You already know your region’s minimum wage. What you probably don’t know is how the Minimum Wage vs. Cost of Living in the Philippines actually compares, and how far that number sits from what a family needs to survive.
NCR pays the country’s highest daily minimum wage at ₱695, climbing to ₱755 on July 25. BARMM sits at the other end, at ₱411. Somewhere between those two numbers, most Filipino workers try to make rent, feed a household, and keep the lights on.
Here’s the part the headline rate never shows you: even NCR’s ₱695 doesn’t cover it.
See also: SSS Retirement Pension Calculator
The Hidden Reality: Why Minimum Wage Doesn’t Cover the Cost of Living
IBON Foundation tracks what it calls the family living wage (FLW): the daily income a family of five needs to cover basic food, rent, utilities, and transport. IBON pegged that figure at roughly ₱1,305 a day, or about ₱28,380 a month, as of May 2026.
Compare that to the national average minimum wage. IBON’s own tracking puts the average minimum wage at around ₱510 a day, or about ₱11,089 a month, nationwide. A typical minimum wage earner takes home well under half of what a family their size actually needs.
Food drives most of that gap. In IBON’s May 2026 cost breakdown, food alone made up the biggest single expense at over ₱16,000 a month, with rent, utilities, and transport adding several thousand more on top. Rent, power, and transport combined already outpace what a minimum wage earner in most regions brings home in a full month.
This isn’t a one-region problem. IBON’s April 2026 estimate found the average minimum wage covered only around 39% of the family living wage for a household of five, a shortfall of roughly ₱800 a day. That gap barely narrowed the following month. By IBON’s count, close to two-thirds of Filipino families, an estimated 17.9 million households, live below the family living wage level.
Salary vs. Living Wage Index: How Far Does Your Region Fall Short?
The table below checks each region’s current daily minimum wage (non-agriculture rate) against the ₱1,305 national family living wage benchmark. Use it to see roughly what share of a livable income your region’s minimum wage actually covers.
| Region | Min. Wage (Daily) | Nat’l Family Living Wage | Gap | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCR | ₱695 | ₱1,305 | ₱610 | 53% |
| Region III (Central Luzon) | ₱600 | ₱1,305 | ₱705 | 46% |
| Region IV-A (CALABARZON) | ₱600 | ₱1,305 | ₱705 | 46% |
| Region VI (Western Visayas) | ₱550 | ₱1,305 | ₱755 | 42% |
| Region VII (Central Visayas) | ₱540 | ₱1,305 | ₱765 | 41% |
| Region XI (Davao) | ₱525 | ₱1,305 | ₱780 | 40% |
| CAR (Cordillera) | ₱505 | ₱1,305 | ₱800 | 39% |
| Region I (Ilocos) | ₱505 | ₱1,305 | ₱800 | 39% |
| Region II (Cagayan Valley) | ₱500 | ₱1,305 | ₱805 | 38% |
| Region X (Northern Mindanao) | ₱500 | ₱1,305 | ₱805 | 38% |
| Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) | ₱470 | ₱1,305 | ₱835 | 36% |
| Region XIII (Caraga) | ₱475 | ₱1,305 | ₱830 | 36% |
| Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) | ₱464 | ₱1,305 | ₱841 | 36% |
| Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN) | ₱460 | ₱1,305 | ₱845 | 35% |
| Region IV-B (MIMAROPA) | ₱455 | ₱1,305 | ₱850 | 35% |
| Region V (Bicol) | ₱455 | ₱1,305 | ₱850 | 35% |
| BARMM | ₱411 | ₱1,305 | ₱894 | 31% |
Methodology: minimum wage figures are current non-agriculture daily rates, verified against NWPC’s official wage order pages. The ₱1,305 family living wage is IBON Foundation’s national estimate for a family of five as of May 2026. IBON also publishes region-specific FLW estimates, but only as infographic images rather than a text-based dataset, so this table benchmarks every region against the single national figure rather than mixing in unverified region-by-region numbers. Treat the “coverage” column as a national comparison, not a region-specific cost-of-living index.
No region clears even 55% of what IBON considers a livable income for a family of five. NCR earners take home the largest paycheck in peso terms and still fall ₱610 short of that daily benchmark. In BARMM, the gap swallows nearly 70% of what a family would need.
Check Your Own Region
The table above uses one national benchmark, but your region’s exact minimum wage, its upcoming wage order increases, and how it stacks up against any other region are all things you can check directly. Use the calculator below to compare your region against another, see the monthly peso difference, and catch any scheduled tranche increase before it lands on your payslip.
