Location, location, location: Gauteng workers tend to earn more – Hypertext

Recruitment platform Pnet has released its May 2026 Job Market Trends Report. This time around, the platform included salary range comparisons between four provinces.

When it comes to workers in Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng workers tend to earn more. The province where workers earn the least is KwaZulu-Natal. A receptionist in Gauteng earns between R10 844 and R14 047 per month, while in KwaZulu-Natal the salary range is between R9 781 and R11 545, far below the national average.

“Your location has a significant bearing on your earning potential, with professionals in Gauteng and the Western Cape out earning their peers in the other provinces across most job roles,” says Anja Bates, head of Data at Pnet. “Variations in salaries across different locations are driven by a number of factors, including the economic activity of each province, industry concentration, labour demand, skills shortages and regional living costs.”

These salaries disparities are present across various roles. The biggest difference is in software development, where Gauteng devs tend to earn 25 percent more than the national average, and Western Cape devs only early 15 percent more than the average.

“For employers, these regional differences highlight the importance of benchmarking remuneration against local market conditions rather than relying on national averages. Understanding where salary expectations are highest can help organisations attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive labour market,” says Bates.

“For jobseekers, the findings demonstrate that the same skills can command significantly different salaries depending on location. While relocation is not always practical or desirable, understanding regional salary trends can help professionals make more informed career decisions and negotiate compensation with greater confidence.”

While this is good information, it’s tough for folks to uproot and move suddenly, especially for marginally more money because, frankly these figures are rather small when you factor in quality of life, tax and more.

You can see Pnet’s comparisons in the gallery below.