Aussies earn less than you think

But 75 per cent of the country lives on less, according to the Grattan Institute's annual Budget cheat sheet, with Australians' median income just $42,027.

"People can sometimes think the average person is your standard, middle-of-the-range Australian," Grattan Institute associate Esther Suckling said. But three quarters of Australians earn less than that, she said.

"So many Australians don't work full-time. You've got heaps of part-time workers, you've got a third of adults who don't work at all. And so it can also just be a little bit misleading," she said.

The cheat sheet shows that large assets such as family home equity and superannuation could make average overall wealth a similarly misleading figure.

The average 25 to 40 year old household, for example, has $140,000 in home equity.

The median has $0.

"Sometimes [the median] makes you feel a little bit better about your own situation," Ms Suckling said.

On the other end of the spectrum, the average retiree has $171,000 in superannuation while the median has $0.

Despite this, retirees report low levels of financial stress if they own their own home, the report said.

The federal government will hand down the 2024-25 budget on Tuesday, May 14.