Employment and average income in João Pessoa: what official data show

João Pessoa has more than 43,000 local business units, but faces average wages below the national average.

According to IBGE's Central Business Registry (Cempre), João Pessoa had 43,676 local units of companies and other organizations, of which 40,087 were active, and a total of 326,148 employed people, of whom 278,720 were salaried. The average monthly wage measured by the survey was 2.7 minimum wages, a level that reflects the weight of lower-paying sectors, such as retail trade, in the capital's job structure.

The municipal picture mirrors a broader state reality: an IBGE survey released in 2026 found that Paraíba has the third-lowest average wage among Brazilian states, with an average income of R$ 2,969.49, ahead only of Ceará and another Northeast state in the national ranking. As the capital, João Pessoa tends to concentrate the state's best wages, but it still operates below the average of other Northeast capitals.

On the population and cost-of-living side, IBGE's estimate for 2025 points to 897,633 inhabitants in the municipality, and a private survey published in 2026 estimated the average monthly spending per person needed to maintain a balanced standard of living in Paraíba at around R$ 2,820, a figure described as the third-highest average cost among Northeast states.

These numbers help put the municipal GDP's positive performance into context, as discussed in the article on the sectors driving the city's growth: João Pessoa's overall economic progress still coexists with relatively low income distribution per worker, a structural challenge common to most Northeast capitals.