Average Salary in Singapore for Indians in 2026: What You Actually Earn by Industry and Role

This article discusses the average salary for Indians in Singapore in 2026, broken down by industry, years of experience, and job role. All of the numbers are in INR at the current exchange rate of Rs. 72.33 per SGD. By the end, you’ll know exactly what to expect in your first year, what work pass you need, and how to plan your job search from India before you graduate.

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower Labour Force Survey 2025, the median gross monthly income from work (including employer CPF contributions) is SGD 5,800 (Rs. 4,19,514)

Singapore’s median wages have gone up by more than 46% in the past ten years. This is because the country’s economy has been growing steadily, and there is a strong need for skilled workers. With a rate of 2.0% in the third quarter of 2025, it was one of the lowest in major Asian economies. The World Bank says that the country’s gross national income per person is Rs. 59,85,000, which is about US$82,807.

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If you are an Indian student or worker looking at Singapore as a place to work, the headline average might not tell you everything you need to know. On their first day on the job market, an Indian master's graduate will not make the national median. According to the 2025 Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES), a college graduate can expect to make between Rs. 2,53,155 and Rs. 3,25,485 ($3,500 and $4,500) per month when they first start working. Reading about the experience below has more on this.

The rate of exchange used in this article is Rs. 72.33 to 1 SGD. Before you make your budget official, check the current rate at a bank or on the RBI's reference rate portal.

In Singapore, your industry is the best way to figure out how much you will make. Always at the top are finance, technology, and aerospace. Fields like education and social services, which offer stability in jobs connected to the government, make up the bottom.

Based on data from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower and industry surveys, the table below shows the average yearly salaries by sector. The salaries have been recalculated at Rs. 72.33 per SGD.

Counselor insight: Most Indian students who want to go to Singapore have backgrounds in IT, engineering, or finance. These are also the three fields that hire the most international professionals. There is a real alignment there, but the competition is fierce. Indian candidates are applying in large numbers, especially for IT jobs, and the COMPASS framework (explained in the section on work permits) punishes companies that already have many people from one country. If the company you want to work for already has many Indian employees, it will be harder for your EP application to be approved, even if you meet all the requirements.

In Singapore, your salary goes up as you gain more experience. Based on data from MOM and employment agencies, the table below shows how much salaries have grown by percentage for each level of experience.

The median monthly salary for new university graduates in full-time, permanent jobs in 2025 was $4,500 (Rs. 3,25,485), which was the same as in 2024. The highest-paid graduates were those with degrees in Information and Digital Technologies, who made $5,500 (Rs. 3,97,815) a month.

Counselor insight: The rise from Rs. 2,53,155 to Rs. 3,25,485 ($3,500–$4,500) in Year 1 to Rs. 4,04,848+ ($5,600+) in Years 3–4 is not automatic. It depends on performance reviews, changing jobs, and whether you work in a field that has salary ranges that match this growth. People in India who stay with the same company for three to five years without changing jobs tend to receive raises more slowly than people who make one or two strategic lateral moves. In the early years of a career in Singapore, being able to move around is more important than being loyal.

The table below shows the most common jobs that Indian college graduates look for, along with realistic salary ranges based on data from the Ministry of Manpower's occupational wage surveys and job postings.

Counselor insight: Singapore's starting salaries are very competitive for an Indian computer science or data science graduate. They are often three to four times what someone with the same background makes in their first year at a Tier 1 Indian IT company. The tough part isn't the pay; it's getting over the EP threshold. No matter how good your grades are, a job offer at $4,200/month (Rs. 3,03,786) will not get you an Employment Pass. Before you accept an offer, you should always double-check the salary amount in the letter and compare it to MOM's EP salary matrix for your age group.

Foreigners can't work in Singapore without the right work pass. The pass you can get depends on how much you make and what qualifications you have. After graduation, there is no break. You can't start working until you have a job offer and a pass that has been approved.

If you want to be an EP after January 2025, you must also pass the COMPASS (Complementarity Assessment Framework) scoring system. COMPASS rates your employer based on four factors: your qualifications, the diversity of the company's foreign staff, the company's history of hiring local PMETs, and the salary compared to local PMET benchmarks. If more than half of a company's foreign workforce is from one nationality, the company scores lower on COMPASS diversity, which can sink an otherwise strong EP application for an Indian candidate.

The MOM Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) lets you see if you are eligible for EP before your employer does. Do this assessment before you agree to any offer.

Counselor insight: The most common reason Indian new graduates have to wait for their EP is that the job title on the offer letter doesn't match the salary offered. MOM checks to see if the salary is fair for the level of responsibility. A job offer of Rs. 3,61,650 (S$5,000) for a "Senior Software Engineer" position will raise an eyebrow. Before you send it in, make sure that the job is advertised at a level that fits your salary range.

Singapore costs a lot. Knowing how much money you have left over after rent and daily costs gives you a better idea of how much you make overall.

A new IT graduate making Rs. 3,25,485 ($4,500) a month has about these monthly costs:

That means a new graduate would have a net savings of about Rs. 1,19,344–Rs. 1,77,208 ($1,650–$2,450) per month, before any extra spending. The number works, but it's not very kind. Increasing the monthly amount to Rs. 4,33,980 ($6,000) by Year 3 makes the savings situation much better.

Before you decide to move, read our guide on cost of living in Singapore as an Indian student.

Most Indian students in Singapore start seeking employment too late. They usually do it in the last semester, when many companies have already stopped hiring. The schedule below shows how the months of August, January, and May usually work for starting school, the second semester, and graduation.

You can find jobs online at MyCareersFuture (a Singapore government portal that many employers require), LinkedIn, Indeed Singapore, JobsDB, and NodeFlair (tech-specific). The Indian community in Singapore is active when it comes to networking in person. For example, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce hosts regular business events.

Counselor insight: The single most effective thing Indian students in Singapore do in their first semester that others do not is attend the on-campus career fair of a university they are not enrolled in. NUS, NTU, and SMU each run separate career fairs; your student card from any one of them often gets you into the others. DBS, Accenture, and KPMG recruit from all three simultaneously. Show up to all three fairs in September and October. The students who get referrals are the ones who were in the room

Prepare for potential setbacks, as job searches in Singapore often deviate from the expected course.

• If your job offer is less than the EP salary level: Do not ask your boss to make your pay look better than it really is. MOM compares offered salaries to role benchmarks and will not accept applications where the salary-to-role match doesn't seem to be right. Instead, try to get a real pay raise, see if you can get an S Pass with the lower salary, or look at jobs at companies where your profile earns a higher band.
• If your EP application is turned down: EP rejections don't always come with a full explanation. Within 3 months of the rejection, your boss can file an appeal through MOM's online portal. Most of the time, these problems can be fixed: salary below the age-adjusted threshold, COMPASS score too low because of the employer's focus on one nationality, or a problem with verifying qualifications. The counselor shouldn't just work with you but also with the HR team at your job.
• If the verification of your degree is delayed or flagged: Since September 2023, MOM mandates that a third party checks all degrees. Indian university degrees, even those from IITs and central universities, need to be checked by an agency approved by the MOM. If your school takes a long time to respond to requests for verification, begin this process well before your last semester. Acumen Assessments, the verification company approved by MOM, directly contacts your school. Some state universities often have delays of 4–6 weeks.
• If you can't find a job in three to four months after graduation: Your Singapore Student Pass will expire. That is against the law. You can't stay and look for work unless you obtain a long-term visit pass (which needs a sponsor) or already have a valid EP or S Pass in process. Do not stay too long. If you are still seeking employment after graduation, go back to India and keep applying for jobs while your paperwork is being taken care of. Many Singaporean employers do the first round of interviews online.
• If your employer withdraws their offer after you submit your EP: This can happen when companies have sudden hiring freezes. Your EP application is no longer valid, and you need to find a new employer and resubmit it. Make sure your application materials are up-to-date, and don't give your old job in India the boot until your Singapore EP is fully approved, not just sent in.

1. Your average salary in Singapore as an Indian graduate starts at SGD 3,500–4,500/month, but it only crosses the EP threshold of SGD 5,600 after 2–3 years of strategic career moves, not by staying at one employer.

2. Run the MOM Self-Assessment Tool before accepting any job offer. A salary below the EP threshold means no valid work authorization; do not give notice in India until your EP is approved, not just submitted.

3. Most large Singapore employers close their graduate intake by April. An application sent in June after graduation competes for what is left. Start applying in February of your final semester.

Verified by LeapScholar's Singapore counseling team. Have questions? Book a free session with a LeapScholar counselor.