Blog · updated 11 October 2026
Nanny salaries in Dubai and the UAE, 2026: real numbers
Most salary guides are an agency quoting its own price list. These are different: they are what nannies themselves ask for, read from 89 live profiles on NaNanny at the moment you opened this page.
The headline numbers
AED 3,500
median asking salary, per month
AED 2,500 to AED 4,000
where most of the asks sit
AED 3,000
median, under 5 years of experience
AED 3,500
median, 5 years or more of experience
Source: salary expectations stated by nannies on their own NaNanny profiles, counted when this page loaded. 89 of 94 live profiles state one, and the most recent change was 11 October 2026. It is what she asks for, not what a family settled on, because the second is a number nobody here can see. A young marketplace, so this is a few dozen profiles rather than thousands: anything resting on fewer than 5 people is shown as too few to quote rather than dressed up as a median.
By arrangement
By nationality
Families search this way, so it is reported this way. It describes what a group of people happen to be asking on one small site today, and it is not a rate card for anybody.
Also on the site, with too few profiles to quote a median: Ethiopian (3), Indian (2), Moroccan (1), Nepali (1).
By emirate
Also on the site, with too few profiles to quote a median: Sharjah (2), Ajman (1), Umm Al Quwain (1).
What moves the number
Experience, more than anything
Experience moves the ask more than anything else on a profile, and the two medians at the top of this page are the measurement of it rather than a claim about it. References and verified certificates push the same way: a nanny who can show her history asks with more confidence, and is usually worth it.
Live-in or live-out
The two figures are above, counted rather than estimated. Live-in arrangements usually come with a lower cash salary because accommodation and food are part of the deal, and with the legal obligations that come with hosting a domestic worker.
Hours and days
A full six-day week sits at the top of the range. Part-time and school-hours arrangements are negotiated per day or per hour; many nannies list availability day by day on their profile.
What does not move it: an agency's cut
When you hire directly, the number you agree is the number she receives. Agency models add placement fees of thousands of dirhams, or monthly packages where part of what you pay never reaches her.
What a fair offer looks like in practice
Take the median as your anchor, then adjust honestly: more children, newborn care, cooking or housekeeping duties, and long hours all justify moving up from it. Offering well under a nanny's stated expectation rarely saves money; it selects for the candidates with no better option, and the good ones simply take another family.
Whatever you agree, put it in writing and pay it on time. When you hire directly, you and the nanny are the whole arrangement: salary, days off, and notice periods are yours to agree and yours to honour, within UAE law.
See the real profiles
Every figure here comes from profiles you can read yourself: each nanny on NaNanny states her own expected salary, experience and availability, and families browse for free and contact her directly. No agency in between, no placement fee, and nothing taken from her salary.