Saitama: pay, hiring and the labour market

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

Full-time workers in Saitama earn ¥5.14m a year on average, 12th of 47. Its job-to-applicant ratio was 1.14 in September 2026, looser than Japan's 1.19. The minimum wage rose to ¥1,196 an hour for fiscal 2026, and the population has fallen 0.8% since 2020.

¥5.14maverage annual pay12th of 47 · −5.9% vs Japan
1.14job-to-applicant ratio, September 202638th of 47 · Japan 1.19
¥1,196minimum wage an hour, FY20264th of 47 · +55 yen
7.29mpopulation, 2025 census−0.8% since 2020

Pay in Saitama

 Annual payMonthlyBonusAgeTenure (yrs)Overtime (h/mo)
All¥5.14m¥0.36m¥0.85m45.712.812
Men¥5.70m¥0.39m¥0.99m46.214.214
Women¥4.14m¥0.29m¥0.60m44.910.47
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 Saitama: 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. Saitama stood at 1.14 in September 2026, against 1.14 a year earlier.

Minimum wage in Saitama

Saitama's regional minimum wage for fiscal 2026 is ¥1,196 an hour, up from ¥1,141, effective 1 October 2026. Japan's weighted average is ¥1,177.

People: population and foreign workers

Population, 1 October 20257,287,3255th of 47
Population change, 2020–25−0.8%5th of 47
Foreign workers133,0495th of 47
Workplaces employing foreign workers19,780

Employers headquartered in Saitama

39 listed companies have their head office in Saitama, and 737 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 Kanto

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.