State workers remain among the lowest paid in the country, and what’s even more troubling is that they keep slipping in the rankings. If Social Security statistics from a year ago placed Alicante’s residents as the sixth lowest-paid in the entire country, the latest report on contributions paid to Social Security by companies and workers already drags them down to third place, just ahead of Cacereños and Badajoz. This shift comes from the two Extremaduran states.
The trend shows that the state can barely close the income gap with the national average, especially since wages are the main source of income for most families and a key component of GDP.
In general, SGK statistics show a noticeable rise in average bases, partly driven by workers across the country benefiting from the rise of the inter-occupational minimum wage and by the post-pandemic economic recovery.
For Alicante, the average base increased from 1,647 euros to 1,763 euros. This figure is used to calculate monthly pension contributions, covering gross salary and any supplementary payments. The rise is meaningful, but it does not close the gap with the national average or improve Alicante’s provincial standing.
In this context, Alicante residents have 284 euros less than the national average in their contribution bases, totaling 2,047 euros per month. That gap has grown by nine euros from the previous year. Alicante now trails Almería, Jaén, and Zamora in overall wage levels, and the province dropped from 47th to 50th in the national ranking of work-based salaries. The shift was from a sixth place in the north to a third in the national ladder.
On the higher end of the spectrum, the provinces with the strongest salaries again include the Basque Country. Gipuzkoa tops the list with an average of 2,471 euros per month—708 euros more than Alicante. Following closely are Euskadi’s provinces with 2,470 euros and Biscay with 2,419 euros. Navarra sits fourth at 2,281 euros, behind Madrid at 2,275 euros, and Barcelona at 2,260 euros.
For the rest of the Valencian Community, Castellón ranked 20th with a base of 1,959 euros and Valencia at 22nd with 1,945 euros, both well above Alicante in this measure.
This is what the people of Alicante pay to support their pensions
Francisco Llopis, Director of Studies at Ineca, notes that these data reflect the makeup of Alicante’s productive fabric, with hostel and personal services often found among the lower-paid sectors.
The SGK data itself clearly reveals wage differences across sectors. The industry power supply shows an average base around €3,446 while the financial sector sits at about €3,270. The hospitality sector, by comparison, trails with an average of about €1,254 per affiliate.
Yet even in this case, the industry that pays above-average wages in the province tends to specialize in lower value-added sectors like shoes or textiles, as Llopis notes. He stresses that a genuine shift toward higher value-added production and a broader adoption of technology could improve the situation, but such a transition is long-term and requires modernizing existing industries to lift earnings.
Women earn 231 euros less per month
Social Security data also reveal a significant gender gap in the labor market. The average contribution base for women is 232 euros below that of men, a difference that will likely affect future pension levels as well.
Other important differences arise by contract type. Civil servants have the highest national salaries with an average of 2,943 euros, about 46% higher than the general worker average of 2,047 euros, and up to 66% more for temporary workers at 1,772 euros.
Age also plays a role. The highest salaries are reported among those aged 55 to 59, at 2,267 euros. By contrast, the average for workers under 25 only reaches 1,136 euros. Finally, foreign workers earn well below the national average at 1,637 euros, with foreign women earning about 1,490 euros.