Finance

44 jobs paying more than the R30,611 average salary in South Africa

Jonathan Hoyle

 ·30 Sep 2026

South Africa’s national average wage rose to R30,611 in the second quarter of 2026, and Stats SA’s Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) identified 44 jobs paying more than this.

According to the latest QES, South Africa’s national average salary rose by 2.6% quarter-on-quarter, while year-on-year average earnings increased by 4.1%.

The increase in the average salary came as South Africa’s total employment shrank by 14,000 quarter-on-quarter, a 0.1% decline.

Year-on-year, total employment decreased by 95,000, a 0.9% decrease from June 2025 to June 2026.

Stats SA also found that gross earnings paid to employees decreased by R4.8 billion quarter-on-quarter to R1.025 trillion.

In the first quarter of 2026, the gross earnings paid were R1.029 trillion, representing a 0.5% decline in the second quarter.

While there was an overall decline in gross earnings paid, some sectors reported increases, including community services, trade, construction, manufacturing, and electricity.

Gross earnings also increased year-on-year by 3.5%, despite the quarter-on-quarter decline.

Basic salaries/wages and overtime increased in both the quarterly and annual amounts paid to employees.

For basic salaries and wages, the quarter-on-quarter increase was roughly R15.5 billion, or 1.7%, while the year-on-year increase was R26.7 billion, or 3%.

Total overtime payments increased by R2.7 billion from the first quarter, with sectors such as community services, business services, manufacturing, transport, trade, electricity, and construction.

While both basic salaries and overtime had positive quarterly growth, gross bonuses paid to employees declined by R23 billion, or 26.9%.

The large decrease was primarily felt in five sectors – business services, community services, transport, manufacturing, and electricity.

The 44 highest-paying jobs

While Stats SA’s QES primarily tracks data from eight sectors, it also examines employment and earnings across 20 sub-sections.

Most of these sub-sections are in the manufacturing industry, and community services are also split into government and non-government segments.

Within these 20 sub-sections, the QES further examines employment data for 91 jobs across South Africa’s formal sector.

Of these 91 jobs, 44 stood out for having an average monthly wage higher than South Africa’s national average.

In the first quarter of 2026, there were 43 jobs higher than the national average, with the manufacturing of radio receivers and recording devices joining the list.

The highest-paying job identified by the QES was in the finance sector, namely, Activities auxiliary to financial intermediation.

Other high-paying professions included those in the electricity and transport sectors, with finance-related jobs also featuring at the top end of the list.

The bottom of the list is largely dominated by manufacturing jobs, particularly those related to making clothes or fabrics.

The following describes each industry segment:

• Mining includes mining and quarrying
• Manufacturing includes food and beverages, furniture, textiles, wood, printing and publishing, petroleum and chemicals, non-metals and mineral products, electrical, medical and technology-related apparatus, and transport equipment
• Electricity & Water includes electricity, gas and water supply
• Trade includes wholesale, retail, motor, hotel and restaurants
• Transport includes freight, storage and postal communication
• Business services include financial intermediation, banking, insurance and real estate
• Government includes social and personal services run by and related to the state
• NGO includes social and personal services run by and related to non-government organisations and entities.

The following table shows the 44 jobs which currently have higher estimated salaries than the national average: