Methodology
Where every number comes from
PisoLens follows three rules: (1) official sources only — we never pull from commercial salary sites; (2) every figure carries its source, legal basis where applicable, and an "as of" date; (3) when data is thin or uncertain, we say so plainly instead of inventing it.
Everything PisoLens outputs is educational — not financial, tax, or legal advice.
The salary check ("Is My Offer Fair?")
Social Security System (SSS)
Open source →Employee contribution: 5% of the Monthly Salary Credit (₱5,000–₱35,000, ₱500 brackets).
Legal basis: RA 11199 (Social Security Act of 2018); SSS Circular No. 2024-006, effective January 1, 2025
As of: January 2025 schedule (final RA 11199 tranche; unchanged for 2026)
Update cadence: Re-checked when SSS issues a new contribution schedule (the 2025 schedule was the final RA 11199 tranche).
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)
Open source →Premium: 5% of basic salary (floor ₱10,000, cap ₱100,000), split 50/50 with the employer.
Legal basis: RA 11223 (Universal Health Care Act) Section 10; PhilHealth Advisory PA2025-0002 (CY 2025); rate retained at 5% for CY 2026 per PhilHealth announcement
As of: 5% premium, retained for CY 2026 (final UHC Act step)
Update cadence: Re-checked every January, and sooner if the pending premium-reduction bills become law.
Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund)
Open source →Employee contribution: 2% of compensation up to a ₱10,000 fund salary (max ₱200/month).
Legal basis: RA 9679 (HDMF Law of 2009); HDMF Circular No. 460
As of: February 2024 schedule (₱10,000 maximum fund salary; unchanged for 2026)
Update cadence: Re-checked when HDMF issues a new circular on contribution rates or the maximum fund salary.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
Open source →Monthly withholding tax on compensation, applied to gross pay minus mandatory contributions (six progressive brackets, 0%–35%).
Legal basis: RA 10963 (TRAIN Law); RR 11-2018 Annex E, Revised Withholding Tax Table effective January 1, 2023 and onwards
As of: Monthly table effective January 1, 2023 and onwards
Update cadence: Stable since January 2023 ("2023 and onwards" table); re-checked if tax law changes.
DOLE National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC)
Open source →Regional daily minimum wages (main non-agriculture rate), used as the legal floor and converted to a monthly equivalent at 26 paid days.
As of: NWPC summary as of April 7, 2026, plus later official wage-order announcements
Update cadence: Re-checked after every regional wage order; several 2025–2026 orders have second tranches landing through 2026.
PSA Occupational Wages Survey (OWS) 2024
Open source →Average monthly wage rates from the PSA Occupational Wages Survey — national, regional, and for curated benchmark occupations. Averages cover ALL experience levels.
As of: 2024 survey, released 2025
Update cadence: Re-checked after each OWS release (roughly every two years). Where a role has no citable figure, the tool says so instead of estimating.
PSA Full Year 2023 Official Poverty Statistics
Open source →Official poverty (₱13,873/month) and food (₱9,581/month) thresholds for a family of five — shown for scale next to the cost-of-living check.
As of: Full Year 2023, released August 2024 (latest available as of June 2026)
Update cadence: Re-checked after each PSA Official Poverty Statistics release.
Illustrative starter budget
PisoLens editorial estimate (single person, shared housing, no dependents). There is no official PH single-person living wage to cite, so this is a clearly labeled starting point — adjust it to your own situation before reading the verdict. Official PSA poverty thresholds are shown alongside for scale.
As of: June 2026 · Clearly labeled illustrative and adjustable by the user.
Inflation & macro tools
PSA OpenSTAT
CPI and inflation series (2018 base), labor force, GDP, and trade — fetched directly from the PSA OpenSTAT API, with a verified snapshot fallback when the live feed is unavailable.
Update cadence: automatic with each PSA release (typically monthly). openstat.psa.gov.ph →
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
USD/PHP reference rate, policy rate, reserves, and remittance data from official BSP tables.
Update cadence: ~1 hour for FX/policy rate; longer for monthly series. bsp.gov.ph →