Salary

Average Salary: $30,000

Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,600,000


Don't become an international aid worker for the money. Chances are, you're never going to make any.

Let's break it down. It can be incredibly difficult for someone new to this career field to find employment. Therefore, in order to build your résumé, you may have to take a first job that pays you…wait for it…nothing.

For example, the United Nations Volunteer program is a great way for newbies to gain experience in international aid work. You could get assigned a gig in humanitarian relief, peace-building, or community-based initiatives. These are exciting and interesting jobs; they just don't pay.

Even jobs in international aid that require graduate degrees and extensive work experience may not pay much: 

  • Legal advisor to Iraqi refugees in Egypt. Requires a law degree, legal experience, and fluency in English and Arabic. Pays $500 per month.
  • Program coordinator in Kenya. Requires a graduate degree in public health or a related field, statistical package and database software skills, and fluency in English and Kiswahili. Pays $700 to $1200 per month.
  • Program associate in Latin America. Requires a bachelor’s degree, work experience, and fluency in English and Spanish. Pays $25,000 per year.

While the pay usually sucks, there are other benefits. Full-time international aid workers often receive stipends for housing, utilities, insurance, and the education of their children. In some cases, student-loan debt forgiveness is available. Aid workers also may not have to pay as much in taxes while living overseas. Keep in mind, too, that salaries that would be ridiculously small in the United States can go a long way abroad (source).

Let's say you decide to be a legal advisor to Iraqi refugees in Egypt for $500 per month. On that salary, you can rent a one-bedroom apartment in Cairo ($250 per month) with utilities ($23 per month) and Internet ($50 per month), and still have money left over for food (a meal at an inexpensive restaurant runs about $4), a couple of trips to the movies (tickets cost $4), and maybe even a new pair of jeans ($70).

If you stay in this career field long enough, gain the right experience, and make the right connections, you can end up in a job that pays decent money. For example, someone who works as a Chief of Party in Afghanistan, overseeing various management aspects of a project, can make $170,000 per year.

The qualifications for a job like this, however, include a graduate degree, the previous management of multi-million dollar projects, work experience with senior government and military officials in the United States and Afghanistan, and some knowledge of local languages (source).