Kochi: pay, hiring and the labour market

Pay, hiring conditions, minimum wage and population. Shikoku region.

Full-time workers in Kochi earn ¥4.31m a year on average, 40th of 47. Its job-to-applicant ratio was 1.19 in September 2026, tighter than Japan's 1.19. The minimum wage rose to ¥1,086 an hour for fiscal 2026, and the population has fallen 7.0% since 2020.

¥4.31maverage annual pay40th of 47 · −21.0% vs Japan
1.19job-to-applicant ratio, September 202635th of 47 · Japan 1.19
¥1,086minimum wage an hour, FY202645th of 47 · +63 yen
0.64mpopulation, 2025 census−7.0% since 2020

Pay in Kochi

 Annual payMonthlyBonusAgeTenure (yrs)Overtime (h/mo)
All¥4.31m¥0.31m¥0.63m45.613.07
Men¥4.88m¥0.34m¥0.77m45.513.811
Women¥3.69m¥0.27m¥0.48m45.812.24
Japan (all)¥5.46m¥0.37m¥1.01m44.412.711

Women's average annual pay is 24% below men's here. This is a raw comparison that does not adjust for differences in age, tenure or job.

Hiring in Kochi: 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. Kochi stood at 1.19 in September 2026, against 1.16 a year earlier.

Minimum wage in Kochi

Kochi's regional minimum wage for fiscal 2026 is ¥1,086 an hour, up from ¥1,023, effective 29 October 2026. Japan's weighted average is ¥1,177.

People: population and foreign workers

Population, 1 October 2025642,83645th of 47
Population change, 2020–25−7.0%43rd of 47
Foreign workers5,91645th of 47
Workplaces employing foreign workers1,332

Employers headquartered in Kochi

5 listed companies have their head office in Kochi, and 134 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 Shikoku

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.