A cook who makes two meals a day for a family of four is not a one-meal-a-day job priced at ₹6,000, and a live-in nanny is not a maid who happens to sleep over. Household staff pay in India is set by word of mouth, which is why two families on the same floor pay very different salaries for the same work. Here is what each role should earn in a typical Indian city, how the number is built, and what should be agreed before the first day.
The short answer
Part-time home staff, who come for a fixed set of tasks each day, earn between ₹4,500 and ₹9,500 a month. Full-day roles such as a nanny or an elderly care attendant start around ₹13,000. Live-in staff earn ₹16,000 and up, with food and stay on top. There is no visit charge for any of this; you post what you need, people reply, and the salary is agreed before anyone starts.
| Role | Typical monthly pay | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Maid, cleaning only | ₹4,500 | Sweep and mop, dusting, bathrooms; about 2 hours a day |
| Maid, cleaning, dishes and clothes | ₹8,000 | All three tasks, 3 to 4 hours a day |
| Cook, one meal | ₹6,000 | One cooked meal a day, usually lunch or dinner |
| Cook, two meals | ₹9,500 | Two visits or one long one, breakfast prep often included |
| Nanny, 8 hours | ₹13,000 | Child care, feeding, naps, play, light tidying of the child's things |
| Elderly care attendant, 8 hours | ₹15,000 | Bathing, meals, walks, medicines on time, company |
| Trained patient attendant | ₹18,000 | Bed-ridden care, hygiene, basic vitals, physiotherapy routines |
| Live-in housekeeper | ₹16,000 | All housework, stays in; food and room extra |
| Live-in cook | ₹17,000 | All meals, kitchen management, stays in |
| Live-in nanny | ₹18,000 | Round-the-clock child care with agreed rest hours |
| Live-in elderly care, 24 h | ₹24,000 | Overnight presence; night waking is part of the job |
| Domestic couple | ₹28,000 | One cooks and cleans, one drives or gardens or guards |
Metro cities run about 30 percent higher. A same-week start adds a little; flexible timing takes a little off. These are the figures the TheHire cost estimator uses, so what you read here is what it will quote for your city.
How the salary is actually made up
Most arguments between a household and a worker happen because only the headline number was discussed. There are five parts.
- The base salary, per task for part-time and per month for full-time. Part-time pay is almost always a sum of tasks: cleaning is one unit, dishes another, clothes a third. A worker who does all three for ₹8,000 is not being paid for cleaning and doing the rest free.
- Hours and headcount. A cook for two meals is ₹9,500 for a family of four or five. Six adults, a joint family, or daily guests is a bigger job, and good cooks say so on the phone.
- Leave. Two to four paid days a month for part-time, a weekly off for full-time, and fifteen to thirty days a year for live-in. Pay that assumes zero leave is not the going rate; it is the going rate minus something the worker will take anyway.
- The festival bonus. One month's salary once a year at Diwali, Pongal, Onam or Eid depending on the family and the worker, paid before the festival, not after. This is so widely expected that leaving it out of the offer is a reason people quit in November.
- The yearly raise. Ten percent or so each year, usually at the anniversary or after the festival. A worker who has not had a raise in three years is already looking.
The roles, one by one
Maid, ₹4,500 to ₹8,000
Sweeping and mopping every room, dusting surfaces, and the bathrooms two or three times a week is the cleaning unit. Dishes after each meal is the second, which in practice means two visits or one long one. Clothes, by machine or by hand, with hanging out and folding, is the third. Ironing is usually a separate arrangement with the press-wallah; if you want the maid to iron, it is an extra task with extra pay.
Cook, ₹6,000 to ₹9,500
One meal means one visit of about ninety minutes: cooking, plus leaving the kitchen as it was found. Two meals means two visits or one long morning that covers lunch and prepares dinner. Groceries are on you; the cook writes the list. Grinding, cutting vegetables for the next day, and packing tiffins are part of the job. Cooking for a party is a different rate, ₹1,200 for the day.
Nanny and babysitter, ₹13,000 a month or ₹150 an hour
An eight-hour nanny feeds, bathes, changes, plays, puts down for naps and keeps the child's things clean. She does not clean the house; a family that wants both is hiring two roles. Occasional babysitting is hourly, with a four-hour minimum. A live-in nanny at ₹18,000 has agreed night duties and agreed rest hours, written down.
Elderly care and patient attendants, ₹15,000 to ₹18,000
An attendant for an elderly parent who is mobile helps with bathing, meals, medicines at the right time, walks and company, eight hours a day. A trained patient attendant handles a bed-ridden person: turning to prevent bed sores, hygiene, catheter and diaper changes, blood pressure and sugar readings, the exercises the physiotherapist set. Injections, IV lines, wound dressing and anything with a doctor's order belong to a home nurse, which is a different category and a different rate. Twenty-four-hour live-in care is ₹24,000 and includes being woken at night.
Live-in staff and couples, ₹16,000 to ₹28,000
Live-in pay looks high next to part-time until you remember it replaces three or four part-time arrangements and includes early mornings and late evenings. Food, a room or a proper sleeping space, bedding, toiletries and a phone recharge are on the household. A domestic couple at ₹28,000 is the usual arrangement for a bungalow or a farmhouse: one cooks and cleans, the other drives, gardens or watches the gate.
Help by the day, ₹700 to ₹1,200
A helper for a day of deep cleaning before a function, a caretaker for a relative while you travel, a cook for twenty guests. Day rates assume eight hours and a meal.
Events and offices
Waiters at ₹900 per event, a steward to run them at ₹1,500, a bartender at ₹1,800, an event cook at ₹2,000 and cleaners at ₹700. For offices, housekeeping staff are ₹11,500 a month, an office boy ₹12,500, pantry staff ₹12,000, a supervisor ₹17,000 and a receptionist ₹16,000; these roles usually come through an agency with PF and ESI, which adds to the invoice.
One rule that prevents most disputes: write the tasks down, one line each, and the salary next to them. A photo of that sheet on both phones is enough. Adding a task later means adding to the salary.
What changes the number
The city and the locality. Metros pay more, and inside a metro the gated societies and the expat enclaves pay most. Ask two neighbours before you post, and expect the estimator's figure to sit between them.
Household size and habits. A couple who eat out three nights a week is a different cooking job from a family of six with elderly parents. Pets add to a cleaning job. A house with white marble floors and three bathrooms is not a 2 BHK.
Skills. A cook who does Bengali and Continental, a nanny with a crèche certificate, an attendant trained by a hospital agency: each is paid above the line in the table, and should be.
Agency or direct. An agency adds a placement fee, usually half to one month's salary, and sometimes a monthly commission. In return it verifies, replaces and handles leave cover. Hiring direct through TheHire means the whole salary reaches the worker, and the verification and reviews are on the profile.
Before anyone starts
- The duty list, written, with the salary beside it.
- Start time, finish time, and which days are off.
- Festival bonus: which festival, how much, and that it is one month's salary.
- An ID copy and police verification, started in the first week.
- Who buys the cleaning supplies and the groceries, and how the money is handled.
- What happens when you travel for two weeks: full pay is the norm for staff on a monthly salary.
A fair salary agreed on day one, with leave and the bonus named, costs less over a year than a cheap one that ends in a silent exit the week before Diwali.