Mumbai closes gender pay gap but fewer women are part of workforce

5 min readMumbaiJul 6, 2026 01:35 PM IST

The survey shows significant variation across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Mumbai has one of the narrowest gender pay gaps in regular salaried jobs among India’s biggest cities. But that advantage disappears in the informal economy, where women earn among the lowest daily wages in the country. Even as the city offers some of India’s highest salaries, fewer women are part of its workforce than the urban national average.

These are among the findings of the National Statistics Office’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025, which for the first time provides labour market estimates for India’s 46 cities with populations of over one million.

According to the survey, women in regular salaried employment in Greater Mumbai earn an average monthly wage of Rs 35,788, compared with Rs 36,453 for men, a gap of just 2 per cent. Across urban India, women earn Rs 21,664 a month against Rs 27,984 for men. Among the country’s million-plus cities, Mumbai ranks eighth on gender pay parity, with women earning 98.2 per cent of men’s salaries. Only Prayagraj, Srinagar, Lucknow, Patna, Meerut, Varanasi and Amritsar reported women earning more than men on average.

The figures reflect Mumbai’s services-led economy. Nearly 71.7 per cent of working women are in regular salaried employment, well above the urban national average of 50.9 per cent. More than four in five working women are employed in finance, business services, hospitality, healthcare and other service sectors.

The city also reports among the highest earnings for the self-employed. Self-employed men earn an average of Rs 58,007 a month, more than double the urban national average of Rs 26,096. Self-employed women earn Rs 32,664, compared with the urban average of Rs 10,237.

The picture is markedly different for casual workers.

Women engaged in casual labour earn an average of Rs 211 a day, compared with Rs 712 for men. While male casual workers in Mumbai earn well above the urban national average of Rs 582 a day, women’s earnings are far below the national average of Rs 366, placing Mumbai among the weakest-performing cities on this indicator.

The data suggests that women in the informal economy remain concentrated in low-paid and irregular work, even as male workers benefit from higher wages in sectors such as construction and infrastructure. The survey also points to relatively low participation of women in Mumbai’s labour market.

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The female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Greater Mumbai stands at 26.9 per cent, slightly below the urban national average of 27.7 per cent. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which measures those actually employed, is also marginally lower at 25.6 per cent, compared with 25.9 per cent nationally. The LFPR for men in Mumbai in comparison is 74.4%, and the WPR (those actually employed) is 72.1% which means that nearly three-quarters of the adult male population in Mumbai is actively participating in the labour force compared to around a fourth of women.

The gap is particularly visible among women in the 30-59 age group. As many as 68.3 per cent fall in the NEET category – neither in employment, education nor training — compared with 5.8 per cent of men. The proportion is also higher than the urban national average of 65 per cent.

Among women outside the labour force, 68.4 per cent cited childcare and household responsibilities as the main reason for not working. Among men, the most common reasons were health or old age (48 per cent) and continuing education (43.9 per cent).

The survey also indicates that people in Mumbai work longer hours than the urban average. Men work 55.2 hours a week on average, compared with 49.7 hours nationally, while women work 43.8 hours against the urban average of 39 hours.

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The survey shows significant variation across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

In Navi Mumbai, men in regular salaried jobs earn an average of Rs 57,039 a month, while women earn Rs 29,589, a gap of Rs 27,450. In Thane, salaried men earn Rs 29,108 and women Rs 22,356.

The pattern is different for casual workers. In Greater Mumbai, women earn Rs 211 a day against Rs 712 for men. In Thane, however, daily wages are almost identical, with men earning Rs 649 and women Rs 648. In Navi Mumbai, male casual workers earn Rs 797 a day, while details of female wages have not been given in the report.

Among the self-employed, Navi Mumbai stands out. Women report average monthly earnings of Rs 84,913, higher than the Rs 62,234 earned by men. In Greater Mumbai, self-employed women earn Rs 32,664 a month, while in Thane they earn Rs 19,077 against Rs 29,433 for men.

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Working hours are also longer in the satellite cities. Men in Navi Mumbai work an average of 57.3 hours a week and women 46.7 hours. In Thane, men work 56.5 hours and women 44.9 hours, both higher than the averages for Greater Mumbai.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

Zeeshan Shaikh is the Associate Editor who heads The Indian Express' Mumbai reporting team. He is recognized for his highly specialized Expertise in analyzing the complex dynamics of Maharashtra politics and critical minority issues, providing in-depth, nuanced, and Trustworthy reports.

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