Pakistan Income Distribution 2026: Average Household Income by Income Group

How much income makes a Pakistani household lower income, middle income or upper income?

There is no single official monthly salary threshold that divides Pakistan’s population into lower, middle and upper classes. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics does not classify 40% of Pakistanis as lower class, 30% as middle class and 30% as upper class.

Instead, the latest official Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) 2024–25 divides the population into five equal welfare groups, known as consumption quintiles, from the lowest 20% to the highest 20%.

The latest data shows that average monthly household income across Pakistan stood at Rs82,179, but the figure varies sharply by economic group. Households in the lowest quintile averaged Rs41,851 per month, while households in the highest quintile averaged Rs139,317.

Pakistan Household Income by Economic Group

The latest PBS figures provide a much more accurate picture of income distribution than simply labelling people as lower, middle and upper class.

These figures are average household incomes within each consumption-based welfare group. They are not official income cutoffs.

For example, Rs139,317 does not mean that every household earning more than that amount is officially classified as “upper class.” Likewise, Rs65,741 should not be treated as an official minimum or maximum middle-class income.

PBS uses household consumption and living standards to construct the quintiles, rather than simply dividing households according to salary. Each quintile represents 20% of Pakistan’s population.

Is 40% of Pakistan Lower Class, 30% Middle Class and 30% Upper Class?

No reliable official dataset currently supports that classification.

Older articles and social-media posts often divide Pakistan into broad percentages such as 40% lower class, 30% middle class and 30% upper class. However, those figures should not be presented as an official Pakistan Bureau of Statistics classification.

The current HIES approach is different.

PBS divides the population into five equal consumption quintiles, with each accounting for 20% of the population. The first quintile represents the lowest welfare group and the fifth represents the highest.

For readers who want a simpler three-group explanation, the five quintiles can be informally viewed as the bottom 40%, middle 40% and top 20%, but this is an editorial simplification rather than an official PBS definition of lower, middle and upper social classes.

The term “class” itself also involves more than income. Assets, home ownership, household size, education, occupation, location and financial security can all affect a family’s economic position.

What Is the Average Household Income in Pakistan?

Pakistan’s average monthly household income reached:

Rs82,179 per month in 2024–25.

That is almost double the Rs41,545 average recorded in the previous HIES 2018–19 survey. PBS calculates an overall increase of 97.81% between the two survey rounds.

However, the national average needs to be interpreted carefully.

The average household in four of the five quintiles earns less than the Rs82,179 national mean.

Only the highest quintile has an average significantly above the national figure.

This happens because high-income households pull the overall arithmetic average upward.

Therefore, saying “the average Pakistani household earns Rs82,179” does not mean most households actually receive approximately that amount every month.

Pakistan Income Distribution: 2018–19 vs 2024–25

Household income increased substantially across every quintile between the two HIES surveys.

The increase was not uniform.

The lowest quintile’s average household income rose about 80%, while income in the highest quintile increased about 119%.

PBS consequently notes that while household earnings have risen, the income gap between lower- and higher-income households has also widened.

What Monthly Income Is Considered Middle Class in Pakistan?

There is currently no official PBS figure saying that a household earning a particular amount is automatically middle class.

However, the HIES figures can help provide context.

The third quintile, which represents the middle 20% of the population in the welfare distribution, had an average monthly household income of:

Rs65,741

The fourth quintile averaged:

Rs80,387 per month.

These figures can provide a useful indication of where households in the centre of Pakistan’s consumption distribution are located, but they are not official middle-class boundaries.

A household earning Rs70,000 in one city may also have a very different standard of living from another household earning the same amount because rent, number of family members, number of earners and other expenses can vary greatly.

Urban vs Rural Household Income in Pakistan

There is also a substantial difference between urban and rural household incomes.

The latest HIES shows:

In 2018–19, average household income stood at Rs53,010 in urban areas and Rs34,520 in rural areas.

By 2024–25, those averages had risen to Rs96,767 and Rs72,157 respectively.

The difference means a single national “middle-class salary” is particularly difficult to define.

Housing, transport and other costs can also be substantially different between large cities and rural districts.

Income of the Poorest and Richest Households in Urban and Rural Pakistan

The HIES data provides an even more detailed comparison.

The difference becomes especially noticeable among better-off households.

Urban households in the highest quintile averaged Rs146,920 per month, compared with Rs129,494 among rural households in the same quintile.

Interestingly, the middle quintile’s average is slightly higher in rural areas than urban areas, illustrating why income patterns should not simply be reduced to “urban rich, rural poor.”

How Does PBS Actually Divide Pakistanis Into Economic Groups?

PBS uses consumption expenditure as a proxy for household welfare.

Households are ranked according to adjusted per-person consumption, taking household size and composition into account.

The population is then divided into five equal groups.

The official HIES 2024–25 consumption ranges are:

These numbers are monthly consumption expenditure per person, not monthly salary or household income.

They should therefore not be used to say that someone earning Rs16,840 is “upper class.”

PBS uses the measure to compare household welfare because two households earning or spending the same total amount can have very different living standards if one household has two members and another has eight.

How Much Does the Average Pakistani Household Spend?

Average monthly household consumption expenditure reached:

Rs79,150 in 2024–25

compared with Rs37,159 in 2018–19.

Urban households spent an average of Rs95,533 per month, while the rural average was Rs67,894.

The figures show why income alone does not fully describe household financial conditions.

A family may appear to have a reasonable nominal income but still have relatively little financial flexibility after paying for food, housing, electricity, transport, healthcare and education.

Monthly Consumption by Economic Group

Average household consumption also differs significantly across the five welfare groups.

The highest quintile therefore spends more than three times as much per household as the lowest quintile.

The difference becomes even larger when spending is calculated per person because poorer households tend to be larger.

How Much Does Each Person Spend Per Month?

PBS estimates average monthly per-person consumption at:

Rs13,240 nationally.

But the average varies sharply by quintile.

The lowest 20% averaged around Rs5,291 per person per month, compared with Rs28,962 in the highest 20%.

The middle quintile averaged approximately Rs10,235 per person.

This per-person measure can sometimes provide a better picture of living standards than total household income because Pakistan’s household sizes differ considerably.

Does Higher Income Mean Pakistanis Are Better Off Than in 2018?

Not necessarily by the same proportion shown in the nominal income figures.

The survey shows that household incomes have risen significantly since 2018–19, but these figures are expressed in current rupees.

Pakistan also experienced substantial inflation between the two surveys.

That means a household earning twice as many rupees today does not necessarily have twice the purchasing power it had several years ago.

The income figures are therefore most useful for understanding the current distribution of nominal household resources and differences between economic groups, rather than assuming the percentage increase represents an identical improvement in real living standards.

What Is the Difference Between Household Income and Salary?

Household income is not the same as one person’s salary.

A household may receive income from multiple sources, including wages and salaries, business activity, agriculture, property, pensions, remittances and other sources.

For example, a household with two working adults earning Rs45,000 each could have household employment income of around Rs90,000 even though neither individual earns Rs90,000 personally.

This is why the HIES figures should not be interpreted as average salaries.

Pakistan’s household income statistics describe the combined economic resources of households.

Why Is It Difficult to Define Pakistan’s “Middle Class”?

A single rupee threshold cannot capture every household’s living standard.

A Rs100,000 monthly household income can mean very different things for a two-person family living in its own home compared with a seven-person household paying rent in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad.

Income classification also ignores differences in property ownership, debt, education expenses, medical costs, savings and number of income earners.

For this reason, PBS uses adjusted consumption as its primary welfare-ranking measure rather than declaring a universal official lower-, middle- and upper-class salary range.

Pakistan Income Distribution: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average household income in Pakistan?

According to HIES 2024–25, average monthly household income is Rs82,179.

What is the average income of Pakistan’s poorest 20%?

Households in the lowest consumption quintile earn an average of Rs41,851 per month.

What is the average income of the middle 20%?

The third or middle quintile has an average monthly household income of Rs65,741.

How much does Pakistan’s richest 20% earn?

Households in the highest consumption quintile average Rs139,317 per month. This is an average within that group rather than a minimum threshold for being rich or upper class.

What income is considered middle class in Pakistan?

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics does not publish one official monthly-income cutoff for “middle class.” The middle consumption quintile averages Rs65,741 in household income, while the fourth quintile averages Rs80,387, but neither figure is an official class boundary.

Are 30% of Pakistanis upper class?

There is no current official PBS evidence supporting the claim that 30% of Pakistan’s population is upper class.

PBS instead divides the population into five welfare quintiles of 20% each based on adjusted consumption expenditure.

Is Rs100,000 a good household income in Pakistan?

Rs100,000 is above the latest national average household income of Rs82,179, but income alone cannot determine a household’s social class or standard of living. Household size, city, housing costs, number of earners and other expenses matter.

Is the HIES data based on individual salary?

No. It measures household income and consumption rather than simply reporting the monthly salary of one worker.

Final Word

Pakistan’s income distribution cannot accurately be reduced to a simple claim that 40% of the population is lower class, 30% middle class and 30% upper class.

The latest official HIES data provides a more reliable picture.

Average monthly household income stands at Rs82,179, but households in the lowest 20% average only Rs41,851, the middle 20% average Rs65,741, and the highest 20% average Rs139,317.

The figures also show that income differences have widened since 2018–19, with earnings among the highest quintile growing faster than those among the lowest quintile.

For readers trying to understand where their own household fits, the most useful approach is to compare household income, family size and consumption with the official HIES figures rather than relying on unofficial “lower, middle and upper class” salary labels.

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Household Integrated Economic Survey 2024–25. The survey was conducted from September 2024 to June 2025 and is the latest official HIES round available.