Developer / Programmer Average Salary in Karachi 2026
How much money does a person working as Developer / Programmer make in Karachi?
LOW
39,100
PKR AVERAGE
85,100
PKR HIGH
135,000
PKR
A person working as Developer / Programmer in Karachi typically earns around 85,100 PKR. Salaries range from 39,100 PKR (lowest) to 135,000 PKR (highest).
Salary Variance
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Developer / Programmer salaries in Karachi vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Developer / Programmer Pay Scale and Salaries in Karachi
Median Salary, maximum and minimum salary, minimum wage, starting salary, and the salary range
Salary Range, Minimum Wage, and Starting Salary
Salaries for the position Developer / Programmer in Karachi range from 39,100 PKR (starting salary) to 135,000 PKR (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
Median Salary
With a median salary of 81,300 PKR, half of the professionals who work as Developer / Programmer in Karachi earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
Percentiles and Salary Scale
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Developer / Programmer in Karachi earn less than 65,600 PKR, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 93,700 PKR while 25% earn more.
Pay Scale Structure
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Developer / Programmer in Karachi compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 48,700 PKR to 70,700 PKR. About 20% of salaries are below the 48,700 PKR mark, while 10% fall within the range of 70,700 PKR to 80,700 PKR. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 80,700 PKR.
Salary Comparison by Years of Experience / Developer / Programmer / Karachi
How do experience and age affect pay?
| 0 - 2 Years | 44,400 PKR | |
| 2 - 5 Years | +34% | 59,300 PKR |
| 5 - 10 Years | +48% | 87,700 PKR |
| 10 - 15 Years | +22% | 107,000 PKR |
| 15 - 20 Years | +9% | 117,000 PKR |
| 20+ Years | +8% | 126,000 PKR |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Developer / Programmer and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 44,400 PKR.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 59,300 PKR, 34% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 87,700 PKR, 48% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 107,000 PKR, 22% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 117,000 PKR, 9% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 126,000 PKR, 8% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
Typical Salary Progress for Most Careers
Salary Comparison By Education / Developer / Programmer / Karachi
How do education levels affect salaries?
Displayed below is the average salary variance between different education levels of professionals working as Developer / Programmer.
| Certificate or Diploma | 50,700 PKR | |
| Bachelor's Degree | +57% | 79,500 PKR |
| Master's Degree | +68% | 133,000 PKR |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Developer / Programmer in order to make a comparison.
Level 1: Certificate or Diploma
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 50,700 PKR.
Level 2: Bachelor's Degree
At this level, the average salary becomes 79,500 PKR, 57% more than the previous level.
Level 3: Master's Degree
At this level, the average salary becomes 133,000 PKR, 68% more than the previous level.
Is a Master's degree or an MBA worth it? Should you pursue higher education?
A Master's degree program or any post-graduate program in Pakistan costs anywhere from 410,000 PKR to 1.2M PKR and lasts approximately two years. That is quite an investment.
You can't really expect any salary increases during the study period, assuming you already have a job. In most cases, a salary review is conducted once education is completed and the degree has been attained.
Many people pursue higher education as a tactic to switch to a higher-paying job. The numbers seem to support the theory. The average increase in compensation while changing jobs is approximately 10% more than the customary salary increment.
If you can afford the costs of higher education, the return on investment is definitely worth it. You should be able to recover the costs in roughly a year or so.
Typical Salary Difference by Education for Most Careers
Salary and Compensation Comparison By Gender / Developer / Programmer / Karachi
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Developer / Programmer in Pakistan, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 24%.
| Male | 83,200 PKR | |
| Female | -20% | 66,900 PKR |
Average Annual Salary Increment Percentage / Developer / Programmer / Karachi
How much are annual salary increments in Karachi for individuals working as Developer / Programmer? How often do employees get salary raises?
Individuals working as Developer / Programmer in Pakistan are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 11% every 21 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 8% granted to employees every 19 months.
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
How to calculate the salary increment percentage?
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Worldwide Salary Raises: All Countries and All Jobs
Salary Packages and Schemes
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
Bonus and Incentive Rates / Developer / Programmer / Pakistan
How much and how often are bonuses being awarded?
45% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 55% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 2% to 7% of their annual salary.
| Received Bonus | 55% | |
| No Bonus | 45% |
Types of Bonuses Considered
Individual Performance-Based BonusesThe most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
Bonuses Are Not Commissions!
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
What makes a position worthy of good bonuses and a high salary?
The main two types of jobs | |
| Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Bonus Comparison by Seniority Level
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
Average Hourly Wage / Developer / Programmer / Karachi
The average hourly wage (pay per hour) for individuals working as Developer / Programmer in Karachi is 490 PKR.This is the rate they get paid for every worked hour.
About The Hourly Pay Rate
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
What is the minimum hourly rate of pay?
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Developer / Programmer in Karachi is 230 PKR. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Salary comparison with similar jobs
| Job Title | Average Salary |
| Information Technology | ||
| ABAP Developer | 77,900 PKR |  -8% |
| Android Developer | 86,200 PKR |  +1% |
| Angular Developer | 80,900 PKR | -5% |
| Angular JS Programmer | 78,100 PKR | -8% |
| Application Developer | 91,400 PKR | +7% |
| AS400 Programmer | 90,500 PKR | +6% |
| Assembly Developer | 87,200 PKR | +2% |
| Avaloq Developer | 85,400 PKR | +0% |
| Back End Developer | 91,000 PKR | +7% |
| BizTalk Developer | 89,000 PKR | +5% |
| Build and Release Engineer | 79,400 PKR | -7% |
| Business Intelligence Developer | 89,800 PKR | +6% |
| Business Objects Developer | 80,900 PKR | -5% |
| C Developer | 96,000 PKR | +13% |
| C# Developer | 95,100 PKR | +12% |
| C++ Developer | 98,400 PKR | +16% |
| Chatbot Developer | 79,200 PKR | -7% |
| Clojure Developer | 104,000 PKR | +22% |
| CMS Developer | 72,700 PKR | -15% |
| Computer Programmer | 89,600 PKR | +5% |
| Curam Developer | 73,500 PKR | -14% |
| Dart Developer | 61,500 PKR | -28% |
| Delphi Developer | 89,200 PKR | +5% |
| Developer / Programmer | 85,100 PKR | +0% |
| Developer Evangelist | 85,700 PKR | +1% |
| DevOps Engineer | 87,500 PKR | +3% |
| Django Specialist | 82,100 PKR | -4% |
| Driver Developer | 88,100 PKR | +4% |
| Elixir Developer | 117,000 PKR | +38% |
| Embedded Software Developer | 90,200 PKR | +6% |
| Erlang Developer | 106,000 PKR | +25% |
| Flash Developer | 75,200 PKR | -12% |
| Front End Developer | 71,700 PKR | -16% |
| Front End Web Developer | 71,400 PKR | -16% |
| Full Stack Developer | 85,700 PKR | +1% |
| Game Developer | 82,200 PKR | -3% |
| GIS Developer | 86,900 PKR | +2% |
| Go Developer | 113,000 PKR | +33% |
| Graphical User Interface ( GUI ) Programmer | 78,400 PKR | -8% |
| Graphics Programmer | 77,800 PKR | -9% |
| Groovy Developer | 101,000 PKR | +19% |
| Haskell Developer | 94,300 PKR | +11% |
| Imaging Programmer | 73,000 PKR | -14% |
| Information Systems Developer | 84,000 PKR | -1% |
| IOS Developer | 97,300 PKR | +14% |
| Java Developer | 92,800 PKR | +9% |
| Javascript Developer | 84,500 PKR | -1% |
| jQuery Specialist | 85,200 PKR | +0% |
| Kotlin Developer | 101,000 PKR | +19% |
| Laravel Specialist | 82,100 PKR | -4% |
| Lead Developer | 104,000 PKR | +22% |
| Lisp Developer | 111,000 PKR | +30% |
| Lua Developer | 98,700 PKR | +16% |
| MATLAB Developer | 92,600 PKR | +9% |
| Mobile Developer | 84,400 PKR | -1% |
| Multimedia Developer | 77,200 PKR | -9% |
| NextJs Specialist | 83,200 PKR | -2% |
| Nodejs Developer | 95,200 PKR | +12% |
| Objective-C Developer | 98,000 PKR | +15% |
| Oracle Developer | 87,900 PKR | +3% |
| Perl Developer | 77,000 PKR | -10% |
| PHP Developer | 75,000 PKR | -12% |
| PowerShell Developer | 80,800 PKR | -5% |
| Python Developer | 90,800 PKR | +7% |
| R Language Developer | 99,000 PKR | +16% |
| React Specialist | 96,900 PKR | +14% |
| Remedy Developer | 71,300 PKR | -16% |
| Robotic Process Automation Developer | 71,800 PKR | -16% |
| Ruby Developer | 82,300 PKR | -3% |
| Rust Developer | 103,000 PKR | +21% |
| Salesforce Developer | 66,300 PKR | -22% |
| SAS Programmer | 74,800 PKR | -12% |
| Scala Developer | 111,000 PKR | +30% |
| Sharepoint Developer | 87,200 PKR | +2% |
| Software Developer | 86,800 PKR | +2% |
| Software Development Manager | 118,000 PKR | +39% |
| Software QA Engineer | 76,500 PKR | -10% |
| Software Test Engineer | 74,300 PKR | -13% |
| Swift Developer | 98,300 PKR | +16% |
| Teradata Developer | 73,800 PKR | -13% |
| TIBCO Developer | 72,300 PKR | -15% |
| TypeScript Developer | 93,900 PKR | +10% |
| UI Engineer | 82,500 PKR | -3% |
| User Experience Designer | 74,200 PKR | -13% |
| VB Developer | 67,100 PKR | -21% |
| VB.NET Developer | 91,000 PKR | +7% |
| Visual Basic Developer | 64,100 PKR | -25% |
| VueJs Specialist | 82,700 PKR | -3% |
| WordPress Specialist | 83,800 PKR | -2% |
| Zig Developer | 108,000 PKR | +27% |
Salary Comparison By City
| City | Average Salary |
| Islamabad | 76,500 PKR |
| Karachi | 85,100 PKR |
| Lahore | 82,100 PKR |
Government vs Private Sector Salary Comparison
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in Pakistan is 12% on average across all career fields.
| Private Sector | 76,500 PKR | |
| Public Sector | +12% | 85,700 PKR |
Salary Statistics and Calculation Guide
What is considered to be a good and competitive salary for the job title Developer / Programmer in Karachi?
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 81,300 PKR and 93,700 PKR. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
Gross Salary (before tax) and Net Salary (after tax)
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
Base / Basic Salary
The base salary for a careers like Developer / Programmer in Karachi ranges from 39,100 PKR to 65,600 PKR. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
What is the difference between the median and the average salary?
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios.