnings above 1 million ISK but 26% had total earnings above 1 million ISK.

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