Nairobi has emerged as the leading destination for advertised job opportunities in Kenya, accounting for more than half of the vacancies listed online, while other counties trail behind.
Data compiled by work.ke shows that Nairobi accounted for 58 per cent of the 1,728 job advertisements open on November 4, 2026.
Kiambu followed with 10 per cent, while Mombasa accounted for four per cent. Together, the three counties represented 72 per cent of the advertised vacancies captured in the analysis.
The county figures show that Nairobi had 997 adverts, compared with 175 in Kiambu and 75 in Mombasa. Nakuru recorded 24, Machakos 25 and Nyeri 18.
The data also included 192 adverts covering Kenya without specifying a single county and 187 classified as remote with no county attached.
Sales and Marketing leads in advertised vacancies
Sales and Marketing had the highest number of job advertisements, with 315 listings representing 18 per cent of the total.
Operations came second with 253 adverts, accounting for 15 per cent, followed by Finance and Accounting with 159, representing nine per cent.
Engineering had 116 adverts, while Information Technology recorded 108. Skilled Trades and Healthcare accounted for 86 and 81 vacancies respectively.
Human Resources had 74 adverts, followed by Logistics and Supply Chain with 67 and Administration with 51.
The figures show that opportunities were spread across several occupations, although a handful of sectors accounted for a large share of the listings.
Where different sectors are advertising jobs
The county-by-sector breakdown shows that Nairobi had the largest number of adverts across several major occupations.
Sales and Marketing recorded 191 adverts in Nairobi, compared with 24 in Kiambu and 11 in Mombasa. Operations had 148 listings in Nairobi, 25 in Kiambu and 17 in Mombasa.
Finance and Accounting recorded 83 adverts in Nairobi, while Engineering had 50. Information Technology had 67 listings in the capital, with another 30 classified as remote.
Some sectors had a different geographical spread. Engineering recorded 32 adverts in Kiambu, compared with 50 in Nairobi, while Healthcare had 23 adverts listed across Kenya without a single county specified.
The figures count adverts rather than individual vacancies, and one advert may cover more than one county.
Also Read: World Bank Exposes the Reality of Kenya’s Job Market as Millions of Youth Seek Employment
How much are advertised jobs paying?
Among the 187 adverts that disclosed a specific monthly salary, the median advertised pay was KSh40,000.
Entry-level positions recorded a median of KSh31,000, while mid-level jobs had a median of KSh45,000.
The sector figures show considerable differences in advertised pay. Human Resources recorded the highest median at KSh60,000 among sectors with at least five salary-disclosing adverts.
Healthcare followed at KSh51,000, while Engineering had a median of KSh45,000. Operations recorded KSh42,000, with Sales and Marketing and Logistics and Supply Chain each at KSh40,000.
Finance and Accounting recorded a median of KSh32,000, while Skilled Trades had KSh30,000.
Hospitality had the lowest median advertised salary at KSh26,000.
These figures represent the median of advertised monthly salaries in each sector, not the average earnings of all workers employed in those industries.
Most job adverts do not disclose salaries
Only 11 per cent of the 1,728 adverts stated how much successful applicants would earn, while 54 per cent did not identify the hiring organisation.
Salary disclosure varied across sectors.
Administration had the highest rate of pay disclosure among the major sectors, with 22 per cent of its adverts stating salaries. Sales and Marketing and Skilled Trades each recorded 18 per cent, while Engineering had 11 per cent.
Hospitality stood out, with 33 per cent of its adverts disclosing pay. However, 81 per cent did not name the employer.
Employer details were also missing from 70 per cent of Human Resources adverts, 73 per cent of Administration listings and 69 per cent of Sales and Marketing and Skilled Trades vacancies.
For jobseekers, the lack of information means that many vacancies do not provide the employer’s identity or salary before an application is made.
“A job advert should answer two simple questions: who is hiring, and what does it pay. Today four in ten Kenyan job adverts we track answer neither, and young people pay for that in time, transport and sometimes in fees to fake recruiters,” work.ke founder, Oleg Cherkas said.
Also Read: Why Kenyan Companies Are Not Hiring Despite Rising Sales
Recruitment agencies account for nearly all disclosed salaries
Of the 187 adverts that stated a monthly salary, 183 came from recruitment agencies.
This means the KSh40,000 median largely reflects salaries advertised through recruitment agencies rather than pay across the entire Kenyan labour market.
The figures should therefore not be treated as the national average wage or a complete picture of what employers in different sectors pay.
Work.ke collects job advertisements from 303 official sources, including company career pages, recruitment agency job boards and government recruitment portals.
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