Those figures were supplied by Statistics NZ, and spokesman James Weir said it was not possible to extract data specific to Tauranga or the Western Bay.
Figures from Priority One and Infometrics also showed Tauranga and Western Bay earnings lagging significantly behind the national average.
At a time of record growth in this region, the figures pose the question of why incomes should be relatively low.
Priority One projects manager Annie Hill said the national average was inflated by high salaries in Auckland and Wellington.
"We are noticing that a number of industries are becoming more competitive with areas such as Auckland - for example the IT sector," she said.
"We are also seeing an increase in higher-value jobs being created here, which will pay higher salaries."
Several employers and recruiters said low-paid seasonal jobs in industries such as kiwifruit were dragging down the pay averages.
Other possible reasons were large numbers of cashed-up Aucklanders retiring here without incomes, and employers using the Bay's lifestyle benefits as a drawcard to offset lower pay.
Kinetic Recruitment senior consultant Cherie Hill said workers and employers had "ingrained expectations" about pay rates.
Smaller, innovative companies were spending more on talent but some large employers had rigid salary bands that restricted pay growth. She was urging employers to pay more for good-quality workers.
"Using lifestyle as a drawcard for someone coming from out of town is not good enough anymore."
Kirsty Morrison of recruitment agency One21 said salaries had risen for some skilled and technical roles, but pay was generally lower than in some other regions.
"Perhaps this is because Tauranga businesses don't make as much money as their big-city counterparts, or it could be that many employers are still stuck in the 'ten-dollar Tauranga' mindset of the '80s and '90s."
One major recruiter in the industrial field, who would not be named, said construction pay rates lagged behind Auckland despite the local building boom.
"In Auckland there's also a construction boom, margins are better, and employees are tougher to find and harder to keep, so their salaries have increased more than Tauranga."
When asked what people could do to improve their salaries, recruiters said people should know what they were worth and believe in their value. One urged new employees to "come in at the high end and be prepared to negotiate".
Average household incomes
Tauranga, 2015: $84,286 (up 6.3 per cent)
New Zealand, 2015: $91,198 (up 2.6 per cent)
Source: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Average earnings
Tauranga: $51,070
Western Bay: $43,100
New Zealand: $56,030
Source: Priority One, 2015 year
Cindy goes her own way
As of last week, Cindy Hands is a woman with her own business.
She left her job working as a fulltime chef in a food market. Now she will focus on running a catering business and the Gourmet Picnic food trailer she set up with her husband Matt, a banker.
Like most service jobs in Tauranga, the pay wasn't great as a chef. But that wasn't the main reason Mrs Hands moved on.
"I was juggling things with my day job and it was important to me to have lifestyle," she said.
"Now I'm ready to take that next step and I'm really excited."
Mrs Hands had never intended to spend her life working for somebody else, but had been willing to do so while learning the trade and improving her skills.
Gourmet Picnic will appear regularly between 5.30pm and 9pm on Thursdays at the Dinner in the Domain, serving spare ribs, macaroni cheese and garlic prawns.
The business will also cater to functions such as weddings.
"It doesn't feel like work because you put so much love into it," she said.
"It's so much fun and you're having a good time."
