Income in India

Estimates

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of India in its 2026 report states that the average earnings of workers in the January-December 2025 period were as follows: regular wage/salaried (₹21,285 per month), self-employed (₹12,144 per month) and casual (₹11,550 for 30 days).

The International Labour Organization in its report India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education and Skills states that the average earning of regular salaried workers (₹19,010) was considerably higher than those of self-employed (₹11,973) and casual (₹8,267) workers in 2022.

The Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in 2026 has categorized Indian households into four categories: low income, lower middle class, upper middle class and high income.

India's nominal per capita income was US$2,878 per year in 2025, ranked 136th out of 188 countries by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On the other hand in terms of GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity, it was $12,132 which ranked 119th out of 187 countries. Other estimates for per capita gross national income and gross domestic product vary by source. For example, India's average GDP per capita on a PPP basis in 2009, according to The Economist, was US$5,138, with significant variation among its states and union territories. Goa had the highest per capita PPP GDP at US$47,713 which is higher than Slovakia while Bihar had the lowest with a per capita PPP GDP of US$3,742 which is lower than Uganda as of 2025 In rupee terms, India's per capita income grew by 10.4% to reach ₹74,920 in 2013–14.

While India's per capita incomes were low, the average household size and consequent household incomes were higher. India had a total of 247 million households in 2011, with an average of about 4.9 people per household, according to Census of India.

Estimates for average household income and the size of India's middle-income households vary by source. Using the World Bank's definition of middle-income families to be those with per capita income between $10 and $50 per day, the National Council of Applied Economic Research of India completed a survey and concluded there were 153 million people who belonged to middle-income group in 2006. In contrast, Meyer and Birdsall and Tim Light used a different survey and estimated the Middle-Income population to be about 70 million in 2009–2010. These groups, as well as the World Bank, estimated in their 2011 reports that if India's economy continues to grow per projections, India's middle-income group would double by 2015 over 2010 levels, and grow by an additional 500 million people by 2025. This would make it with China, the world's largest middle-income market.

Compared to other countries, income inequality in India is relatively small as measured by Gini coefficient. India had a Gini coefficient of 32.5 in the year 1999- 2000; India's nominal Gini index rose to 36.8 in 2005, while real Gini after tax remained nearly flat at 32.6.

The states of India have significant disparities in their average income. Bihar was by far the poorest in India, with a gdp per capita of $1000. Income was low in even within its neighbouring states who are also among India’s poorest regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland. The higher income regions include Goa, Delhi, Haryana, Sikkim, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Kerala.

Rural-urban gap

As in other countries, residents of Indian cities have a higher per capita income and standard of living than rural residents. Towns and cities make up more than two-thirds of the Indian GDP, even though less than a third of the population lives in them.

The Economic Survey of India 2007 by OECD concluded that:

"At the state level, economic performance is much better in states with a relatively liberal regulatory environment than in the relatively more restrictive states".

The analysis of this report suggests that the differences in economic performance across states are associated with the extent to which states have introduced market-oriented reforms. Thus, further reforms on these lines, complemented with measures to improve infrastructure, education and basic services, would increase the potential for growth outside of agriculture and thus boost better-paid employment, which is a key to sharing the fruits of growth and lowering poverty.

Statistics