How much money you must earn to be middle class in South Africa

In South Africa, it is generally difficult to define what the middle class earns . Estimates vary widely, from as little as R4,300 per month to as much as R30,000 per month.

Determining who falls into the middle-class bracket in South Africa is tricky due to the lack of a definitive definition and the huge pay discrepancy caused by country’s high unemployment rate. 

According to Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), South Africa’s unemployment rate was 31.9% as of the end of 2024.

The number of unemployed individuals decreased by 20,000 to eight million, which resulted in an increase of 112,000 (up by 0.4%) in the labour force during the same period.

However, economists expect South Africa’s unemployment rate to increase in the first quarter of 2025.

Analysts have noted that the country’s economy has continued to underperform in the first half of the year, meaning it likely struggled with the influx of fresh graduates flooding the workforce.

With such a concerning unemployment rate, even those earning R1 per month through a job are considered part of the 17.1 million employed people in South Africa.

This impacts average income data dramatically, when weighted against the entire population.

Additionally, the Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP) group at Stellenbosch University noted that the definition of middle-class earnings depends on the chosen attributes.

“The term ‘middle class’ comes from developed countries, where a significant portion of society consists of well-educated, skilled individuals who earn good salaries,” the group said.

“However, when applying this concept to highly unequal developing countries such as South Africa, there is a tension between the attributes associated with the middle segment of the income distribution.” 

The group explained that interpreting “middle class” literally with a median measure would show that many South Africans in this group have limited tertiary education, low incomes, and work in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs.

If classified by education, skilled occupations, and earnings, the middle class ranks near the top of the income distribution, with only about 12% of the population above them.

What the middle class earns

The varied interpretations of the middle class by RESEP explain the wide-ranging benchmarks for its definition in South Africa.

For example, Stats SA reported that formal, non-agriculture wages in South Africa averaged R28,231 per month as of the end of 2024. 

This represents an increase in the R26,783 average in Q1 and falls on the higher end of the “middle class” spectrum.

When looking at median earnings (the middle point of the earnings spectrum), the middle sits at R5,400 per month.

Conversely, Discovery Bank’s 2025 SpendTrend report categorises middle-income earners as those making between R100,000 and R350,000 annually, roughly R8,300 to R29,200 per month.

Discovery’s estimated range for the South African middle class also aligns with that of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

Other reports, such as those from the University of Cape Town’s Liberty Institute and financial services company Eighty20, offer slightly different numbers.

According to UCT, a household or person would need to earn around R22,000 to be seen as middle-class in South Africa.

They define a middle-class individual as one who no longer qualifies for direct government support but still has a household income of less than R75,000 per month.

Eighty20 defines the middle-class workers as a segment of 4.1 million adults earning typically between R8,000 and R30,000 per month.

However, the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) defines the middle class in South Africa as earning even less.

Its latest report on consumer confidence said that South African households earning between R5,000 and R20,000 per month could be considered middle-income households.

The World Inequality Database gives a much smaller range, noting that middle-income South Africans (using a median measure) earn anywhere from R4,300 to R6,000 per month.