UN Salary Calculator 2026by GloJobs
Free UN and UNDP salary calculator — estimate net pay for Professional (P-1 to D-2), General Service (GS), and IICA/LICA contractor grades across 180+ duty stations. Covers UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, FAO, UNESCO, UNOPS, IAEA and 40+ UN agencies.
How to use the calculator: work through the three steps below. First, choose your role type — Professional (P/D), General Service (GS), or an IICA/LICA contractor. Next, pick your grade. Finally, select your duty station (and salary step) to see estimated net pay with post-adjustment and, where it applies, hardship allowance. Your choices update the page link automatically, so you can bookmark or share your exact result.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the UN P-3 salary?
A P-3 (mid-career professional) base net salary ranges from approximately $59,000 to $77,000 USD per year depending on step. Post-adjustment is added on top — at New York (~70%) the total net is roughly $100,000–$131,000 per year.
arrow_forwardBrowse open P-3 jobs →What is the UN General Service (G-5) salary?
G-grade salaries are set locally. A G-5 in New York earns approximately $65,000–$80,000 USD gross per year; in Geneva approximately CHF 80,000–95,000 gross. Figures are not comparable across cities — select your duty station in the calculator above.
arrow_forwardBrowse GS-5 jobs →How is the UN post adjustment calculated?
Post adjustment is a cost-of-living percentage added to the base net salary. Total net = base net × (1 + post adjustment %). For example, 70% post adjustment on a $60,000 base gives $102,000 total net.
What is the UN hardship allowance for Professional staff?
The ICSC hardship allowance is a fixed annual USD payment on top of net remuneration for internationally recruited Professional staff at duty stations in categories B–E. Amounts depend on the station category and your grade group — e.g. Category D at P-1 to P-3 is about $13,950/year; Category E at D-1+ is about $23,250/year. Select a Professional grade and duty station in the calculator above to see the amount in your result.
arrow_forwardBrowse duty stations by hardship category →What is the difference between gross and net UN salary?
Net salary is after the UN staff assessment (an internal levy that replaces income tax) is deducted. UN international staff generally do not pay national income tax on their UN salary. Net is typically 15–25% lower than gross for Professional grades.
Why do I see USD amounts everywhere?
Professional-category salaries are benchmarked in USD, while GS salaries are published in local currency by duty station. GloJobs standardizes and converts values so you can compare grades and locations uniformly. You can always switch to local currency in your salary result, and you can hover over local salary values to see the original amounts from the official scales.
Can I share or bookmark my salary result?
Yes — when you use the calculator, the URL updates automatically with your selection (grade, country, step). Use the Share pill in the header to share or bookmark your specific result, or copy the browser URL directly. Example: /salary?grade=P-3&country=CH&step=5
What is the IICA-2 / IICA-3 salary at UNDP or UNOPS?
IICA-2 ≈ P-3 and IICA-3 ≈ P-4. Rates are negotiated within a band. At UNDP and UNOPS, IICA-2 typically ranges from $5,000–$7,500 USD/month and IICA-3 from $7,000–$10,000/month, depending on the assignment.
arrow_forwardBrowse IICA/contractor jobs →Does this calculator cover WHO, WFP, UNICEF and other UN agencies?
Yes — all UN Common System organisations using ICSC scales are covered: WHO, WFP, UNICEF, FAO, UNESCO, ILO, UNHCR, UNDP, UNOPS, IAEA, IMO, ITU, WIPO, UNIDO, UNFPA, UNAIDS, and UN Women. Agencies with independent pay frameworks (World Bank Group, IMF) are not included.
Where can I see all UN benefits?
Beyond the salary figures in this calculator, UN international staff receive a substantial benefits package: relocation/assignment grant, annual education grants per child (up to ~$30,000/child), dependency allowances for spouse and children, UNJSPF pension (defined-benefit, employer-funded), UN health insurance (UNSMIS/SHIF), and home-leave travel. The full breakdown — including estimated values per benefit, who qualifies, and how each is calculated — is in the GloJobs UN Benefits Guide.
arrow_forwardFull UN Benefits Guide →Which grade is right for me, and which one is worth applying for?
Start from your current years of experience, education level, and whether the role is locally or internationally recruited. As a rule of thumb: early-career profiles fit internships or P-1/P-2; mid-career profiles fit P-3/P-4; strong managerial profiles fit P-5/D levels. Apply where you match at least most required criteria rather than only chasing higher grades.
arrow_forwardChoose your best-fit grade →Should I apply for a GS position even if I also qualify for a Professional position?
Usually yes, if your priority is entering the UN system quickly and building internal experience. GS and Professional tracks are different, but GS roles can still strengthen your candidacy through direct UN experience, references, and demonstrated competencies. Apply to both tracks strategically based on location, eligibility, and career timeline.
About UN salary scales
Professional & Senior Officers
P-1 · P-2 · P-3 · P-4 · P-5 · D-1 · D-2
Internationally recruited through open competitive processes. Base salary is set globally in US dollars — the same figure regardless of duty station. A post-adjustment percentage is added on top to compensate for cost-of-living differences at each location.
UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, FAO, UNESCO, UNOPS, IAEA and all other UN Common System organisations use the same Professional scale, published by ICSC.
General Service
G-1 · G-2 · G-3 · G-4 · G-5 · G-6 · G-7
Locally recruited at a specific duty station. Salary scales are published in the local currency of each city and tied to that labour market. A G-5 in Geneva and a G-5 in Nairobi are on entirely different scales — not directly comparable.
Each duty station's GS scale is surveyed and approved by ICSC separately.
IICA — International Individual Contractors
IICA-1 · IICA-2 · IICA-3 · IICA-4 · IICA-5
Used primarily by UNDP, UNOPS, WFP, FAO, and UNHCR for international contractor engagements. Broadly aligned with the Professional scale: IICA-1 approximately P-2, IICA-2 approximately P-3, IICA-3 approximately P-4, IICA-4 approximately P-5, IICA-5 approximately D-1.
Rates are negotiable within band limits and may be expressed as a daily, monthly, or lump-sum fee rather than an annual salary.
LICA — Local Individual Contractors
LICA-1 through LICA-10
Local contractor equivalent of the General Service scale. Used by UNDP, UNOPS, and WFP for locally recruited individual contractors. LICA-1 approximately G-1 through LICA-9 approximately G-9, expressed in local currency by duty station.
Actual remuneration is negotiated within the applicable band and varies by location.
Covered organisations (UN Common System)
UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, FAO, UNESCO, ILO, UNOPS, IAEA, IMO, ITU, WIPO, UNIDO, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UN Women, ICAO, WMO, UPU, UN Secretariat and most other organisations in the UN Common System that use ICSC-approved salary scales. Independent frameworks (World Bank Group, IMF) are not included.
How GloJobs calculates UN salaries
GloJobs extracts salary data directly from official ICSC (International Civil Service Commission) circulars — the same source HR departments at UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, and every other UN Common System organisation use. The methodology below explains exactly what we compute and where the figures come from, so you can trust what you see.
account_balanceProfessional grades (P/D) — base net salary
Base net salaries come from the ICSC consolidated salary scale circular (updated when ICSC revises the scales, typically once per year). Net means after the UN staff assessment is deducted — international UN staff do not pay national income tax; the staff assessment replaces it. Step progression within a grade follows the official ICSC step table.
publicPost-adjustment
Post-adjustment (PA) is a cost-of-living multiplier applied on top of the base net salary: total net = base net × (1 + PA%). PA rates are set by ICSC per duty station and updated monthly based on purchasing-power surveys. GloJobs ingests the current PA index from the ICSC data feed and recomputes totals automatically when the index changes.
shieldHardship allowance
ICSC classifies duty stations into hardship categories A (no allowance) through E and H (maximum). The fixed annual USD allowance is added to net pay for internationally recruited Professional staff. Amounts differ by grade group (P-1–P-3, P-4–P-5, D-1+) and are sourced from the ICSC hardship classification table, updated when ICSC revises station classifications.
location_cityGeneral Service — local scales
GS salary scales are published by each duty station separately in local currency. GloJobs digitises GS scales from ICSC station-specific circulars and converts amounts to USD using the UN operational rate of exchange for comparability. Original local-currency figures are always shown alongside converted values.
About the author: GloJobs was founded by Max Pevzner, a former UNODC staff member with over 15 years of experience in the UN system. Salary data is reviewed against official ICSC source documents each time the scales are updated. If you spot an error or an out-of-date figure, email info@glojobs.org.