10 times more: Top 10 private job areas with highest salaries in Kenya in 2026

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

- The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics released the Economic Survey 2026, revealing private sector wages rose 7.9% in 2025

- Workers at international organisations earned nearly 10 times more than those in agriculture, exposing deep wage disparities across industries

- Private sector average earnings surpassed public sector wages by approximately 19%, marking a significant shift from previous years

Elijah Ntongai is an experienced editor at TUKO.co.ke, with more than four years in financial, business, labour and technology research and reporting. His work provides valuable insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.

Kenya's private sector employees took home an average of KSh 1.04 million annually in 2025, according to the Economic Survey 2026 published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The figure represents a 7.9% jump from the previous year and comes alongside data exposing stark wage gaps between the country's highest- and lowest-paying industries.

Private Sector Outpaces Public Sector Pay

The survey also found that average private sector earnings have overtaken public sector wages. Public sector employees earned an average of KSh 874,300 in 2025, compared to the private sector's KSh 1.04 million, a gap of approximately 19%.

Public sector wages grew by only 1.5% over the same period, far below the private sector's 7.9% increase.

Top-Paying Private Sector Industries

Workers employed by extraterritorial organisations, which include diplomatic missions and foreign government agencies operating in Kenya, earned the highest average annual wage at KSh 4.47 million, or roughly KSh 372,000 per month, a 5.5% rise from 2024.

Financial and insurance activities, covering banks, insurance firms and pension funds, came in second at KSh 2.62 million annually, having grown 10.1% year-on-year.

The electricity, gas and steam supply sector matched that figure at KSh 2.62 million, reflecting the technical expertise required in the energy industry.

Professional, scientific and technical services, which include law firms, engineering consultancies and scientific research bodies, offered KSh 2.0 million per year. Administrative and support services recorded the strongest growth among the top five, surging 11.5% to reach KSh 1.99 million annually.

Here are the top 10 sectors:

Rank | Industry | Average Annual Wage (KSh) | Average Monthly Wage (KSh) | Increase from 2024 |

1 | Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies | 4,468,785 | 372,399 | 5.5% |

2 | Financial and insurance activities | 2,618,182 | 218,182 | 10.1% |

3 | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 2,619,109 | 218,259 | 6.3% |

4 | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 2,001,084 | 166,757 | 8.3% |

5 | Administrative and support service activities | 1,990,535 | 165,878 | 11.5% |

6 | Transportation and storage | 1,751,913 | 145,993 | 1.1% |

7 | Other service activities | 1,508,254 | 125,688 | 5.3% |

8 | Information and communication | 1,438,060 | 119,838 | 5.4% |

9 | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 1,134,834 | 94,570 | 6.7% |

10 | Education | 1,135,297 | 94,608 | 3.9% |

Lowest-Paying Sectors and the Wage Gap

At the opposite end of the spectrum, agriculture, forestry and fishing paid workers an average of just KSh 434,638 per year, equivalent to KSh 36,220 monthly.

Domestic employment and water supply and waste management activities were even lower, at approximately KSh 360,000 annually.

Despite employing 13.9% of all private sector workers, making it one of the largest employers in the segment, agriculture offers wages that amount to roughly 10% of what staff in international organisations earn.

The overall wage bill grew 9.2% to KSh 3.275 trillion in 2025, with the private sector accounting for 71.4% of that total.

Employment Growth Led by Informal Sector

Total recorded employment in Kenya, excluding small-scale agriculture, climbed to 21.6 million in 2025 from 20.8 million in 2024, with 822,100 new jobs added. The informal sector absorbed 87.2% of those positions, contributing 716,800 jobs and bringing informal employment to 18.1 million. Formal wage employment in the modern sector grew 3.1% to 3.3 million workers. Manufacturing led private sector employment at 16.3% of all jobs in the segment, while construction posted the fastest employment growth at 6.7%.

The data underlines the premium placed on skills and capital in Kenya's evolving economy, as knowledge-intensive sectors continue to pull further ahead of traditional industries on pay.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.