Business · Economy · 10 hrs ago
46% of workers in PaidHR dataset earn below ₦200,000 a month
A salary analysis by Nigerian payroll company PaidHR found that 46 out of every 100 workers in its dataset earn less than ₦200,000 a month.
The dataset covers payroll records for more than 25,000 workers at over 400 employers, based on active employees in July 2026.
It describes pay in Nigeria’s formal labour market, which accounts for only a small share of the country’s employed workforce.
The median worker in the dataset earns ₦217,000 a month before deductions and ₦199,972 after them.
At the lowest end, 10 out of 100 earn less than Nigeria’s national minimum wage of ₦70,000.
Pay tends to rise during a worker’s first years with an employer, reaching its highest point around five years, after which gains become less consistent.
PaidHR says employers may adjust pay for new hires faster than they raise salaries for existing employees, leaving some long-serving workers behind the market rate.
A PaidHR report found that 46% of workers in its dataset earn less than ₦200,000 a month.
The report analysed payroll records for more than 25,000 workers at over 400 Nigerian employers.
Ten percent of workers in the dataset earn at least ₦1 million a month.
The median worker earns ₦217,000 in monthly gross pay and takes home ₦199,972 after deductions.
PaidHR said salary growth is strongest in the first few years with an employer and becomes less consistent after about five years.
- Who
- PaidHR, a Nigerian human resources and payroll startup, analysed the salaries of workers at Nigerian employers.
- What
- Its report found that 46% of workers in its dataset earn below ₦200,000 a month.
- When
- The analysis used a July 2026 snapshot of active employees on PaidHR’s platform. The report was published on October 12, 2026.
- Where
- Nigeria.
- Why
- The report examined pay in Nigeria’s formal labour market. It aimed to show how salaries are distributed among workers in the dataset.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
PaidHR used a snapshot of active employees on its platform for its analysis.
TechCabal published its report on PaidHR’s salary findings.
- Workers below ₦200,000
- 46 out of every 100 in the dataset
- Dataset size
- More than 25,000 workers
- Employers covered
- Over 400 Nigerian employers
- Median monthly gross pay
- ₦217,000
- Median monthly take-home pay
- ₦199,972
What people are saying
The shape of the distribution suggests that Nigeria’s formal workforce is not one evenly distributed middle class; it is increasingly a two-tier labour market
A large group is clustered around relatively low wages, alongside a much smaller professional group earning substantially more
The interesting thing is that experience itself stops being enough to generate significant salary growth
Sources
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