Qatar is the unusual case in the GCC: a country that publishes a nationality-blind statutory minimum wage covering domestic workers. Saudi Arabia and the UAE leave salary entirely to the contract; Qatar sets a floor at QAR 1,800/month all-in. That's the legal baseline. What the marketplace actually pays sits 35-100% higher depending on role and nationality, and the gap between the floor and the median is the most important number to understand before negotiating.
Below: the statutory anchor, the live Rufy marketplace medians by service and nationality, the five patterns the Qatar data reveals, and how it all compares to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For a live lookup tuned to your specific case, use the Qatar salary index.
The Qatar statutory minimum: QAR 1,800 all-in (Law 17/2020)
Unlike Saudi Arabia (where only the Filipino DMW publishes a per-nationality floor at SAR 1,500) and the UAE (where Federal Decree-Law 9/2022 sets contract terms but no wage figure), Qatar's Law 17/2020 sets a universal monthly minimum that explicitly covers domestic workers and applies regardless of nationality:
- QAR 1,000 basic wage per month, payable in cash.
- QAR 500 housing allowance, waived if you provide accommodation in kind (which is the standard for live-in domestic workers).
- QAR 300 food allowance, waived if you provide meals in kind (also standard).
For the standard live-in arrangement where you provide room and board, the legal cash floor is QAR 1,000/month. If you employ a daily-attendance worker who keeps their own accommodation, you must pay all three components in cash — the full QAR 1,800/month minimum. Going below this is a Law 17/2020 violation regardless of what the worker may agree to in writing.
Filipino household service workers have an additional reference point: the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Memorandum Circular 03-2025 publishes per-country floors that the Migrant Workers Office in Doha enforces on Filipino contracts processed via the Qatar Visa Center. Confirm the current Filipino-specific figure with the MWO Qatar before signing — it sits above the QAR 1,800 universal minimum but the exact 2026 number should be verified at the source.
What families actually pay, by role
All figures below are monthly cash salaries paid to the worker, in QAR. Source: the median (p50) and interquartile range (p25–p75) of desired-salary on approved + publicly browseable Rufy caregivers in Qatar as of June 2026. Qatar is a smaller market than KSA or UAE, so sample sizes per nationality are smaller — confirm against specific candidate profiles before budgeting.
Housekeepers (maids)
| Nationality | Sample (n) | p25 (QAR) | Median (QAR) | p75 (QAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filipino | 16 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Kenyan | 38 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 2,800 |
| Ugandan | 16 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
Tight clustering: Kenyan and Ugandan medians sit at exactly QAR 2,500 with overlapping interquartile ranges. The Filipino premium is QAR 500/month over the African median (+20%) — smaller than KSA's 25% premium but in the same range.
Nannies
| Nationality | Sample (n) | p25 (QAR) | Median (QAR) | p75 (QAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filipino | 18 | 2,625 | 3,250 | 3,500 |
| Kenyan | 35 | 2,400 | 2,500 | 3,000 |
| Nigerian | 5 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Ugandan | 10 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 2,875 |
The Filipino nanny premium widens to QAR 750/month (+30%) over the Kenyan median, reflecting English fluency and DMW-accredited childcare training. This matches the KSA pattern almost exactly.
Elder-care workers
| Nationality | Sample (n) | p25 (QAR) | Median (QAR) | p75 (QAR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filipino | 10 | 3,125 | 3,650 | 4,000 |
| Kenyan | 17 | 2,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Ugandan | 8 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 2,625 |
The Filipino elder-care premium is the largest gap in the Qatar data: QAR 1,150/month above the Kenyan median (+46%). Even bigger than KSA's 40% elder-care premium, reflecting how scarce Filipino DMW-accredited nursing-aide candidates are in the smaller Qatar pool. The Kenyan elder-care segment is extraordinarily tight — p25 = median = p75 = QAR 2,500.
Drivers
Qatar's private-driver marketplace is small enough that sample sizes per nationality fall below our publication threshold (n ≥ 5). Median expectation, drawn from the salary range used in the Qatar maid cost calculator: QAR 2,300–2,800/month, similar to maid and nanny but capped at the lower end of the driver range seen in KSA and UAE. Confirm against your specific candidate's profile via the Qatar salary index tool.
Five patterns the Qatar data reveals
- Statutory minimum and market median diverge sharply. The legal floor is QAR 1,000/month cash for live-in roles, but the cheapest real-market option (Ugandan/Kenyan maid) clears at QAR 2,500 — 150% above the floor. The minimum protects against exploitation; it doesn't reflect what candidates actually accept.
- Kenyan dominance in supply is the strongest of any GCC market — n=38 maids, n=35 nannies, n=17 elder-care. That's 60-70% of the Rufy QA pool, and explains the tight QAR 2,500 anchor.
- Filipino premium grows sharply for elder care. +20% for maids, +30% for nannies, +46% for elder care. The pattern matches KSA but is even more pronounced — Filipino DMW-accredited training is scarcer in Qatar's smaller pool.
- Qatar medians sit lower than UAE for the same nationalities. A Kenyan maid medians at QAR 2,500 in Qatar vs AED 3,000 in the UAE — that's roughly QAR 250 less per month. Lower cost-of-living for sponsors translates to slightly lower wage expectations across the GCC.
- Sample sizes are smaller across the board than KSA/UAE. n=8 to n=38 per segment vs n=300+ in the larger markets. Medians are still indicative for budgeting, but expect more variance candidate-to-candidate.
What pushes a worker to the top of the range
Within any nationality + role combination, four factors move a candidate up or down from the median:
- Experience: 3+ years generally adds QAR 200–500/month. Use the Salary Index experience filter to see the actual gap for your target role.
- Language: English (for nannies tutoring schoolchildren) and Arabic (for elder care, particularly with elderly Qatari parents) command a QAR 200–500/month premium.
- City: Doha and Al Rayyan sit at the higher end. Al Wakrah, Al Khor and the smaller municipalities sit closer to the lower interquartile end.
- Live-in vs daily: live-in with one rest day per week is the standard structure. Daily attendance (worker keeps own accommodation) requires you to pay the full QAR 1,800 statutory floor in cash plus a premium of QAR 500–1,000+ to compensate for housing.
How Qatar compares to KSA and UAE
| Role + nationality | KSA (SAR) | UAE (AED) | Qatar (QAR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maid — Filipino | 2,500 | 3,500 | 3,000 |
| Maid — Kenyan | 2,000 | 3,000 | 2,500 |
| Nanny — Filipino | 3,000 | 3,500 | 3,250 |
| Nanny — Kenyan | 2,300 | 3,000 | 2,500 |
| Elder care — Filipino | 3,500 | 3,500 | 3,650 |
| Elder care — Kenyan | 2,500 | 3,000 | 2,500 |
| Filipino premium (avg across roles) | +30% | +17% | +32% |
Qatar medians sit between KSA (the lowest GCC market) and UAE (the highest), but the Filipino premium is the widest of the three — especially for elder care. See our Saudi Arabia salary guide and UAE salary guide for the full per-market data.
Salary payment and the WPS question
Unlike Saudi Arabia (which mandated e-salary payment via Musaned-linked channels from January 1, 2026), Qatar's Wage Protection System is a Labour Law obligation that does NOT extend to households hiring domestic workers under Law 15/2017. See our Qatar cost breakdown for the full payment-discipline detail. For salary specifically:
- Law 15/2017 requires salary to be paid in Qatari riyals, monthly, no later than the 3rd of the following month. The currency and the deadline are mandatory — the payment method is up to you.
- Bank transfer is strongly recommended even when not strictly required. It creates the audit trail that resolves disputes faster, and most Qatar banks now offer free Rasid or Wallet-based domestic-worker accounts.
- Bonuses (Eid, year-end) should follow the same monthly schedule and currency — if you pay outside the standard cycle, document it in writing so it counts toward gratuity calculations.
Use the Salary Index for your exact case
These medians are aggregates with relatively small Qatar sample sizes. For your city (Doha, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah, anywhere else), your experience preference, and your specific nationality — including the live 25th–75th percentile range — open the Qatar salary index. For the full year-one cost breakdown including recruitment fee, government bundle, gratuity reserve and three worked examples, see our Qatar cost breakdown. And if you haven't started yet, the complete Qatar hiring guide walks through Law 15/2017, eligibility, the QVC process and your sponsor obligations.
To see who's actually available at each nationality + role combination right now, browse caregivers in Qatar on Rufy — filter by Filipino, Kenyan, Ugandan, Nigerian and more, with each candidate's stated salary expectation live in their profile.