Wages by industry in Kanagawa are led by electrical machinery manufacturing at ¥451,600 a month, followed by scientific research, professional and technical services at ¥444,200. Food manufacturing, accommodation, and food services are in the ¥200,000 range, creating a gap of roughly ¥200,000 per month between industries within the same prefecture.
Scheduled monthly wages in Kanagawa by industry (2023, all ages, men and women combined, all company sizes)
| Rank | Industry | Monthly wages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrical machinery, equipment and supplies manufacturing | ¥451,600 |
| 2 | Scientific research, professional and technical services | ¥444,200 |
| 3 | Business-oriented machinery manufacturing | ¥436,400 |
| 4 | School education | ¥431,600 |
| 5 | Electricity, gas, heat supply and water | ¥425,700 |
| 6 | Electronic parts, devices and electronic circuits manufacturing | ¥424,700 |
| 7 | General-purpose machinery manufacturing | ¥390,100 |
| 8 | Chemical industry | ¥384,900 |
| 9 | Construction | ¥384,200 |
| 10 | Information and communications | ¥368,800 |
Selected lower-ranking industries
| Industry | Monthly wages |
|---|---|
| Food manufacturing | ¥251,700 |
| Textile mill products | ¥260,600 |
| Employment placement and worker dispatching services | ¥276,900 |
| Accommodation and food services | ¥277,700 |
Manufacturing and R&D dominate the top; labor-intensive services sit lower
The top 10 include electrical machinery, business-oriented machinery, electronic parts, general-purpose machinery, and chemicals, alongside scientific research and professional services, school education, utilities, and information and communications. These are industries where capital equipment, specialized knowledge, or professional qualifications can support higher value added per worker.
Food manufacturing stands at ¥251,700 and accommodation and food services at ¥277,700. The gap from the top industry is roughly ¥170,000–¥200,000 per month. A prefecture-wide average for Kanagawa does not show this large step between industries.
From the Keihin industrial belt to an R&D corridor: the industries behind Kanagawa's high wages
The Kawasaki waterfront hosts facilities associated with JFE Steel and Mitsubishi Fuso, while Yokohama and Kawasaki contain major Nissan, Fujitsu, NEC, and Toshiba-group operations. Farther west, Atsugi has Sony and the Nissan Technical Center, and Fujisawa is home to the Shonan Health Innovation Park and Isuzu Motors. Kanagawa therefore has a thick base not only of manufacturing sites, but also of design, engineering, and R&D jobs.
This company geography helps explain the high wages in electrical machinery and scientific research/professional technical services. By contrast, tourism and food-service areas in Yokohama, Shonan, and Hakone generate large amounts of employment but tend to include more part-time and non-regular work, which makes average monthly wages harder to raise. Kanagawa's high-wage profile comes not simply from being an industrial prefecture, but from being an industrial prefecture that also contains substantial R&D activity.
How to read these figures
These figures are scheduled monthly wages and do not include bonuses or overtime pay. They combine men and women, all age groups, and all company sizes, so the table alone does not show differences in occupation or employer size within each industry.
Conclusion: Kanagawa's highest wages are found in manufacturing linked to R&D and specialized work
Kanagawa's highest-wage industries are electrical machinery and business-oriented machinery, together with the research and specialist services that support them. Industry, occupation, and company size can matter far more to pay than the prefectural average alone.
- Electrical machinery manufacturing ranks first at ¥451,600 a month
- Scientific research, professional and technical services follows at ¥444,200
- Food manufacturing and accommodation/food services are more than ¥100,000 lower
- R&D hubs in Yokohama, Kawasaki, Atsugi, and Fujisawa support the industries at the top of the ranking
Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure (2023)
📊 Analysis notes
- Statistics used: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure (e-Stat table ID: 0003426933, view on e-Stat)
- Area covered: Kanagawa Prefecture
- Reference year: 2023
- Data retrieved: June 6, 2026
- Note: The article centers on values published in the official statistics. Interpretation of the background may also involve factors not directly shown in the table, such as occupational mix and company-size composition within each industry, so the published figures should be distinguished from contextual interpretation.
Figures in the table were organized from the statistical data above.