Okayama: pay, hiring and the labour market

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

Full-time workers in Okayama earn ¥4.84m a year on average, 25th of 47. Its job-to-applicant ratio was 1.33 in September 2026, tighter than Japan's 1.19. The minimum wage rose to ¥1,104 an hour for fiscal 2026, and the population has fallen 4.3% since 2020.

¥4.84maverage annual pay25th of 47 · −11.3% vs Japan
1.33job-to-applicant ratio, September 202620th of 47 · Japan 1.19
¥1,104minimum wage an hour, FY202626th of 47 · +57 yen
1.81mpopulation, 2025 census−4.3% since 2020

Pay in Okayama

 Annual payMonthlyBonusAgeTenure (yrs)Overtime (h/mo)
All¥4.84m¥0.33m¥0.85m43.712.312
Men¥5.45m¥0.37m¥1.01m44.113.914
Women¥3.90m¥0.27m¥0.62m43.19.87
Japan (all)¥5.46m¥0.37m¥1.01m44.412.711

Women's average annual pay is 28% below men's here. This is a raw comparison that does not adjust for differences in age, tenure or job.

Hiring in Okayama: 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. Okayama stood at 1.33 in September 2026, against 1.38 a year earlier.

Minimum wage in Okayama

Okayama's regional minimum wage for fiscal 2026 is ¥1,104 an hour, up from ¥1,047, effective 2 October 2026. Japan's weighted average is ¥1,177.

People: population and foreign workers

Population, 1 October 20251,807,16020th of 47
Population change, 2020–25−4.3%23rd of 47
Foreign workers29,61219th of 47
Workplaces employing foreign workers3,942

Employers headquartered in Okayama

19 listed companies have their head office in Okayama, and 403 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 Chugoku

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.