Domestic Staff Salaries in Pakistan, City by City

There is no single national salary table for domestic staff in Pakistan, and anyone quoting you one figure for the whole country is simplifying past the point of being useful. Pay is set locally, by what households in that specific city and neighbourhood are actually willing to pay, and it moves with cost of living, demand density and how much competition there is for good candidates.

Where these figures come from

The specific ranges below for Islamabad and Rawalpindi come from current placement activity in those two cities. We do not have the same first-hand data for Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad or other cities, so rather than invent numbers for them, this guide explains what actually drives the differences between cities and lets you apply that reasoning locally.

What genuinely moves the number, anywhere in Pakistan

Cost of living in that specific city, not just its size, a mid-size city with expensive housing can out-pay a larger, cheaper one
How many households in that city are competing for the same pool of experienced candidates
Whether the role is live-in (food and accommodation provided, usually the top of the local range) or day-shift
The candidate's actual experience and, for skilled roles like cooking, a demonstrated track record rather than a claim
Whether the placement went through an agency with a fee, versus directly, which does not change take-home pay but affects the up-front arrangement

Islamabad and Rawalpindi: current figures

These are the two cities with confirmed, current placement data behind them.

Cleaning and car-washing roles: roughly Rs 18,000 to Rs 30,000 a month
Drivers, cooks, house helpers and guards: roughly Rs 25,000 to Rs 90,000 a month, depending heavily on experience and hours
Home nurses and domestic couples: generally higher, reflecting the specialist skill or the double role

Within this pair of cities, Islamabad generally pays somewhat more than Rawalpindi for the same role, with the exception of Bahria Town and DHA Rawalpindi, which draw from the same candidate pool as Islamabad and pay accordingly. Browse staff listed in Islamabad or Rawalpindi to see what people are actually asking for right now.

Reasoning about other major cities

Karachi

As Pakistan's largest and most expensive city, Karachi's cost of living generally pushes domestic pay upward relative to smaller cities, though the city's size also means far more variation between affluent and lower-income neighbourhoods than a single figure could capture.

Lahore

A large, established market for domestic staffing with significant demand from both households and hospitality businesses, generally following a similar cost-of-living logic to Karachi but with more established, longer-running informal networks for hiring.

Smaller cities

Pay typically runs lower than the major metros, reflecting lower cost of living, but competition for genuinely reliable, verified candidates can still push wages up locally even where the general cost of living is lower.

The honest way to use this guide

If you are in Islamabad or Rawalpindi, the figures above are current and specific. If you are elsewhere, use the twin-cities numbers as a reference point and adjust for local cost of living and competition rather than assuming they transfer directly, and be skeptical of anyone quoting you a single national figure with confidence they cannot back up.