Salaries in France 2026: SMIC, net pay, regional averages

The minimum wage in France is the SMIC: €1,867.02 gross a month from 1 June 2026, about €1,478 net (after social contributions, before income tax), while the median net salary in the private sector for 2024, on a full-time-equivalent basis (EQTP), was €2,190. We, the “Vibe South of France” community, have gathered the service-public and INSEE figures on one page and put the date of the source against each. What we calculated ourselves is marked as such. There are no salaries “by profession” from job sites here: they can’t be checked against a primary source. What people are paid in your city and your line of work is something to ask in the “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram, where you can ask people working near you.

Who needs a work permit and where to look for vacancies is in the guide Working in France. This page is only about money.

The SMIC: the minimum nobody may be paid below

On 1 June 2026 the SMIC rose by 2.41%: before that it was €12.02 an hour, €1,823.03 gross and €1,443.11 net a month. The SMIC is reviewed every year on 1 January, and if prices have risen by 2% or more since the last review, it is raised straight away, mid-year - as in June 2026. The figures in the table apply to mainland France and the overseas departments except Mayotte (service-public F2300 and news item A18916 of 18 May 2026). The SMIC is a single rate for mainland France: in Montpellier, Nice and Marseille the minimum wage is the same as in Paris. Service-public calls the net figure “à titre indicatif”, that is, a guide.

The monthly figure is worked out for a 35-hour week, that is, full-time work.

How much is left after contributions

“Net” here means after social contributions but before income tax. Withholding tax at source is a separate matter, covered in the guide Taxes in France. We did not find a single official contribution rate on the service-public or INSEE pages, so we worked out the share from two pairs of their figures:

That is our calculation: 1,477.93 / 1,867.02 and 2,733 / 3,602. For your own figure, the official gross-to-net simulator on the URSSAF site is more exact: it gives net pay, net after withholding tax and the employer’s full cost (checked on 19 October 2026, version “07/2026”).

What people are paid on average across France

The latest INSEE data is the publication Insee Première n° 2079 of 23 October 2025, for 2024, private sector. All the sums here are “in EQTP” (équivalent temps plein, full-time equivalent): INSEE converts people who work part-time to a full-time basis so that salaries can be compared. This is how INSEE words the main point:

“La moitié des salariés du secteur privé perçoit moins de 2 190 euros net par mois en EQTP.” (Half of private-sector employees receive less than €2,190 net a month in EQTP.) In plain English: half of private-sector employees earn less than €2,190 net a month on a full-time-equivalent basis.

By category, the mean net pay per month looks like this:

Women earned on average 13.0% less than men (in EQTP). One caveat: from this edition INSEE also counts apprentices and interns, which makes the mean €81 lower than it would be without them. So the 2024 figures cannot be compared directly with earlier editions. Agriculture and people employed by private individuals are outside the sample. The civil service (fonction publique) is not in these figures either: INSEE counts only the private sector.

Occitanie and PACA

Insee Première has no regional figures; they are in a separate “Dossier complet” table for each region (table SAL G1, published 27 August 2026). This is also the mean net pay per month on a full-time basis, private sector, 2024, but counted by place of work, not by place of residence.

More from the same regional tables: in Occitanie women earn on average €2,278 and men €2,613; in PACA, €2,355 and €2,732. Under 25, mean net pay is €1,575 in Occitanie and €1,637 in PACA; from age 55 it is €2,894 and €2,977.

Our calculation: the overall mean in Occitanie is about 10% below the national one (€2,470 against €2,733), and in PACA about 6%. A word of caution, though: INSEE takes the national and the regional figures from different tables and does not publish such a comparison itself. In three categories out of four, the PACA figures match the national ones or differ by €6-12; only for cadres are they clearly lower. We have no separate figures for Montpellier, Nice or Marseille; for life in those places see the guides Hérault département and Alpes-Maritimes département.

What salary a talent card or a Blue Card requires

For several kinds of “talent” card the law sets a salary floor. These are the figures from service-public card F16922 itself (checked 1 June 2026), gross per year:

The €39,582 threshold is set by the order of 21 August 2025 on the average reference salary. Other profiles of the card have their own floors too: for example, mandataire social - 3 SMIC (€67,212.60), “notoriété” (renown) - the annual SMIC, artist - 70% of the SMIC for each month of stay (€1,306.91). What is required beyond salary and how to apply is in the guide Titre de séjour: residence permit step by step. For special cases and exceptions, see card F16922 itself. Which level of French the cards and citizenship require (A2, B1, B2) is in the guide French for a residence permit and citizenship.

What the law and the contract say

Overtime. If the collective agreement is silent, hours from the 36th to the 43rd in a week are paid with a 25% supplement, from the 44th with 50%. An agreement may set other rates, but not below 10% (F2391, checked 8 June 2026).

Leave. For a month of work for one employer, 2.5 jours ouvrables; for a full year 30 days, that is 5 weeks. Jours ouvrables are all days of the week except Sunday and public holidays, so a leave day can fall on a Saturday (F2258, checked 30 April 2026).

Probation on an open-ended contract (CDI) (F1643, checked 12 August 2026):

It can be renewed once, and only if the sector agreement and the contract provide for it and you have agreed in writing or by post.

The 13th month. The law does not require it. It is paid if it is written into the contract or a collective agreement, if it is the company’s custom, or if the employer has promised it (F2301, checked 1 June 2026). So look in the contract for the words “13e mois” or “prime de fin d’année”: no clause, no obligation.

Apprentices and interns

An apprentice (apprenti) receives a percentage of the SMIC that rises with age and with the year of training. The minimum gross per month at an SMIC of €1,867.02 (F2918, checked 8 September 2026):

From age 26 an apprentice receives not less than the SMIC (€1,867.02) or the sector minimum, whichever is higher.

For ages 21-25 and 26+ F2918 says “whichever is higher”: a percentage of the SMIC or the same percentage of the sector minimum. If your sector pays more, the sector figure applies.

An internship of more than two consecutive months (44 days of 7 hours) or from the 309th hour is paid: at least €4.50 an hour, which is 15% of the hourly social security ceiling (F32131, checked 1 January 2026).

Prime d’activité: a top-up for people in work

If the salary is small, CAF tops it up. The base amount in the formula for a single person without children is €638.28 from 1 April 2026 (previously €633.21, a rise of 0.8%). This is not a payment: CAF works out the sum from the base amount, the household and your income, and the simulator on the CAF site shows it in advance. A single person is not entitled to the prime d’activité with an income above €2,000 net a month; for a couple with two children where one works, the ceiling is €3,450 net.

Students and apprentices can receive it if their net social exceeds €1,117.26 a month (this is a lower threshold, not a ceiling) or if they are bringing up a child alone. Foreigners need a suitable residence document: service-public mentions a long-term one, and the conditions by type of card are collected in the guide CAF and APL (service-public A18815, updated 22 July 2026).

If you are choosing between offers or checking a contract in the South of France, you can ask in our chat what it looks like for people nearby, and find your own people.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - work and life in the South of France

See also

• Moving to the South of France: paperwork step by step
• Working in France as a Russian-speaker
• Taxes in France
• CAF and APL: housing benefit
• Titre de séjour: residence permit in France step by step
• French for a residence permit and citizenship
• Hérault département
• Alpes-Maritimes département
• Family reunification in France: conditions, income, housing, procedure
• Pension in France: retirement age, minimums, ASPA and years worked abroad