Singapore deep dive
How Singapore's 17.7% gender pay gap breaks down by seniority level, how compensation scales with experience, and how it varies by company type.
Singapore deep dive
This section looks in detail at Singapore's 2024 survey data: how the gender pay gap breaks down by seniority level, how total compensation scales with years of experience, and how it varies by company type. The starting point is the headline figure reported in Compensation: among Singapore respondents paid in SGD, women's median total compensation was 17.7% lower than men's (Man S$92,400 versus Woman S$76,000, n=171: 58 men, 113 women).
Why the aggregate gap doesn't match the per-level story
That 17.7% aggregate gap is a composition effect. It is not a per-level pay gap, and keeping that distinction in mind matters before you read the chart below. Women in the Singapore sample are concentrated in earlier-career tiers: 60.2% of women sit at Junior or Mid-level IC, against 44.8% of men. Men are almost twice as likely to sit at Lead and above: 27.6% of men, against 14.2% of women. Pool those two different seniority mixes into one median each, and the more senior, male-skewed group posts a higher overall number, even though, level for level, women's reported medians are at or above men's everywhere we can publish a comparison.
Hold onto that before looking at the chart: at Junior IC, Mid-level IC, and Senior IC, women's median sits at or above men's. That's the mechanism behind the 17.7% headline, not a contradiction of it. The three levels below are the ones where both gender cohorts clear the minimum safe cohort of 10.
Pay by seniority level
At Junior IC, women's reported median was 3.1% higher than men's (Man S$58,200, n=10; Woman S$60,000, n=30). At Mid-level IC, the gap was widest in women's favour: 26.5% higher (Man S$59,800, n=16; Woman S$75,650, n=38). At Senior IC, the two medians were close, with women 1.1% higher (Man S$102,300, n=16; Woman S$103,400, n=29). Lead/Staff/Principal IC, Manager, Director/VP, and Head of department levels are omitted here because at least one gender cohort in each falls below the n=10 threshold.
Chart proof
Singapore median pay by gender and seniority level, 2024
Reported median total compensation by gender at each Singapore seniority level where both gender cohorts meet the n=10 publication threshold, 2024. Lead/Staff/Principal IC, Manager, Director/VP, and Head of department levels are omitted because at least one gender cohort in each falls below n=10. These are gaps between survey medians, not population estimates or matched-role comparisons.
At every Singapore seniority level with a published gender comparison, women's median compensation sits at or above men's, the reverse of the pooled 17.7% aggregate gap.
View data table
| Seniority level | Man median (S$) | Man n | Woman median (S$) | Woman n |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior IC | 58,200 | 10 | 60,000 | 30 |
| Mid-level IC | 59,800 | 16 | 75,650 | 38 |
| Senior IC | 102,300 | 16 | 103,400 | 29 |
How 2024 compares with 2023
Design Pay Asia's 2023 Singapore gender pay gap analysis reported a 42% gap that year (Man S$123,000 versus Woman S$71,300, n=223: 83 men, 138 women), computed the same way: unadjusted median total compensation for Man and Woman respondents based in Singapore and paid in SGD, with no adjustment for role or seniority. The 2024 figure of 17.7% is smaller, but the two years aren't a like-for-like read on progress on their own: sample size, seniority mix, and which respondents opted in all changed between survey cycles. Composition has driven most of the headline number in both years; per-level pay has not.
Compensation by years of experience
Total compensation rises steadily with years of design experience among Singapore respondents paid in SGD. Median total compensation was S$60,000 at 0–2 years (n=34), S$72,000 at 3–5 years (n=64), and S$105,600 at 6–10 years (n=49). The 16+ band alone has only n=5, below the n=10 threshold, so we merge it into the adjacent 11–15 band (n=19), which clears the threshold on its own, and publish a combined 11–15-to-16+ figure at a median of S$137,500 (n=24).
Chart proof
Singapore total compensation by years of design experience, 2024
Reported total compensation distribution (25th percentile, median, 75th percentile, and full range) by years of design experience among Singapore survey respondents paid in SGD, 2024. Adjacent experience bands below the n=10 publication threshold are merged. The 16+ band has only n=5 on its own, below that threshold, so it is combined with the adjacent 11–15 band (n=19), which clears the threshold comfortably.
Singapore total compensation rises steadily with years of design experience, from a S$60,000 median at 0–2 years to S$137,500 at 11–15-to-16+ years combined.
View data table
| Years of design experience (n) | Minimum (S$) | Median (S$) | Maximum (S$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years (n=34) | 14,400 | 60,000 | 190,000 |
| 3–5 years (n=64) | 6,000 | 72,000 | 131,600 |
| 6–10 years (n=49) | 41,880 | 105,600 | 434,250 |
| 11–15 to 16+ years (n=24) | 61,200 | 137,500 | 542,000 |
Compensation by company type
Median total compensation by company type ranged from S$59,900 at small/medium enterprises (n=30) to S$126,000 at government employers (n=13), with large enterprise/MNC (n=57, S$99,560), start-up (n=37, S$78,800), and agency/consulting (n=29, S$61,600) in between. Non-profit, academia, bank, and F&B respondents are folded into a merged "Other" bucket, and that merged bucket still falls below the n=10 threshold (n=5), so it's omitted entirely rather than shown as an unreliable bar.
Chart proof
Singapore median pay by company type, 2024
Reported median total compensation by company type among Singapore survey respondents paid in SGD, 2024, for company types meeting the n=10 publication threshold. Non-profit, academia, bank, and F&B respondents are folded into a merged "Other" bucket that itself falls below n=10 (n=5) and is therefore omitted entirely, not shown as a bar.
Published Singapore company-type medians range from S$59,900 at small/medium enterprises to S$126,000 at government employers.
View data table
| Company type (n) | Median total compensation (S$) |
|---|---|
| Large enterprise / MNC (n=57) | S$99,560 |
| Start-up (n=37) | S$78,800 |
| Small/medium enterprise (n=30) | S$59,900 |
| Agency / Consulting (n=29) | S$61,600 |
| Government (n=13) | S$126,000 |
Source: Design Pay Asia 2024 survey data. Filtered to Singapore respondents paid in SGD (n=171).
Some cohorts here are too small to publish without identifying individuals, so we hold those figures back.
The merged "Other" bucket (non-profit, academia, bank, and F&B respondents, n=5 combined) is too small to publish even after merging, so we hold it back entirely rather than show an unreliable bar.
What this means for you
If you're a designer
- If you're a woman working in an IC track in Singapore, this year's data doesn't show you being paid less than men at your level.
- At Junior IC, Mid-level IC, and Senior IC, women's reported medians in this survey sit at or above men's.
- The gap in this dataset lives in who reaches Lead and above. Each level's pay looks even once you're there.
If you're leading a team or organisation
- The 17.7% aggregate gap points to your promotion pipeline as the place to look, ahead of your pay bands.
- Women in this survey are around 1.3 times as likely as men to sit in Junior or Mid-level IC roles, and about half as likely to sit at Lead and above.
- If your own gender pay gap looks like Singapore's 2024 figure, is it a levelling problem before it is a pay problem?
Evidence and further reading
Evidence used in this section
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2024 Singapore gender pay gap (unadjusted median comparison)
Unadjusted median total annual compensation for Singapore respondents paid in SGD, 2024 survey cycle (n=171: 58 men, 113 women), calculated with the same method as the 2023 report's 42% figure: man median S$92,400 versus woman median S$76,000, a gap of 17.7% with women earning less. At every seniority level with a publishable cohort (Junior IC, Mid-level IC, and Senior IC), women's median compensation is at or above men's; Lead-and-above and other levels fall below the minimum safe cohort of 10 and are suppressed. The aggregate gap tracks the seniority mix rather than within-level pay: women are concentrated in the lower-paying Junior IC and Mid-level IC tiers (60.2% of women versus 44.8% of men), while men are more represented from Lead-and-above upward (27.6% of men versus 14.2% of women).
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2024 Singapore pay by years of experience
Distribution of self-reported total annual compensation (minimum, quartiles, median, maximum) for Singapore respondents paid in SGD, grouped by years of design experience. Adjacent experience bands below the minimum safe size of 10 are merged and labelled with their combined range.
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2024 Singapore pay by company type
Median self-reported total annual compensation for Singapore respondents paid in SGD, grouped by company type. Company types below the minimum safe size of 10 are folded into a single "Other (merged)" bucket, published only when that bucket itself reaches 10.
Further reading and context
Questions worth exploring
Will the seniority mix narrow as more women in the survey progress from Mid-level IC into Lead and Manager roles, or will attrition keep concentrating women in the earlier tiers?
Worth exploring next
- Does the reversal at Junior through Senior IC hold up in future survey years, or is it an artefact of this year's small per-level cohorts?
- What would it take to publish a matched-role, seniority-adjusted comparison instead of raw medians?
Where this sits in the conversation
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Overview
2024 report -
Landscape
Demographics -
Landscape
Roles & experiences -
Landscape
Compensation -
Landscape
Company landscape -
Sentiments
Offer & negotiation -
Sentiments
Career progression -
Sentiments
Value of design -
Sentiments
Job market -
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