The median income of an official in Russia is three times higher than the income of the average Russian – Transparency

The median income of a Russian official in 2020 was 82 thousand rubles (more than $ 1,100) per month, informs Transparency International with reference to the data from the Declarator database. Moreover, according to data Rosstat, the average median income of a resident of Russia in 2020 was 27 thousand rubles ($ 365), which means that an official receives on average three times more than the average resident of Russia.

The highest median income in absolute terms is for officials in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug: 241 thousand rubles a month (more than $ 3200). Next come Moscow (216 thousand rubles) and Yakutia (185 thousand). The most modest median incomes belong to the officials of the Kirov region (52 thousand), Kalmykia (48 thousand) and North Ossetia (45 thousand). But at the same time, in Tuva, the gap in the incomes of officials and other residents of the region is more than seven times, and in Ingushetia – six times. In Tuva, an official earns 104 thousand rubles on average, while an ordinary resident earns 14 thousand.

In Khakassia, an official earns on average 75 thousand rubles at the median against 20 that a resident of the region receives, in the Novosibirsk region – 89 thousand rubles against 25 thousand.

The smallest income gap (only 2 times) between officials and ordinary residents is shown by Belgorod and Kaluga regions, Krasnodar Territory, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Adygea, North Ossetia and Tatarstan.

The median income is the one above which 50% of the sample participants earn, and 50% below. Economists believe that this indicator more adequately reflects the average earnings in the group than simply the “average salary”: in the latter case, the sample is often influenced by the fact that there are many low-paid workers in Russia and relatively few high-paid workers.