The highest AFL salary and the national average
When people ask about the highest AFL salary, they usually want to know how it stacks up against what the typical Australian full-time worker earns. The short answer is that the exact figure is not published in the official earnings data used on this site, but it is safe to say it sits well above the national full-time average.
This page explains what the official sources say, where AFL salaries fit in, and what would move a player’s pay above or below the line.
Where the national average comes from
The benchmark for full-time earnings in Australia is the ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey. For May 2026, the seasonally adjusted figure for full-time adult ordinary time earnings was $2,083.70 a week. Multiplied by 52, that gives a yearly salary of about $108,352 before tax. This is the line that Place a salary on the line uses.
The ABS also publishes medians. The full-time median weekly earnings were $1,436 for all employees (about $74,672 a year) and $1,674 for full-time employees (about $87,048 a year) in August 2025. The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $52,255 a year on a 38-hour week.
Why the highest AFL salary isn’t in the data
The ABS survey covers all employees across industries, but it does not break out individual sports or player salaries. AFL player pay is set under a collective bargaining agreement between the AFL and the AFL Players’ Association. The total player payments pool is known, but individual contracts are not published in the ABS or Fair Work sources.
Fair Work’s Modern Awards Pay Database covers minimum rates for award-covered employees, not professional athletes. The ATO publishes tax statistics by occupation, but those are aggregated and do not name specific players.
So while the highest AFL salary is widely reported in the media, it is not a figure that appears in the official earnings releases used on this site. That is why this page cannot give you a precise dollar amount.
How AFL salaries compare to the average
Even without a precise number, it is clear that the highest-paid AFL players earn many times the national full-time average. The average weekly earnings for all employees (including part-time) was $1,579.20 in May 2026, or about $82,118 a year. The highest AFL salary is likely in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million a year, based on media reports, though that is not confirmed by the sources used here.
For context, the ABS does publish earnings by occupation. The highest-paid occupational group is Managers, with median hourly earnings of $69.20 in May 2025. Professionals had a median of $64.50 an hour. Even at those rates, a full-time manager earning the median would make about $136,000 a year – still well below a top AFL player.
What would move a player’s pay above or below the average
The angle of this site is: what would move a salary above or below the national full-time average? For an AFL player, the answer depends on their contract status, performance, and the club’s salary cap.
Below the average: Rookie contracts, especially for first-year players, can be below $100,000 a year. If a player is on the minimum AFL wage (set under the collective agreement), that might be around $100,000 – still above the national average, but not by much. Injury or delisting could also drop a player’s income below the average.
Above the average: Most AFL players earn above the national average. Senior players, especially those with long contracts or performance bonuses, can earn several times the average. The highest-paid players are well above it.
State and territory averages
If you are comparing an AFL player’s salary to the average in their club’s state, here are the full-time averages from the ABS May 2026 data:
- New South Wales: $109,658
- Victoria: $106,137
- Queensland: $106,064
- South Australia: $102,450
- Western Australia: $115,825
- Tasmania: $96,008
- Northern Territory: $103,173
- Australian Capital Territory: $119,090
Most AFL clubs are in Victoria, where the average is $106,137. A top player’s salary would be well above that.
How the figures are set
The national average is calculated by the ABS from a survey of employers. It is not a median, so a few very high salaries can pull the average up. That is why the full-time median is lower than the average. For more detail, see How the figures are set.
The bottom line
The highest AFL salary is not a figure you will find in the ABS, Fair Work, or ATO data used on this site. But it is safe to say it is far above the national full-time average of $108,352 a year. If you want to see where your own salary sits against that line, you can Place a salary on the line.
For more on how different jobs compare, see Job medians or Industry medians.