Shimane: pay, hiring and the labour market

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

Full-time workers in Shimane earn ¥4.47m a year on average, 38th of 47. Its job-to-applicant ratio was 1.63 in September 2026, tighter than Japan's 1.19. The minimum wage rose to ¥1,092 an hour for fiscal 2026, and the population has fallen 6.3% since 2020.

¥4.47maverage annual pay38th of 47 · −18.2% vs Japan
1.63job-to-applicant ratio, September 20264th of 47 · Japan 1.19
¥1,092minimum wage an hour, FY202636th of 47 · +59 yen
0.63mpopulation, 2025 census−6.3% since 2020

Pay in Shimane

 Annual payMonthlyBonusAgeTenure (yrs)Overtime (h/mo)
All¥4.47m¥0.31m¥0.72m45.313.312
Men¥4.93m¥0.34m¥0.81m45.914.616
Women¥3.79m¥0.27m¥0.60m44.511.56
Japan (all)¥5.46m¥0.37m¥1.01m44.412.711

Women's average annual pay is 23% below men's here. This is a raw comparison that does not adjust for differences in age, tenure or job.

Hiring in Shimane: 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. Shimane stood at 1.63 in September 2026, against 1.55 a year earlier.

Minimum wage in Shimane

Shimane's regional minimum wage for fiscal 2026 is ¥1,092 an hour, up from ¥1,033, effective 10 October 2026. Japan's weighted average is ¥1,177.

People: population and foreign workers

Population, 1 October 2025628,88746th of 47
Population change, 2020–25−6.3%40th of 47
Foreign workers6,18444th of 47
Workplaces employing foreign workers1,008

Employers headquartered in Shimane

3 listed companies have their head office in Shimane, and 127 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.