How Much Does a Maid Cost in Pakistan?

Maid costs in Pakistan vary by working hours, duties, experience, and whether the arrangement is live-in or live-out. Through Kaam Wali, full-time maid salaries currently range from PKR 35,000 to PKR 65,000 a month, depending on those factors. On top of the salary, a one-time agency placement fee applies. It is equal to one month of the maid's salary, with no security deposit.

The rest of this guide explains exactly what moves the number for your household, what the law requires, and what to check before you hire.

What Determines How Much a Maid Costs

A maid's monthly pay is built from a few simple things. Once you know these, you can estimate a fair number for your own home.

Working hours and days. A maid who comes for a few hours a day costs less than one who works full days, and a live-in maid is paid differently again since accommodation and meals are part of the arrangement.

Duties. Sweeping, mopping, and dishwashing (jhaaru pocha, bartan) is the baseline. Add laundry and ironing (kapray dhona, istri), cooking, or childcare and elderly assistance, and the pay reflects the extra responsibility.

Live-in vs live-out. A live-in maid lives in the employer's home and receives accommodation and meals as part of the arrangement. A live-out maid commutes each day and is usually paid in cash for her hours worked.

Experience. A maid with several years of experience, who speaks some English, or who's used to a particular type of household (families with young children, for example), often commands a higher rate than someone starting out.

Household size and setup. A larger home, more family members, young children, elderly residents, or pets generally means more work, and fair pay should reflect that.

Agency vs. direct hire. Going through an agency adds a one-time placement fee, but it also adds verification, an interview, a trial period, and replacement support. These are things you don't get hiring informally. More on this below.

Legal Minimum Wage for Domestic Workers (Islamabad & Rawalpindi)

This part is genuinely different depending on which city you're in, and it's worth understanding rather than guessing.

Domestic workers in Islamabad are covered by their own law, the Islamabad Capital Territory Domestic Workers Act, 2022. It requires employers to pay domestic workers at least the officially declared minimum wage, sets working-hour and rest protections (the law provides for a 12-hour period free of duty during the day), bans employing children under 16, requires an annual medical check for domestic workers, and legally prohibits calling a domestic worker a "servant."

Domestic workers in Rawalpindi, as part of Punjab, are covered by the Punjab Domestic Workers Act, 2019. It offers broadly similar protections, an 8-hour daily working limit rather than Islamabad's 12-hour rest provision, and a minimum working age of 15.

Both laws set up a Minimum Wage Board responsible for formally notifying the actual minimum wage rate for domestic workers in that jurisdiction, and this figure is reviewed and updated periodically. Rather than state a specific number here that could go out of date or be mistaken for the exact current legal figure, we'd recommend checking the latest official notification for Islamabad or Punjab directly. You can also contact us, and we'll point you to the current confirmed rate.

The practical takeaway: the legal minimum is a floor, not a typical salary. Actual pay can be higher depending on working hours, duties, experience, and the arrangement.

What Do Maid Salaries Actually Look Like?

This is the part where honesty matters more than a tidy-sounding number. Reliable, published market-rate data for maid salaries specifically in Islamabad and Rawalpindi is limited. Most of what's online is anecdotal or from informal classifieds, not a verified survey. Rather than presenting a made-up "average," here's what's actually reliable:

• The legal minimum wage (above) is a genuine floor set by law.
• Pay rises from there based on hours, live-in vs. live-out, duties, and experience, as covered above.
• Through Kaam Wali, full-time maid placements currently range from PKR 35,000 to PKR 65,000 a month, depending on the exact hours, duties, and experience level required. Contact us with your household's specific needs, and we'll give you an accurate figure. We'd rather give you a real number for your situation than a generic range that doesn't actually apply to you.

Full-Time, Part-Time, Live-In, or Live-Out: How Arrangement Affects Cost

There's no single "correct" arrangement. It depends on your household's actual daily rhythm, not just the price.

What's Included in an Agency Fee (and Why It's Different From a Direct Hire)

When you hire through an agency like Kaam Wali, the fee structure has two separate parts, and it's worth knowing the difference:

• The maid's own monthly salary. This is her pay, agreed based on hours and duties, same as it would be with any hiring arrangement.
• A one-time agency placement fee, equal to one month of the maid's salary. This covers verification (police check and NADRA CNIC check), registration, and transportation as part of the placement process. Kaam Wali does not charge a security deposit.

What you're actually paying for with an agency isn't just "finding someone." It's having the screening, the structured interview and trial period, and replacement support handled for you. Hiring directly (through personal networks, classifieds, or word of mouth) can be cheaper upfront, and you can still do your own reference or police verification yourself. The difference is mainly whether you handle that legwork or an agency does it on your behalf, and whether a formal replacement process exists if things don't work out.

Duties That Affect What You Should Expect to Pay

Not all "maid" roles are the same job. Here's roughly how duties stack:

• Basic cleaning, meaning sweeping, mopping, dusting, and dishwashing. The baseline.
• Add laundry and ironing. A common, moderate step up.
• Add cooking or meal preparation. A bigger step, since it requires a different skill and more daily time.
• Add childcare or elderly assistance. Typically the most involved, since it requires patience, responsibility, and often specific experience.

Agreeing on the exact duty list in writing before the maid starts, rather than assuming it based on the word "maid" alone, avoids the single most common source of disagreement between households and staff later on.

How to Choose a Reliable Maid Agency

Whether you go with Kaam Wali or anyone else, here's what's genuinely worth checking before you commit:

• Does the agency verify candidates? Ask specifically what's checked. Police verification and CNIC/NADRA identity confirmation are the baseline. Reference and past-employer checks add another layer.
• Can you interview the candidate first? A legitimate agency lets you meet or speak with the maid before you commit, not just take a profile on faith.
• Is there a trial period? A short trial before a formal agreement protects both sides.
• What happens if it's not the right fit? Ask about replacement support upfront, not after a problem happens.
• Is the fee structure clear? You should know exactly what the one-time fee covers and what the ongoing salary is, with nothing vague or hidden.
• Is the agency actually registered? Ask whether the agency is formally registered (SECP, FBR, or similar) and can provide verifiable business details. This is a reasonable question to ask any agency before committing.

Maid vs. Housekeeper: What's the Difference?

In everyday use in Pakistan, "maid" and "housekeeper" are mostly used interchangeably. Both refer to someone handling home cleaning and related domestic duties. Where a distinction does show up (more in international or hotel contexts) is scope: a "housekeeper" sometimes implies broader household management, while "maid" is used more generally for day-to-day cleaning and domestic support. For a household hiring domestic help in Pakistan, the practical difference usually comes down to the specific duties you agree on, not the job title itself.

Is Hiring a Maid Worth the Cost?

This depends entirely on your own situation, and it's worth thinking through honestly rather than assuming.

It tends to be worth it when: both parents work and need consistent help, a household has young children or elderly family members needing daily attention, or the time saved genuinely outweighs the cost for your family's situation.

It may not be necessary when: a household is small, schedules are flexible, or occasional help (rather than daily) would cover the actual need. In that case a part-time arrangement, or even occasional babysitting-style help for specific situations, might be a better fit than a full-time maid.

There's no universally "right" answer. It's a genuine cost-versus-time tradeoff specific to your household.

What Happens After You Decide to Hire

If you go through Kaam Wali specifically, here's what the process actually looks like. This isn't a sales pitch, just so you know what to expect:

1. Share your requirements. Hours, duties, live-in or live-out, and your area.
2. We share suitable candidate profiles. They are already screened before they reach you.
3. You interview the candidate directly. Nothing is decided without you meeting or speaking with her first.
4. A trial period. So you can see the working relationship in practice before committing formally.
5. A formal agreement. Clear terms, agreed by both sides.

Every candidate goes through police verification, a NADRA CNIC check, and reference checks before reaching this process. If a placement isn't the right fit, replacement support is available.

Frequently Asked Questions