Russians’ salary expectations fall for first time since 2018, study says

At the end of the third quarter, the average desired monthly salary was 151,000 rubles and the median was 114,000, according to Financial University data cited by Vedomosti.

Year over year, the average figure fell 1.95% and the median declined 4.2%. The study surveyed residents of cities with more than 100,000 people. Alexander Shatilov, deputy academic director of the Financial University, said the reversal began in the third quarter of 2025.

Expectations also dropped in some occupations. Fitters and welders sought about 303,000 rubles a month at the start of the year, compared with 213,000 by the end of the third quarter. The desired figure for drivers fell from 214,000 to 164,000 rubles. These are workers’ expectations, not actual wages.

Novokuznetsk had the highest figures in the survey, with an average of 258,000 rubles and a median of 166,000. Moscow ranked eighth at 186,000 and 131,000 rubles, while Kirov recorded 118,000 and 87,000. Shatilov linked the shift to economic conditions, while Victoria Pavlyushina suggested slower inflation may have played a role. Those are possible explanations offered by experts, not findings established by the survey itself.