First-of-its-kind government report finds Israeli men earned 54% more than women in 2024
Among 27 municipalities, data shows Ra’anana residents had highest wages in 2023-24 period, while Arab- and ultra-Orthodox-majority cities had lowest average salaries
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel
The average monthly salary for Israeli men was 54 percent higher than women in 2024, according to a first-of-its-kind report (Hebrew) by the National Insurance Institute released Monday.
The report noted men earned around NIS 6,000 ($1,700) more than women on average, with the average monthly wage for a man standing at NIS 17,386 ($5,000) while women racked up average monthly earnings of NIS 11,288 ($3,250).
The report also ranked wages in the country’s 75 municipalities with a population of over 75,000 people from 2023-24, finding residents of the central city of Ra’anana on average boasted the highest wages in the country at NIS 21,532 ($6,150) a month — nearly triple what is earned by those living in the ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement Modiin Illit, whose residents were the lowest earners listed in the report with NIS 7,842 ($2,250) a month.
After Ra’anana, residents of Herzliya earned NIS 21,473 ($6,100) a month, Modiin-Maccabeum-Reut earned NIS 21,148 ($6,050), and residents of Tel Aviv brought home NIS 20,655 ($5,900).
Among the lowest earners after Modiin Illit were Bnei Brak with NIS 9,073 ($2,600), Rahat NIS 9,123 ($2,600), and Nazereth NIS 9,643 ($2,750) — municipalities with a majority of ultra-Orthodox or Arab residents.
The report also showed that those aged 50-59 were the highest earners in the country in 2024, raking in NIS 19,472 ($5,550) a month. A sharp drop is marked among over-60-year-olds, who earned NIS 14,371 ($4,100).
Residents aged up to 20 earned an average of NIS 3,032 ($850), 20-29 year-olds NIS 8,434 ($2,400), 30-39 year-olds NIS 15,684 ($4,500), and 40-49 year-olds NIS 18,959 ($5,450).
Regular reports will now be made, following a 2020 law passed that required employers to file a new form detailing the wages given to employees, allowing the institute to collect accurate data.
Institute Director General Zvika Cohen said in a statement that the report allowed government ministries to accurately understand the state of the economy.
“In the future, in the National Insurance Institute’s vision, this data will be used to reduce bureaucracy, integrate salary data, and thus accumulate documents from Israeli citizens while at the same time ensuring better utilization of entitlements for those who need them,” he said.
The deputy director general of research and planning at the institute said in a statement that the report was a “significant breakthrough” for the Israeli economy.
“From now on, we will be able to provide data that has not been seen before in Israel, certainly not at the level of accuracy of the salaried workers in Israel,” Nitsa Kasir said.
The Times of Israel Community.