In the town of Rudna in the province. Lower Silesia in January this year. the median (the middle value when half of the workers earn more and half less) earnings was 18 thousand PLN gross. It was that by 158 percent more than the median salary in the country at that time. In Polkowice, in the same voivodeship, the average men's wage in January was almost 19 thousand zloty. In the following months, things were not so good and the wages were approximately PLN 9,000. monthly. The peak of wages comes in December and January.
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Barbórka 2025. Where does a miner earn the most?
It is not by accident that these two towns are located, and it is not by accident that December and January mark the annual maximums. KGHM operates copper mines in this area. This company earns a lot and pays its employees, mostly miners, well. In December there is St. Barbara's Day and in January annual bonuses are paid.
There are four other mining towns in the top ten communes in Poland with well-paying employers. Is Kleszczówwhere the average of median monthly earnings from January to May this year. was 10.6 thousand PLN gross and where it operates open-pit lignite mine owned by PGE.
There is also Bogatynia from 10.2 thousand gross, where it also works open-pit lignite mine owned by PGE.
They are finally here Polkowice and Lubini.e. two more places where KGHM mines copper, and the average salary in the first five months this year was 9.3 and 9.5 thousand respectively. PLN per month.
Miner is not equal to miner. Why do some people earn less?
It's worse in the province. Silesia, for the obvious reason that companies mining hard coal there have recently not been earning as much as they are losing due to the low prices of their main product, both the one intended for power plants (PGG and PKW) and the coking one for steelworks (JSW). There is therefore no premium paid from profits. In lean years, the best month for employees is not January, but December and the St. Mary's Day bonus.
And so in December last year in Jaworzno (PKW) the median salary was PLN 9.8 thousand. PLN grossi.e. by 34 percent. more than the national median, a in Katowice (PGG) 9.4 thousand zloty, i.e. by 30 percent. above what was usually earned in the country. This year in Katowice, the median salary was already around PLN 7.7 thousand. PLN gross, and in Jaworzno around PLN 7.5 thousand. Higher salaries apply in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, where JSW is headquartered – the average median from January to May was PLN 8.9 thousand this year. zloty.
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Okay, but these are data from all earnings, not only from miners' earnings, and they only give an idea of the differences in earnings in towns with mines compared to those without mines. But how much do you earn in mining alone?
How much does a miner earn? Here is the breakdown by voivodeship
The division at the municipal or poviat level of detail for individual economic sectors is not published by the Central Statistical Office either in its bulletins or in its databases. Therefore, it is not possible to determine by the towns where miners earn the most. But it can be done at the voivodeship level, although it is also incomplete.
Due to the availability of Central Statistical Office data on median earnings for sectors and voivodeships, we calculated the average of medians for five months of 2025. Unfortunately, we have to accept the lack of data for the voivodeship. Lubelskie, where Bogdanka operates, and from the province. Łódź, where there are brown coal mines around Bełchatów. We also took into account only the earnings of men, because women in this profession are rare and only a little over a hundred of them work underground – according to information from the Industrial Development Agency.
And so, those who work for mines earn the most in mining Lower Silesia – 15.2 thousand PLN gross per month in the current yearof which in January, the median salary in this region was as much as PLN 24,000. zlotyto drop to approximately 12,000 in later months. zloty.
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Miners from the province Silesian they received on average this year by 13 percent less than their colleagues from the province. Lower Silesia, specifically average 13.1 thousand PLN gross. Of this, in February the median wage was PLN 21,000. PLN gross, in April 13.8 thousand PLN, and in the remaining months approximately PLN 10,000. zloty.
And what does it look like in individual mining companies? Here we have data for 2024. They still boast the highest salaries KGHM employees where the average earnings exclude CEOs but include management staff was last year 21.5 thousand PLN gross per month.
In second place are employees JSW (PLN 15.6 thousand), then Bogdanki (14.6 thousand) and further PGG (13.9 thousand) and those employed at the National Electoral Commission receive the least (PLN 12.4 thousand).
At JSW and PGG, the average salary decreased, and the largest increase (+7.6% y/y) was recorded by KGHM employees.
Author: Jacek Frączyk, editor of Business Insider Polska
