OECD Countries by Take-Home Pay Share, 2026 Snapshot
How much gross pay OECD workers keep after tax
The ranking compares OECD countries for one benchmark worker: a single person with no children earning 100% of the national average wage. Take-home pay share is calculated as 100 minus the OECD net personal average tax rate from Taxing Wages 2026 Table 3.3.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The source type is a single OECD comparative table, the data year is 2025, and the ranking is presented as a 2026 snapshot because Taxing Wages 2026 is the latest publication used. The unit is percent of gross wage earnings. Higher share ranks higher.
Coverage is 38 OECD member countries. OECD average and OECD-EU aggregate rows are excluded from the ranking because they are not countries.
Main result
Colombia ranks first with a take-home pay share of 100.0% for this OECD benchmark, while Belgium ranks last with 60.5%. The ranking compares worker-side tax-benefit pressure, not salary levels, purchasing power or living standards.
Colombia needs a special reading: OECD Taxing Wages reports a 0.0% net personal average tax rate for this benchmark because some compulsory payments are treated outside the OECD tax measure. The 100.0% value should not be read as a universal claim that all worker deductions are absent in practice.
Colombia ranks first under the OECD benchmark after applying 100 minus Table 3.3 net personal average tax rate.
Belgium ranks lowest in this benchmark, based on a 39.5% OECD net personal average tax rate.
All rows are OECD member-country entries; aggregates are excluded.
Values come from OECD Taxing Wages 2026, Table 3.3.
The comparison shows retained gross-wage share after the OECD worker-side tax-benefit calculation.
Overview: what this OECD-derived metric measures
Take-home pay share means the share of gross wage earnings left after the OECD net personal average tax rate is applied for the benchmark worker. The underlying OECD measure covers income tax plus employee social security contributions less cash benefits, expressed as a percentage of gross wage earnings.
This is different from the tax wedge. The tax wedge compares net pay with total employer labour cost and includes employer social security contributions and payroll taxes. The comparison here focuses only on the worker-side share of gross wage earnings.
The ranking does not measure actual salary size, cost of living, purchasing power, public-service quality, tax outcomes for families with children or take-home pay at low and high income levels. It answers one narrower question: in the OECD model, what share of gross wage remains for the same single-worker benchmark?
Top 10 OECD countries by take-home pay share
The top of the ranking is led by countries where the benchmark worker has a lower OECD net personal average tax rate. Colombia is first, but its 100.0% value should be read with the OECD classification caveat explained above.
Top 10 OECD countries, single worker with no children at 100% average wage
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia | 100.0% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 0.0%. |
| 2 | Chile | 92.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 7.1%. |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 90.2% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 9.8%. |
| 4 | Mexico | 86.8% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 13.2%. |
| 5 | Korea | 83.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 16.5%. |
| 6 | Switzerland | 81.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 18.1%. |
| 7 | New Zealand | 79.2% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 20.8%. |
| 8 | Czechia | 78.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 21.3%. |
| 9 | Israel | 78.6% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 21.4%. |
| 10 | Japan | 77.4% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 22.6%. |
Values are displayed to one decimal place to match the precision of the OECD source table. The formula is explained in Methodology.
Chart: Top 20 OECD countries by retained gross-wage share
The chart uses the same values as the ranking table. It shows the gap between the highest retained gross-wage shares and countries near the OECD average.
Methodology: formula, source and limits
The source measure is OECD Taxing Wages 2026 Table 3.3, which reports the net personal average tax rate for a single worker with no children earning 100% of the average wage. The OECD measure is income tax plus employee contributions less cash benefits, expressed as a percentage of gross wage earnings.
Metric and unit
Metric: calculated take-home pay share. Unit: percent of gross wage earnings. The metric is derived from OECD Table 3.3 and displayed to one decimal place.
Formula
Take-home pay share = 100 - OECD net personal average tax rate. Example: Belgium has a net personal average tax rate of 39.5%, so the displayed value is 60.5%.
Ranking direction
Higher share ranks higher. This is a sorting rule for the table, not a complete judgement about living standards or the quality of a tax system.
Benchmark worker
The benchmark is a single worker with no children at 100% of the national average wage. Other household types can rank differently.
Coverage and exclusions
The ranking includes 38 OECD member countries. OECD average, OECD-EU 22 and other aggregate rows are excluded because they are not individual countries.
Why OECD data is used
OECD Taxing Wages provides a consistent cross-country model for labour taxation. The ranking does not mix salary websites, statutory top-rate tables, payroll calculators or local assumptions.
The table uses official OECD net personal average tax rates as the source input and then applies a transparent transformation. It does not create a 2026 estimate, salary ranking or price-adjusted income comparison. Equal displayed values are kept in stable rank order based on the underlying table sequence.
Limits: this metric does not measure net salary in dollars, employer social security contributions, full tax wedge, purchasing power, cost of living, public services, household outcomes for families or deductions outside the OECD tax definition.
Main ranking: 38 OECD countries by take-home pay share
Use the controls to search by country, filter by region, change sort order or switch between Top 10, Top 20 and all 38 OECD entries.
OECD take-home pay share, single worker with no children at 100% average wage
| Rank | Entity | Value | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia | 100.0% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 0.0%. |
| 2 | Chile | 92.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 7.1%. |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 90.2% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 9.8%. |
| 4 | Mexico | 86.8% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 13.2%. |
| 5 | Korea | 83.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 16.5%. |
| 6 | Switzerland | 81.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 18.1%. |
| 7 | New Zealand | 79.2% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 20.8%. |
| 8 | Czechia | 78.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 21.3%. |
| 9 | Israel | 78.6% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 21.4%. |
| 10 | Japan | 77.4% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 22.6%. |
| 11 | Sweden | 77.4% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 22.6%. |
| 12 | United Kingdom | 76.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 23.1%. |
| 13 | Estonia | 76.8% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 23.2%. |
| 14 | Australia | 76.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 23.5%. |
| 15 | Spain | 76.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 23.5%. |
| 16 | Slovak Republic | 75.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 24.3%. |
| 17 | United States | 75.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 24.3%. |
| 18 | Poland | 75.6% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 24.4%. |
| 19 | Portugal | 75.1% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 24.9%. |
| 20 | Ireland | 74.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 25.1%. |
| 21 | Canada | 74.4% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 25.6%. |
| 22 | Latvia | 74.0% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 26.0%. |
| 23 | Greece | 73.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 26.1%. |
| 24 | Iceland | 72.8% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 27.2%. |
| 25 | Netherlands | 72.1% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 27.9%. |
| 26 | France | 72.0% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 28.0%. |
| 27 | Norway | 71.9% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 28.1%. |
| 28 | Italy | 71.4% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 28.6%. |
| 29 | Türkiye | 70.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 29.3%. |
| 30 | Finland | 69.3% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 30.7%. |
| 31 | Luxembourg | 68.0% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 32.0%. |
| 32 | Austria | 67.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 32.5%. |
| 33 | Hungary | 66.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 33.5%. |
| 34 | Denmark | 64.7% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 35.3%. |
| 35 | Slovenia | 63.8% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 36.2%. |
| 36 | Germany | 61.3% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 38.7%. |
| 37 | Lithuania | 61.3% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 38.7%. |
| 38 | Belgium | 60.5% | OECD Table 3.3; 2025; net tax rate 39.5%. |
The ranking uses OECD Taxing Wages 2026, Table 3.3, with 2025 country data. The displayed value is the retained share based on the OECD net personal average tax rate.
Why OECD countries differ in take-home pay share
Countries differ because their income tax schedules, employee social security contribution rules, thresholds, credits and cash-benefit treatment are different. The OECD model applies these rules to the same benchmark worker type, which makes the comparison consistent but still narrow.
Worker-side tax design
Income tax rates, allowances, credits and employee contributions can raise or lower the net personal average tax rate for the average-wage worker.
Benefits and classification
Cash benefits and the classification of compulsory payments can change the measured worker-side rate. Colombia is the clearest example of why source definitions matter.
Gross wage is not labour cost
Employer contributions are not part of this ranking. A country can have a higher retained gross-wage share while still having substantial employer-side labour costs.
Household type matters
Families with children, single parents and two-earner households can face different effective tax-benefit outcomes from the single-worker benchmark used here.
Insights from the OECD take-home pay ranking
Key insight
The range is wide: the value runs from 100.0% in Colombia to 60.5% in Belgium for the same OECD worker benchmark.
Notable pattern
Four of the top five entries are in the Americas: Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Regional concentration
European countries make up most of the lower end, including Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia and Denmark.
Outlier
Colombia is an outlier because the OECD benchmark reports a 0.0% net personal average tax rate; the value depends on the OECD tax-definition boundary.
What this ranking means for readers
A higher value means that, under the OECD benchmark, a larger share of gross wage remains after the worker-side tax-benefit calculation. This helps compare one part of labour taxation across OECD countries.
The table should not be read as a ranking of where workers are richest. A country can have a high retained share but lower wage levels, higher prices or fewer public services. Another country can have a lower retained share but higher gross wages or a different social-benefit model.
For cross-country salary research, use this table together with average wages, cost of living, purchasing power, tax wedge data and household-specific tax-benefit outcomes.
FAQ: OECD take-home pay share ranking
Which OECD country has the highest take-home pay share?
Colombia ranks first with 100.0% for the OECD benchmark single worker with no children earning the average wage. The value depends on the OECD tax-definition treatment and should be read with the Colombia caveat on this page.
Which OECD country has the lowest take-home pay share?
Belgium ranks lowest among the 38 OECD countries in this table, with a take-home pay share of 60.5% of gross wage earnings.
Are these 2026 wage values?
No. This is a 2026 snapshot based on OECD Taxing Wages 2026, which reports 2025 tax-benefit results. The page does not estimate 2026 payroll outcomes.
How is the value calculated?
The value is calculated as 100 minus the OECD net personal average tax rate from Table 3.3. The benchmark is a single worker with no children earning 100% of the average wage.
Is this the same as net salary?
No. It is a percentage share of gross wage under the OECD model. It does not show local-currency salary, U.S.-dollar salary or purchasing power.
Is this the same as the tax wedge?
No. The tax wedge is measured against total labour cost and includes employer contributions. This page measures retained share of gross wage earnings after the worker-side OECD calculation.
Why can countries rank differently for families?
OECD Taxing Wages includes multiple household types. Cash benefits, child-related tax provisions and second-earner treatment can change the result for families or single parents.
Why are OECD average and OECD-EU rows excluded?
They are aggregate reference rows, not individual countries. The ranking includes only OECD member-country rows so each rank belongs to one country.
Sources
OECD Taxing Wages 2026
Main OECD publication used for the 2025 labour-tax benchmark in this ranking.
OECD Chapter 3: Effective tax rates on labour income in 2025
Source for Table 3.3, which provides the net personal average tax rate used to calculate the displayed shares.
OECD Data Explorer
OECD database where readers can explore labour taxation indicators by country, year and household type.
OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2025 Issue 2
Background OECD publication referenced in the broader Taxing Wages calculation context.
