Salary guide · Rwanda
Average salary in Rwanda per month: official NISR figures for 2025
The average employee in Rwanda earned RWF 83,110 a month in 2025, but the median was about RWF 39,000. So half of all paid employees earned less than that.
Both numbers come from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda's Labour Force Survey for 2025, published in March 2026. They count cash income from the main job of paid employees. The median is the better guide to what an ordinary worker takes in, because a small number of high salaries pull the average up. About 36% of paid employees earned under RWF 30,000 a month, and 20.8% earned RWF 100,000 or more.
| Monthly income | Paid employees | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under RWF 20,000 | 220,128 | 7.1% |
| RWF 20,000 to 29,999 | 884,874 | 28.6% |
| RWF 30,000 to 49,999 | 724,251 | 23.4% |
| RWF 50,000 to 99,999 | 612,659 | 19.8% |
| RWF 100,000 and above | 642,255 | 20.8% |
| Total, including 8,348 not stated | 3,092,514 | 100% |
Source: NISR, Labour Force Survey 2025, Table 4.9. Shares in the first five rows are worked out from NISR's counts or taken from its text. The median in that table is 39,000 and the average is 83,110.
Average pay by sector
NISR's averages for 2025 are RWF 33,326 a month in agriculture, RWF 104,169 in industry and RWF 141,653 in services. Per hour, the average across all paid employees was RWF 723, with RWF 408 in agriculture, RWF 849 in industry and RWF 1,100 in services.
One thing to know if you check the report: its summary table on page 13 gives the overall average as RWF 82,996, while Table 4.9 gives 83,110. We use Table 4.9. Either way, it's about RWF 83,000.
Most people aren't paid by the month
This is what surprises most readers. In 2025, 66.8% of paid employees said their last cash payment covered one day, and only 29.5% said it covered a month. The median day's payment was RWF 1,500, and the median monthly payment was RWF 50,000. NISR notes those medians are unweighted.
So a salaried office job is already in a smaller group. If you hold a monthly contract on RWF 100,000, you're in the top fifth of paid employees by NISR's count.
What the median leaves after deductions
If someone on RWF 39,000 is a declared employee on monthly pay, they're under the PAYE band of 60,000, so there's no PAYE. RSSB pension takes 2,340, maternity 117 and CBHI about 183. That leaves about RWF 36,360. Gross RWF 83,110 pays 2,311 in PAYE, and leaves about RWF 75,185 after the same lines. Many low paid workers, though, are paid by the day with no payslip at all.
What these figures can't tell you
They can't tell you what a nurse, an accountant or a driver earns. We checked the 39 sheets of NISR's annual tables, and none gives income by occupation. So we don't publish a typical salary for each job, and you should be careful with any site that does without saying where its number came from.
Our own adverts don't fill the gap either. Of the 272 roles on this site on 1 November 2026, only one stated pay in Rwandan francs. Six remote roles at one employer quoted a US pay range, which doesn't tell you what you'd get here. Official figures exist for a few posts, such as the teacher rises from the Ministry of Education. For everything else, ask the employer, and come with your own sums.
How to use this when you negotiate
Don't quote the national average at an interview. It mixes farm day work with bank managers. Work out what you need in your pocket, turn that into a gross figure, and ask about the whole offer: basic pay, allowances, RAMA and how pay is reviewed. Our tools do the sums, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Sources
Checked 2 November 2026. Each figure keeps the period and scope of its source.