How We Built the Helper Salary Dataset
This page sets out what We Are Caring's helper salary data counts, how each figure is calculated, and what the data cannot tell you. The data covers 4,681 helper placements in Singapore from January 2022 to June 2026.
Last updated: 31 October 2026
Where the data comes from
The data comes from the placement records We Are Caring keeps for every helper it places in Singapore, for placements starting from January 2022 to June 2026. One record is one placement: a helper starting work with an employer. It covers Singapore only; we have no salary data for Hong Kong. Placements from 2021 are not included, so the trend starts in 2022.
How it was cleaned
The records are used as they come, with two automatic checks when the website is built: the totals row of the export is ignored, and exact duplicate records are removed. This edition had 1 duplicate (the same placement entered twice), leaving 4,681 placements. Three helpers appear on two different dates; these are genuine new placements and are kept.
What each term means
- Salary: the basic monthly salary agreed at placement, in Singapore dollars. It excludes food allowance, the levy and other employment costs.
- Experienced: has worked in Singapore for at least one employer before. First-timer: her first job as a domestic helper in Singapore. Every transfer helper is experienced.
- Transfer: already working in Singapore and changing employer. From abroad: hired from her home country, whether or not she has worked in Singapore before.
- Age group: her age when she started the placement, in four groups: 23 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, and 50 and above. The published data holds the age group only.
- Period: the year the placement started. 2026 holds January to June only.
How the figures are calculated
- Average: the mean basic salary of the group, rounded to the nearest dollar.
- Median: the middle salary of the group: half the helpers earned this or less, half this or more.
- Middle 50% range: from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the salaries of the middle half of the group. We do not publish minimum or maximum salaries, since the extremes of a small group can point to one person.
- Differences, such as the gap between transfer helpers and helpers hired from abroad, are worked out from the rounded averages shown.
Privacy: no figure for fewer than 3 placements
- No figure is shown for a group of fewer than 3 placements, in the tables, the charts, the explorer or the answers on these pages.
- Helpers of other nationalities, three placements in all, count in the overall figures only.
- Nothing published identifies a person: no names, IDs, dates of birth or employer details. The data is published as figures only: there is no record-level file and no download.
What the data is not
- It is one agency's placements, not a survey of all helpers in Singapore. Our helpers pay no placement fees, and our client mix may differ from the market's.
- It describes what was paid, not what anyone should pay. Singapore does not set a minimum salary for domestic helpers; the salary is agreed between employer and helper.
- It shows differences between groups, not their causes. For example, it does not show that age itself changes a salary.
Updates
The data is updated twice a year, in January and July, adding the previous half-year. This edition holds data to June 2026; the next, in January 2027, adds July to December 2026. Each edition's report keeps its own page, and any revision to published figures is listed below.
Use and cite this data
The figures and tables on these pages are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0): you may reuse them, including commercially, as long as you credit We Are Caring.
Cite as: We Are Caring (2026). Domestic Helper Salaries in Singapore, 2022 to mid-2026: open data from 4,681 placements. wearecaring.com/sg/en/salary-report. CC BY 4.0.
Copy citation · Press and data questions: David Bensadon (EA personnel reg. no. R1552212), david@wearecaring.com
Corrections
No corrections so far. If you find an error in the figures, write to David Bensadon (EA personnel reg. no. R1552212) at david@wearecaring.com; each correction is dated and listed here.
