Hokkaido: pay, hiring and the labour market

Pay, hiring conditions, minimum wage and population. Hokkaido and Tohoku region.

Full-time workers in Hokkaido earn ¥4.67m a year on average, 30th of 47. Its job-to-applicant ratio was 0.98 in September 2026, looser than Japan's 1.19. The minimum wage rose to ¥1,131 an hour for fiscal 2026, and the population has fallen 4.7% since 2020.

¥4.67maverage annual pay30th of 47 · −14.5% vs Japan
0.98job-to-applicant ratio, September 202646th of 47 · Japan 1.19
¥1,131minimum wage an hour, FY202614th of 47 · +56 yen
4.98mpopulation, 2025 census−4.7% since 2020

Pay in Hokkaido

 Annual payMonthlyBonusAgeTenure (yrs)Overtime (h/mo)
All¥4.67m¥0.32m¥0.79m45.812.011
Men¥5.23m¥0.36m¥0.94m47.013.714
Women¥3.84m¥0.27m¥0.58m44.19.57
Japan (all)¥5.46m¥0.37m¥1.01m44.412.711

Women's average annual pay is 27% below men's here. This is a raw comparison that does not adjust for differences in age, tenure or job.

Hiring in Hokkaido: the job-to-applicant ratio

The ratio counts job openings per job seeker at Hello Work; above 1.0 there are more openings than applicants and hiring is harder. Hokkaido stood at 0.98 in September 2026, against 1.02 a year earlier.

Minimum wage in Hokkaido

Hokkaido's regional minimum wage for fiscal 2026 is ¥1,131 an hour, up from ¥1,075, effective 1 October 2026. Japan's weighted average is ¥1,177.

People: population and foreign workers

Population, 1 October 20254,980,2729th of 47
Population change, 2020–25−4.7%29th of 47
Foreign workers51,35813th of 47
Workplaces employing foreign workers8,854

Employers headquartered in Hokkaido

33 listed companies have their head office in Hokkaido, and 824 unlisted employers with 101 or more staff report to MHLW's women's advancement database. We publish each one's pay, women in management and gender pay gap.

Elsewhere in Hokkaido and Tohoku

Sources: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2025); MHLW Employment Referrals for General Workers (September 2026, seasonally adjusted, by workplace); MHLW regional minimum wages (fiscal 2026); MHLW report on the employment of foreign workers (as of 31 October 2025); Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2025 Population Census; MHLW women's advancement database. Compiled by The Hardest Market. Annual pay is monthly contractual pay × 12 plus annual bonuses, for full-time general workers.