Offshore Salary Index 2026

Key findings

Standalone stats, each computed from the underlying bands. Free to quote with a link back.

1. 1.Across 41 roles and 8 countries, hiring offshore through Remoteria costs an average of 66% less than the same role at its US BLS median wage in 2026.
2. 2.Pakistan is the lowest-cost market in the index: a mid-level hire averages $18,990 per year across 41 roles — about 79% below the US median.
3. 3.Poland is the highest-cost market: a mid-level hire averages $47,459 per year, yet still runs about 48% below the comparable US wage.
4. 4.Savings across the index span 36% (a Web Developer in Poland, the narrowest gap) to 86% (a Virtual Assistant in Pakistan, the widest).
5. 5.The single largest saving in the index is a Virtual Assistant in Pakistan, at 86% below the US BLS median.
6. 6.A senior offshore full-stack developer in Poland costs about $90,000 per year versus a $159,500 US senior median — a 44% saving.
7. 7.The same senior full-stack developer ranges from $36,000 per year in Pakistan to $90,000 in Poland — a 2.5x spread driven entirely by country.
8. 8.A mid-level virtual assistant in the Philippines costs about $9,400 per year — roughly 85% below the $62,000 US median.
9. 9.A mid-level machine learning engineer in India costs about $37,800 per year versus a $135,000 US median — 72% less.
10. 10.The index covers 328 role-country salary bands — 2,952 individual figures — across junior, mid, and senior tiers for 41 roles in 8 countries.

What the 2026 offshore salary index measures

The 2026 Offshore Salary Index measures what a full-time offshore employee is paid, by role and country: 328 market salary bands covering 41 roles in 8 sourcing countries, each split into junior, mid and senior tiers and set against a US benchmark for the same role. “Offshore” here means a remote employee hired in another country — the model behind offshore staffing for US companies — not offshore oil, gas or vessel crews.

How the bands are built

Every band in the index is modeled, not observed. Remoteria sets one base salary range per role and multiplies it by one factor per country, so the 328 bands come from 41 base ranges and 8 country factors. The figures are the 2026 bands as of September 24, 2026, the date this page was last revised.

What the figures are

The offshore figures are modeled 2026 market salary bands in US dollars: what each role pays in each country. They are not Remoteria's price. Remoteria's all-in monthly rate starts at each role's own floor, from $800 a month for a virtual assistant. Each role has a base range with a junior, a mid and a senior point, and a country's band is that range times the country's factor. On this page each tier spans 10% either side of its point, the monthly range runs from the junior point to the senior point divided by 12 (rounded to the nearest $50), and “mid-level annual” is the mid point.

The US benchmark is one rounded national figure per role, mapped to an occupation code in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program. The US junior and senior figures are set at 70% and 145% of that figure. The tables and charts compare mid-level with mid-level; the senior comparisons in the key findings and the FAQ compare senior with senior.

What the figures are not

The bands are not a survey of offshore workers' pay and not a quote for any single hire. Because one country factor applies to every role, Poland runs about 2.5× Pakistan for any given role: the index is a modeled comparison built to be consistent across 328 bands, not 328 independently observed placements. Every band is a market salary benchmark, not a rate Remoteria places at. Many open below Remoteria's role floors, so check what an engagement with Remoteria costs before you budget.

Offshore cost by country (cheapest to most expensive)

Pakistan is the lowest-cost country in the index at $18,990 a year for a mid-level hire, averaged across all 41 roles, and Poland is the highest at $47,459. The country factor, not the role, sets most of that gap. Monthly ranges for every role in every country sit in the full offshore cost matrix.

Cost is one input. Time-zone overlap, English level and talent depth are profiled on each country's talent page: Pakistan, the Philippines, India, South Africa, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Poland.

Average mid-level annual salary and savings vs the US BLS median, across all 41 roles.

Savings vs the US by role family

Admin, support & operations roles show the widest average saving against the US benchmark, at 70%, and Data & AI roles the narrowest, at 62%. Country still moves the saving more than role family does: inside every family the lowest and highest band sit at least 36 points apart, and for any single role, moving from Pakistan to Poland cuts the saving by 21 to 39 points, against the 8-point gap between the family averages.

Data & AI and Software engineering roles pay the most offshore, at $42,425 and $39,018 a year at mid level, and save 62% and 63% against the US. Remoteria staffs developers and data engineers as offshore software development teams, bookkeepers and accountants through offshore accounting and bookkeeping, and virtual and executive assistants through offshore admin and assistant staffing.

Savings vs US median, by role

US figures are BLS OES national medians (mid-level). Offshore figures are annual mid-level salary; the lowest-cost country is shown against Poland, the highest.

Developer salaries by country (annual, mid-level)

Mid-level annual salary for the highest-demand engineering roles. Every cell links to that country's cost table, or to the role's full cost breakdown where one is published.

What moves a band up or down

Three inputs set every band in the index, and they move it by very different amounts:

1. 1. Country. Poland runs about 2.5× Pakistan on the average mid-level salary, and the same multiple holds for each role because one country factor applies across the board.
2. 2. Seniority. A senior hire is paid 1.9–2.4× a junior hire in the same role and country: a full-stack developer in Pakistan is paid $18,000 a year at junior level and $36,000 at senior level.
3. 3. Role. Inside one country, the highest-paid role pays about 4.1× the lowest: in Pakistan, a mid-level Customer Support Rep is paid $7,900 a year against $32,400 for a Machine Learning Engineer.

A real team mixes all three, so the fastest way to see the combined effect is to price a team with your own role mix and seniority.

“Offshore hiring isn't about finding the cheapest wage — it's about the best wage-to-skill ratio. The same senior full-stack developer can cost more than double in Poland than in Pakistan, so the right country depends on whether you're optimizing for cost, timezone, or EU-grade compliance. We publish the full band data so teams decide with real numbers, not guesses.”

Full cost breakdown by country

• 🇵🇰 Pakistan salaries
• 🇵🇭 Philippines salaries
• 🇮🇳 India salaries
• 🇿🇦 South Africa salaries
• 🇦🇷 Argentina salaries
• 🇨🇴 Colombia salaries
• 🇲🇽 Mexico salaries
• 🇵🇱 Poland salaries

How to cite this index

The index is published under CC BY 4.0: you may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit Remoteria, link to the license, and say if you changed anything. Cite it as:

Remoteria (2026). Offshore Salary Index 2026: 41 roles across 8 countries [Data set]. https://www.remoteria.com/reports/offshore-salary-index/

Link to the permalink above so readers land on the method as well as the numbers. Both charts are PNG files you can embed as they are: offshore salary by country and savings vs the US by role family. When you quote a figure, describe it as a modeled 2026 market salary band, which is what it is.

Frequently asked questions