Household income and housing-cost statistics provide income and expenditure information for households, and demographic data on households and individuals in New Zealand.
The Household Income and Living Survey (HILS) was established to replace the Household Economic Survey (HES) from July 2024.
The HILS, from which these statistics were estimated, was conducted between July 2024 and June 2025. Households were asked to report income and housing costs expenditure for the 12 months prior to interview. This means that for some households, income refers to income received in the 2023/2024 year.
A change between two years is considered statistically significant if the difference between the estimates is larger than the sample error on the change.
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2025 - technical appendix has more information about the survey and methodology used to produce statistics from HILS, including estimating child poverty statistics and household income and housing cost statistics.
Key facts
In the year ended June 2025 compared with the year ended June 2024, measures of housing costs showed:
- average weekly expenditure on total mortgage payments increased from $658.40 to $690.90 (up 4.9 percent) for households with that type of expenditure
- average weekly expenditure on total rent payments increased from $463.80 to $505.50 (up 9.0 percent)
- for every $100 of their disposable income in the year ended June 2025, New Zealand households spent an average of $22.30 on housing costs (no statistically significant change).
In the year ended June 2025 compared with the year ended June 2024, measures of household income showed:
- average annual household income (gross) increased from $132,630 to $139,111 (up 4.9 percent)
- average annual household income from wages and salaries increased from $89,239 to $92,692 (up 3.9 percent)
- average annual household disposable income increased from $103,118 to $108,329 (up 5.1 percent)
- average annual household equivalised disposable income (after tax and transfer payments) increased from $59,474 to $63,009 (up 5.9 percent)
- average annual household equivalised disposable income (after housing costs deducted) increased from $45,645 to $48,535 (up 6.3 percent)
- 40.6 percent of households perceived their income as either 'not enough' or 'only just enough; up 2.1 percentage points (from 38.5 percent).
Inflation affects the purchasing power of a household. Households may have less purchasing power if prices rise faster than incomes.
In the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter, annual inflation increased 2.7 percent.
Annual inflation at 2.7 percent in June 2025 reports on price increases in the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter.
Household living-costs price indexes: September 2025 quarter provides insights into the inflation felt by households in the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter, as measured by the household living-costs price indexes.
Household income statistics are reported here as annual estimates, and are not adjusted for inflation (that is, they reflect nominal rather than real income).
Users can convert these annual estimates to weekly figures - for easier comparison with housing costs - by dividing by a factor of 52.14. For example, using this method, the annual household disposable income figure of $108,329 for the year ended June 2025 becomes $2077.70, a 5.1 percentage point increase from the year ended June 2024 ($1977.70).
Housing costs increase
Housing costs include expenditure on rent, mortgages (principal and interest repayments), property rates, and building-related insurance.
In the year ended June 2025 compared with the year ended June 2024, for households with expenditure on housing, the average cost for housing per week was $478.00, up from $457.90 (4.4 percent).
Compared with the previous year:
- total rent payments were $505.50 per week, up from $463.80 (up 9.0 percent)
- total mortgage payments were $690.90 per week, up from $658.40 (up 4.9 percent)
- mortgage interest payments were $452.10 per week, up from $423.40 (up 6.8 percent)
- mortgage principal payments were $252.60 (no statistically significant change)
- property rates were $78.30 per week, up from $74.20 (up 5.6 percent)
- building-related insurance costs were $58.70 per week, up from $53.50 (up 9.8 percent).
Household income increases
Household income includes any income from wages and salaries, self-employment, investments, government benefits, and superannuation, as well as taxes paid and tax credits received.
For all households, in the year ended June 2025:
- average annual household income (gross) increased by 4.9 percent
- average annual income from wages and salaries increased by 3.9 percent
- average annual income from self-employment had no statistically significant change
- average annual income from investments increased by 32.7 percent
- average annual income from New Zealand superannuation increased by 7.3 percent
- average annual income from other government benefits increased by 5.2 percent
- average annual income from other regular sources increased by 17.4 percent.
| Income source | Year ended 2019 RB |
| Wages and salaries | 67022 |
| Self-employment | 14889 |
| Investments | 3755 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 6983 |
| Other government benefits | 4584 |
| Other regular sources | 4017 |
| 66084 | 67960 |
|---|---|
| 13594 | 16184 |
| 3342 | 4168 |
| 6906 | 7060 |
| 4479 | 4689 |
| 3752 | 4282 |
| Income source | Year ended 2020 RB |
| Wages and salaries | 70679 |
| Self-employment | 16698 |
| Investments | 3402 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 7359 |
| Other government benefits | 4797 |
| Other regular sources | 2212 |
| 69548 | 71809 |
|---|---|
| 15495 | 17900 |
| 3174 | 3629 |
| 7285 | 7432 |
| 4667 | 4926 |
| 2057 | 2366 |
| Income source | Year ended 2021 RB |
| Wages and salaries | 72427 |
| Self-employment | 16378 |
| Investments | 3723 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 8046 |
| Other government benefits | 6145 |
| Other regular sources | 3903 |
| 71340 | 73513 |
|---|---|
| 15477 | 17278 |
| 3492 | 3953 |
| 7941 | 8150 |
| 6009 | 6280 |
| 3598 | 4207 |
| Income source | Year ended 2022 RB |
| Wages and salaries | 78874 |
| Self-employment | 16815 |
| Investments | 3359 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 8133 |
| Other government benefits | 6130 |
| Other regular sources | 3397 |
| 77296 | 80451 |
|---|---|
| 15553 | 18076 |
| 3029 | 3688 |
| 8019 | 8246 |
| 5903 | 6356 |
| 3074 | 3719 |
| Income source | Year ended 2023 RB |
| Wages and salaries | 82656 |
| Self-employment | 18343 |
| Investments | 3900 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 8766 |
| Other government benefits | 6235 |
| Other regular sources | 5520 |
| 81333 | 83978 |
|---|---|
| 16985 | 19700 |
| 3217 | 4582 |
| 8669 | 8862 |
| 6066 | 6403 |
| 4929 | 6110 |
| Income source | Year ended 2024 R |
| Wages and salaries | 89239 |
| Self-employment | 16966 |
| Investments | 4716 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 9419 |
| Other government benefits | 6835 |
| Other regular sources | 5456 |
| 88168 | 90309 |
|---|---|
| 15863 | 18068 |
| 4305 | 5126 |
| 9343 | 9494 |
| 6677 | 6992 |
| 4997 | 5914 |
| Income source | Year ended 2025 |
| Wages and salaries | 92692 |
| Self-employment | 16455 |
| Investments | 6259 |
| New Zealand Superannuation | 10106 |
| Other government benefits | 7191 |
| Other regular sources | 6407 |
| 91394 | 93989 |
|---|---|
| 15303 | 17606 |
| 5777 | 6740 |
| 10025 | 10186 |
| 7011 | 7370 |
| 5926 | 6887 |
Household size and composition have an impact on the income received and costs associated with the household. We use an equivalisation process to adjust for these factors, so that we can better compare living standards across households.
How we measure child poverty in the Household Income and Living Survey has more information on how equivalisation works.
For all people, in the year ended June 2025 compared with the year ended June 2024, average annual household equivalised disposable income increased to:
- $63,700 before housing costs, up from $60,521 (5.3 percent)
- $49,423 after housing costs, up from $46,965 (5.2 percent).
Average annual household equivalised disposable income, before housing costs, by ethnicity for the year ended June 2025, compared with the year ended June 2024, was:
- $67,585 for European (up 5.3 percent)
- $56,112 for Māori (up 5.9 percent)
- $51,483 for Pacific Peoples (no statistically significant change)
- $59,462 for Asian (up 4.0 percent)
- $60,374 for Middle Eastern/Latin America/African (no statistically significant change).
Disposable household income refers to income, including transfer payments, after taxes have been deducted.
'After housing costs income' is disposable household income after subtracting housing costs (for instance, rent and mortgages). This provides a measure of the income available to households after payment for housing.
1 in 11 people in New Zealand experiencing material hardship
In the 12 months ended June 2025, 9.1 percent of people were living in households in material hardship.
A household is defined as being in material hardship if it lacks seven or more of 18 items on the MH-18 index. These items are things most people regard as essential, and include putting off going to the doctor, having to buy cheaper or less meat, and being unable to afford a computer or internet at home.
| Year ended June | Percent |
| 2019 RB | 9.3 |
| 2020 RB | 7.7 |
| 2021 RB | 7.2 |
| 2022 RB | 7.5 |
| 2023 RB | 8.6 |
| 2024 R | 9.5 |
| 2025 | 9.1 |
| 8.7 | 9.9 |
|---|---|
| 7.1 | 8.3 |
| 6.7 | 7.7 |
| 6.7 | 8.3 |
| 7.9 | 9.3 |
| 8.9 | 10.1 |
| 8.5 | 9.7 |
More data
Increasing household income offset by higher housing costs in the year to June 2025 has more information on housing cost ratios and income adequacy.
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2025 has more information regarding child poverty measures for the year ended June 2025.
No annual change in child poverty rates for year ended June 2025 has more information on child poverty by ethnic group and disability status.
Definitions and metadata
Child poverty statistics: Year ended June 2025 - Technical appendix provides more information on the survey methodology and analysis of data quality.
Household income and housing cost statistics - HILS (Income) - DataInfo+ outlines the background to the survey, and the data quality and definitions in this release.
About household income and housing cost statistics
This is the first report on household income and housing costs using the Household Income and Living Survey (HILS), which replaced the Household Economic Survey (HES).
About the transition from the Household Economic Survey to the Household Income and Living Survey has more details about key changes between HES and HILS.
HILS has a target sample size of 17,000 households and had an achieved sample size of approximately 17,892 households for the year ended June 2025.
Like all surveys, estimates are subject to some uncertainty because not everyone in New Zealand was surveyed. This range of uncertainty should be considered when looking at year-on-year changes.
Data updates to previously published statistics
On 12 February 2026 we published revised household income and housing cost statistics for the years ended June 2019 to 2024, as part of the population rebase.
Household Economic Survey population rebase: Year ended June 2019 to 2024 provides further information on the population rebase and the impact on estimates.
In Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2025 (this release), we have now also updated previously published estimates of household income and housing cost measures for the year ended June 2024, using the most recently available administrative data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure and population estimates.
Compared to the first release of statistics for the year ended June 2024 (published in February 2025), the total impact of these updates to the four key income measures were as follows:
- average annual household income (gross) decreased from $134,599 To $132,630
- average annual household disposable income decreased from $104,567 to $103,118
- average annual household equivalised disposable income (after tax and transfer payments) decreased from $59,972 to $59,474
- average annual household equivalised disposable income (after housing costs deducted) decreased from $46,218 to $45,645.
Original published |
Rebased estimate |
Revised estimate |
|
Average annual household income (gross) |
$134,599 |
$133,266 |
$132,630 |
Average annual household disposable income |
$104,567 |
$103,565 |
$103,118 |
Average annual household equivalised disposable (after tax and transfer payments) |
$59,972 |
$59,743 |
$59,474 |
Average annual household equivalised disposable income (after housing costs deducted) |
$46,218 |
$45,915 |
$45,645 |
Applying the Stats NZ revisions policy to outputs from the Household Economic Survey sets out our policy for updating the Household Economic Survey.
Technical enquiries
Household financial statistics team
[email protected]
ISSN 2537-9690
Next release
Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2026 will be released in 2027.
