Wages in August: PLN 11,547 gross in Kraków, PLN 7,804 gross in Kielce
The difference between the highest- and lowest-paying large city amounts to PLN 3,743 gross. This is a reference point for companies that from December 2025 will have to provide candidates with pay rates.
The average monthly gross wage in the enterprise sector, that is in companies employing more than nine people, amounted to PLN 9,259.54 in August 2026. This is according to Statistics Poland data (opens in a new tab) compiled by pulsHR.pl. Wages were 5.6 percent higher than a year earlier and 2.6 percent lower than in July. Economists surveyed by PAP Biznes expected growth of 6.6 percent year on year.
Statistics Poland explains the decline compared with July by a smaller scale of bonuses and awards. Mariusz Zielonka, chief economist at the Lewiatan Confederation, points to mining and the energy sector, where one-off benefits were paid in July.
This is an important signal for us, because it shows that the acceleration in July was not the beginning of a return of stronger wage pressure in the economy.
The highest earnings were in Kraków: PLN 11,547.44, 6.5 percent more than a year earlier. Warsaw was second with PLN 11,239.26, and Gdańsk third with PLN 10,645.16. At the other end of the ranking were Kielce with PLN 7,804.34, Białystok with PLN 7,983.82 and Gorzów Wielkopolski with PLN 8,031.12. The difference between Kraków and Kielce is PLN 3,743.10 gross. In Kraków, wages grew fastest in transport and warehousing (by 15.8 percent), in Warsaw in information and communication (by 9 percent), and in Gdańsk in construction (by 18 percent).
Employment in the enterprise sector fell by 0.8 percent over the year, to 6.368 million jobs.
From 24 December 2025, employers must inform candidates about pay and may not ask them about their previous earnings. Further obligations arise from EU Directive 2023/970 on pay transparency, including job evaluation and employees’ right to information about average wages. They will be introduced by a separate act. The deadline for implementing the directive expired on 7 June 2026. According to HP Legal, the new regulations will start to apply in practice no earlier than 2027.
Companies recruiting in several cities or employing people remotely can compare their salary ranges with Statistics Poland data.