How much to pay a housekeeper, a nanny or a cook in Cameroon? Observed day rates (Q4 2026)
By the SangoServices team5 min read
on SangoServices, the median minimum day rate shown is cleaning: 7,000 FCFA a day (n = 166), babysitting: 6,000 FCFA a day (n = 114) and cooking: 8,000 FCFA a day (n = 103). These are rates observed on published profiles (the Q4 2026 barometer edition), not an official scale.
Families looking for help at home all ask the same question: how much should we offer? The figures online contradict each other, because almost none says where it comes from. Here, every amount is computed from the rates workers themselves show on their profile, and every row states how many profiles it rests on.
Rates by trade
How to read the table: half of the trade's profiles show less than the median rate, half show more. The next two columns give the range three fifths of profiles fall in.
| Median rate / day | 1 in 5 profiles below | 4 in 5 profiles below | n | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event staffing | 10,000 FCFA | 4,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 42 |
| Cooking | 8,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 103 |
| Cleaning | 7,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 166 |
| Manual labor | 7,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 91 |
| Helper | 7,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 80 |
| Moving | 7,000 FCFA | 3,500 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 52 |
| Laundry | 7,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 37 |
| Babysitting | 6,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 114 |
| Delivery | 6,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 92 |
| Teaching | 4,500 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 72 |
| Errands | 4,000 FCFA | 3,000 FCFA | 10,000 FCFA | 88 |
The highest median rate is event staffing (10,000 FCFA), the lowest errands (4,000 FCFA).
No rate is published yet for repair (n = 25), gardening (n = 23), driving (n = 18), elderly care (n = 18) and security (n = 7): fewer than 30 profiles show a usable rate.
Douala, Yaoundé and other cities
Across all trades, counting one rate per worker, the median rate is Douala 8,000 FCFA (n = 199) and Yaoundé 7,000 FCFA (n = 99). The other cities (Buea, Bafoussam, Bamenda, Limbe, Ebolowa, Kribi, Ngaoundéré, Bertoua and Garoua) still have too few profiles to publish a figure.
A rate per trade and city is published only where at least 30 workers show a rate: you will find it on each trade's hiring pages, for example housekeepers in Douala or nannies in Yaoundé.
What these figures measure, and what they do not
- A minimum day rate, the one the worker shows on their profile. The final price is negotiated between you: duration, distance, experience, meals and transport all move it.
- Not a monthly salary. A full-time employee paid by the month is not paid a day rate times 30; for monthly pay, see our housekeeper cost guide and the salary guide.
- The 5,000 FCFA rate is set aside. Until September 2026 our sign-up form suggested "5000", and many profiles kept that figure: 297 workers show it, in every trade in the same proportions. It describes our form, not the market, so it is left out of every calculation.
- Outliers are excluded (a phone number typed in the rate box, a monthly salary entered as a day rate), using a plausible range per trade.
Find someone at this price
Source and method
These figures are those of the Q4 2026 edition of the Informal Jobs Barometer (Q4 2026), computed on the SangoServices production database (test accounts and bots excluded, published 2026-10-01). Every figure states its n, the number of records it rests on; below the publication threshold, the cell reads "insufficient data". Data as CSV, reusable under CC BY 4.0: rates by trade · rates by city · key figures.
Recommended citation: "Cameroon Informal Jobs Barometer, SangoServices, Q4 2026".
SangoServices is a directory of workers in Cameroon, run by Sango Sarl in Douala. Our guides draw on our own data and on public sources, cited in the text. About us
