Quantity Surveyor salary in the UAE
A quantity surveyor in the UAE earns between AED 15,000 and AED 30,000 a month, with a midpoint of AED 22,500. That midpoint sits at the 90.5th percentile of all UAE workers, and the top 43% of white-collar professionals.
- Monthly salary range (gross, AED)
- AED 15,000 to AED 30,000
- Midpoint
- AED 22,500 a month, AED 270,000 a year
- Rank among all UAE workers
- 90.5th percentile, top 9.5%
- Rank among white-collar professionals
- Top 43%
- Income tax on salary
- None. Gross equals net for expatriate staff
- Gratuity after 5 years
- about AED 47,250
- Figures as of
- 5 August 2026
How much does a quantity surveyor earn in the UAE?
A quantity surveyor in the UAE earns AED 15,000 to AED 30,000 a month as of 5 August 2026, with a midpoint of AED 22,500 a month, which is AED 270,000 a year. The range comes from the 1 quantity surveyor entry in our dataset, drawn from published recruiter salary guides and reduced by 10% because those guides describe total packages rather than base pay.
| Monthly | Annual | |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom of range | AED 15,000 | AED 180,000 |
| Midpoint | AED 22,500 | AED 270,000 |
| Top of range | AED 30,000 | AED 360,000 |
These figures cover the title Quantity Surveyor, across construction & engineering.
What percentile is a quantity surveyor salary in the UAE?
AED 22,500 a month sits at the 90.5th percentile of all UAE workers, putting the role in the top 9.5% of everyone employed in the country. Measured against white-collar professionals only, the same salary lands in the top 43%.
A quantity surveyor comfortably clears the national median while sitting in the lower half of the professional cohort. If you benchmark against national averages you will conclude you are doing well; if you benchmark against colleagues in similar white-collar roles you will conclude the opposite. The second comparison is the one that matters when you negotiate.
Is a quantity surveyor salary taxed in the UAE?
No. There is no personal income tax on salaries anywhere in the UAE, so for an expatriate employee gross and net are the same figure: a quantity surveyor on the AED 22,500 midpoint takes home AED 22,500 a month, or AED 270,000 a year, with no statutory payroll deduction. Emirati nationals do have a pension deduction that expatriate staff do not, paid to the GPSSA or, in Abu Dhabi, to the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund. The 9% corporate tax introduced in June 2023 applies to business profits, not to employment income, and VAT of 5% is charged on spending rather than earnings.
How does quantity surveyor pay change with experience?
Recruiter guides quote a band rather than a point. Early-career hires land near AED 17,132 and people with sixteen or more years land near AED 29,250. Placing experience inside this role's range gives:
| Experience | Expected monthly | Expected annual |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | AED 17,132 | AED 205,586 |
| 3–5 years | AED 19,929 | AED 239,143 |
| 6–10 years | AED 23,657 | AED 283,886 |
| 11–15 years | AED 28,318 | AED 339,814 |
| 16+ years | AED 29,250 | AED 351,000 |
Treat this as the centre of a wide distribution. Pay for the same title varies substantially by employer, sector and how tight the hiring market is when you negotiate.
Do quantity surveyors earn more in Dubai or Abu Dhabi?
Almost the same. The midpoint is AED 22,500 a month in Dubai against AED 22,050 in Abu Dhabi, a gap of about 2% that is well inside the variation between individual employers. Sharjah runs about 5% below Dubai at AED 21,375, and the smaller northern emirates 8 to 12% below, which is partly offset by much lower rent.
| Emirate | Range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | AED 15,000 – AED 30,000 | AED 22,500 |
| Abu Dhabi | AED 14,700 – AED 29,400 | AED 22,050 |
| Sharjah | AED 14,250 – AED 28,500 | AED 21,375 |
| Ajman | AED 13,500 – AED 27,000 | AED 20,250 |
| Ras Al Khaimah | AED 13,800 – AED 27,600 | AED 20,700 |
| Fujairah | AED 13,200 – AED 26,400 | AED 19,800 |
| Umm Al Quwain | AED 13,200 – AED 26,400 | AED 19,800 |
Does the quantity surveyor salary range include housing allowance?
No. The AED 15,000 to AED 30,000 range on this page is base pay. Recruiter salary guides normally quote the full package, which bundles housing, transport and sometimes schooling on top of basic salary, so we reduce their published figures by 10% to get back to something comparable across employers. A UAE offer at this level is typically structured as a basic salary of roughly 50 to 60% of the total, with the remainder paid as allowances. That split matters more than it looks, because gratuity and several other entitlements are calculated on basic pay alone.
How much end-of-service gratuity does a quantity surveyor accrue?
Roughly AED 47,250 after five years and AED 114,750 after ten, on the AED 22,500 midpoint. Under Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, gratuity is 21 days of basic wage for each of the first five years of service and 30 days for each year after that, with a minimum of one year of continuous service and a total capped at two years' wage. The figures above assume basic pay is 60% of gross, which is a common UAE split but not a universal one, so check your own contract: gratuity is calculated on basic salary only, and allowances are excluded.
What can a quantity surveyor salary afford in Dubai?
A typical one-bedroom in Dubai runs about AED 68,000 to AED 82,000 a year, or 30% of the AED 270,000 annual midpoint for this role. At roughly 30% of gross, a Dubai one-bedroom breaches the usual 30% guidance. In practice people in this band share, move to Sharjah or Ajman and commute, or negotiate above the midpoint.
Related
See the full salary guide by role for other job titles, pay and wealth by emirate for the geographic picture, is my salary good in Dubai for the comparison-group problem, or the percentile calculator to check your own figure.
How we know
Every number above is generated directly from the dataset behind the interactive tool, so it cannot drift from it. The underlying percentile thresholds are published as an open dataset. Sources, calibration and known limitations are set out in full on the about page and the methodology.
Check your own percentile on the interactive dashboard →Frequently asked questions
- How much does a quantity surveyor earn in Dubai?
- Between AED 15,000 and AED 30,000 a month, with a midpoint around AED 22,500, based on published recruiter salary guides reduced by 10% to strip out package inflation. That is AED 270,000 a year at the midpoint.
- Is AED 22,500 a month a good salary in the UAE?
- It places you at the 90.5th percentile of all UAE workers, so in the top 9.5% of everyone employed in the country. Among white-collar professionals specifically it is the top 43%. Whether it feels good depends heavily on rent: a Dubai one-bedroom costs AED 68,000 to AED 82,000 a year.
- How much experience do you need to earn the top of the quantity surveyor range?
- Roughly twelve years or more. Recruiter guides place early-career hires near AED 17,132 and people with 16 or more years near AED 29,250 for this role.
- Is a quantity surveyor salary tax free in the UAE?
- Yes. There is no personal income tax on salaries in the UAE, so an expatriate quantity surveyor on the AED 22,500 midpoint keeps the full AED 270,000 a year. Corporate tax of 9% applies to business profits rather than employment income, and the 5% VAT is charged on spending.
- How much gratuity does a quantity surveyor get after five years?
- About AED 47,250 on the AED 22,500 midpoint, assuming basic pay is 60% of gross. Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 gives 21 days of basic wage per year for the first five years and 30 days per year after that, calculated on basic salary only.
- Do quantity surveyors earn more in Dubai or Abu Dhabi?
- Almost the same. Abu Dhabi runs about 2% below Dubai on our emirate index for professional roles, which is well within the variation between individual employers. The northern emirates run 8 to 12% lower.