Income in South Africa
The median income in South Africa is about $6.42 a day per person (2021 PPP dollars) — richer than 43% of everyone alive. Half of South Africa lives on less than that.
The world's own median person — about $7.73 a day — would stand in the top 43% of South Africa.
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The curve
Daily income per person, log scale, PPP dollars — the same curve the machine walks you across.
What it takes to stand where
Take-home income per person, in today's ZAR, at each point on the curve of South Africa (the machine's convention: household take-home divided by the people it supports).
| Richer than… | per year, per person | per day (PPP $) |
|---|---|---|
| 10% of South Africa | ZAR 7,658 | $2.28 |
| 25% of South Africa | ZAR 12,126 | $3.61 |
| 50% of South Africa | ZAR 21,547 | $6.42 |
| 75% of South Africa | ZAR 44,505 | $13 |
| 90% of South Africa | ZAR 93,546 | $28 |
| 99% of South Africa | ZAR 303,477 | $90 |
Rounded, never inflated: the machine floors "richer than" claims.
The four levels in South Africa
How much of South Africa and of the world lives on each of four income levels. The cuts are the World Bank's $3.00 (international poverty line) and $8.30 (upper-middle-income line), both 2021 PPP; the top cut, $33, is the machine's own, four times the $8.30 line. The objects are what an income on each level tends to buy across the world's surveys — not a description of any one country.
| Level | per day (PPP $) | What tends to come with it, worldwide | South Africa | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | under $3.00 | a fire to cook on, water carried home from the well, everywhere on foot | 18% | 13% |
| Level 2 | $3.00–$8.30 | a bicycle, a gas canister for the stove, a tap within walking distance | 42% | 39% |
| Level 3 | $8.30–$33 | a motorbike, a gas stove, a bank account | 32% | 32% |
| Level 4 | $33+ | a car, a fridge, hot water from the tap | 8% | 15% |
- Level 1 · under $3.00 a daySouth Africa 18% · World 13%a fire to cook on, water carried home from the well, everywhere on foot
- Level 2 · $3.00–$8.30 a daySouth Africa 42% · World 39%a bicycle, a gas canister for the stove, a tap within walking distance
- Level 3 · $8.30–$33 a daySouth Africa 32% · World 32%a motorbike, a gas stove, a bank account
- Level 4 · $33+ a daySouth Africa 8% · World 15%a car, a fridge, hot water from the tap
About 42% of South Africa lives on Level 2, between $3.00 and $8.30 a day per person; worldwide, about 39% of people do.
The line that moved
In South Africa, 45% lived under the $3.00 line at the 1993 survey; 17% at the 2022 one — a fall of 27 points in 29 years.
Share of South Africa under $3.00 a day (2021 prices) at each national survey, World Bank PIP via Our World in Data; the faint line is the world's.
Worldwide, the share under the World Bank's $3.00-a-day line fell from about 43% in 1990 to about 10% today (Our World in Data; the latest years are the Bank's nowcast). Where the lift came, it came the unglamorous way: wages, harvests, workshops.
Who earns what in South Africa
8 portraits, not payroll data: each stands roughly where that kind of work typically earns on the curve of South Africa.
| the lowest 10% | the earnings of a casual farm worker in the Karoo |
|---|---|
| 10–25% | the earnings of a domestic worker in Johannesburg — two taxis each way |
| 25–45% | the earnings of a minibus-taxi driver — the real public transport system |
| 45–65% | the earnings of a retail supervisor |
| 65–82% | the earnings of a schoolteacher |
| 82–93% | the earnings of a chartered accountant — the CA(SA) opens every door |
| 93–98% | the earnings of a specialist physician in Cape Town |
| the highest 2% | the earnings of a mining executive — the steepest income curve on earth |
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Where this comes from
The World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform percentile distribution for South Africa (survey year 2022), in 2021 PPP dollars; incomes typed in today's money are deflated to 2021 prices with the national CPI and converted with the 2021 consumption-PPP factor. Snapshot fetched September 2026. Full methodology & honesty rules.
Neighbours on the curve
The countries whose median income sits nearest to South Africa's — and a few far from it, for scale.