Local Salaries · Sri Lanka
What is a good salary in 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka (Colombo)?
The median is about $323/month; top-10% earners clear $947/month.
The local wage ladder
| Band | Monthly | Annual | Local currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survival floorsingle-person essentials | $474 | $5,688 | 155,238 LKR/mo |
| Statutory minimumILOSTAT statutory monthly minimum wage, 2023 (USD). | $38 | $456 | 12,445 LKR/mo |
| Median (p50)typical earner | $323 | $3,876 | 105,785 LKR/mo |
| Comfortable (p75)upper-middle | $569 | $6,828 | 186,351 LKR/mo |
| Top 10% (p90)high earner | $947 | $11,364 | 310,149 LKR/mo |
| Top 1% (p99)elite | $2,275 | $27,300 | 745,078 LKR/mo |
Modelled from World Bank GNI $4,670 (2025) and Gini 37.7 (consumption-based, widened to 44.7). Check where you stand in the interactive benchmarker.
Countries with similar median pay
- 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde — median $328/mo
- 🇵🇾 Paraguay — median $328/mo
- 🇸🇻 El Salvador — median $314/mo
- 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea — median $337/mo
See also: what everyday life costs in Sri Lanka
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good salary in Sri Lanka?
- The median wage is about $323/month ($3,876/year). A "comfortable" p75 salary is around $569/month, and you'd be a top-10% earner above $947/month.
- What is a top 10% salary in Sri Lanka?
- Roughly $947/month ($11,364/year) puts you in the top 10%; the top 1% starts near $2,275/month.
- What is the minimum wage in Sri Lanka?
- About $38/month. ILOSTAT statutory monthly minimum wage, 2023 (USD).
- How are these Sri Lanka salary figures calculated?
- A log-normal wage model calibrated from World Bank GNI per capita ($4,670, 2025) and the Gini index (37.7, consumption-based — widened to 44.7 income-equivalent). Estimates for benchmarking, not payroll data.