Average Journalist Salary in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for 2025

In this article, we will look at the average Journalist salary for 2025 in Abu Dhabi and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the United Arab Emirates dirham. To keep things simple, we are using the AED currency code instead of the currency symbol د.إ.

How Much Does a Journalist Make in Abu Dhabi?

A Journalist working in Abu Dhabi will typically earn around 294,700 AED per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 152,300 AED to the highest average salary of 450,300 AED.

These are average salaries for a Journalist in Abu Dhabi and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Journalist to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Journalist salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Journalist Salaries in Abu Dhabi

So we've looked at the average salaries a Journalist will earn in Abu Dhabi. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Journalist can earn between 152,300 AED and 450,300 AED on average in Abu Dhabi. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Journalist in Abu Dhabi is 282,300 AED. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 282,300 AED, and 50% of the population earn more than 282,300 AED.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Journalist salary in Abu Dhabi, 25% of the population are earning less than 195,200 AED while 75% of the population earn more than 195,200 AED.

75% of the population earn less than 351,200 AED, and 25% of the population earn more than 351,200 AED.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

Journalist Salary by Experience Level in Abu Dhabi

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Journalist salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

• 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Journalist in Abu Dhabi that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 172,200 AED.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Journalist salary would increase to 233,600 AED.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Journalist, the average salary would be 301,700 AED.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 367,200 AED.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Journalist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 401,300 AED.
• 20+ Years Experience. For a Journalist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 424,300 AED.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Journalist Salary by Education Level in Abu Dhabi

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Journalist in Abu Dhabi based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

• High School. A Journalist in Abu Dhabi with a high school education can earn an average salary of 209,700 AED.
• Certificate or Diploma. A Journalist in Abu Dhabi with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 239,000 AED.
• Bachelor's Degree. A Journalist in Abu Dhabi with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 340,000 AED.
• Master's Degree. A Journalist in Abu Dhabi with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 409,000 AED.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Journalist Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Abu Dhabi, a male journalist will earn an average of 282,500 AED, while a female journalist will earn around 271,300 AED.

This means that a male journalist earns approximately 4% more than a female journalist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Abu Dhabi

Journalist Average Pay Raise in Abu Dhabi

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Journalist in Abu Dhabi is around 12% every 17 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in United Arab Emirates is around 8% every 17 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 17 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Journalist in Abu Dhabi can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Abu Dhabi for 2025

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in United Arab Emirates.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Journalist Bonus and Incentive Rates in Abu Dhabi

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Journalist is a moderate bonus based job, with 58% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

42% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6%.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in United Arab Emirates earn approximately 5% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Journalist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Journalist in Abu Dhabi.

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in United Arab Emirates, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.