UGX 200,000 a month, checked against real Kampala rent and living costs.
UGX 200,000 a month is the median cash earnings figure for Uganda’s workforce, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ most recent National Labour Force Survey. Put that next to what a place to live in Kampala actually costs, and the picture gets uncomfortable fast.
The numbers
A one-bedroom apartment in central Kampala averages roughly UGX 1,925,236 a month, according to crowdsourced cost-of-living data — about 9.6 times the national median monthly income on its own. Move outside the city centre and average rent drops to roughly UGX 695,600 a month, which is still about 3.5 times the median.
Median earnings vary sharply too: UBOS reports UGX 250,000 for men and urban workers, versus UGX 140,000 for women and UGX 200,000 for rural workers — so “the median” hides a wide range depending on who you are and where you work.
What this actually means
On paper, a single median earner cannot cover even an outside-centre one-bedroom rent alone from a single median income — which is consistent with why extended-family living arrangements, shared housing, and multiple income earners per household are the norm in Kampala rather than the exception. This isn’t a criticism of anyone’s budgeting; it’s a straightforward consequence of the two verified figures side by side.
It’s also a reminder that “average” or “median” salary figures describe the middle of a distribution, not what any specific job pays. If you’re evaluating a specific offer, the more useful number is your own estimated take-home pay — which is what this site’s Uganda salary calculator is for.
