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astana salary ghosts: are we chasing rubles or just haunting our budgets?

@Ethan Hunt2/8/2026blog
astana salary ghosts: are we chasing rubles or just haunting our budgets?

so, i’ve been “ghost hunting” in astana for three months now. not the paranormal kind-though the wind howling off the ishim river at 3am feels like a chorus of unsatisfied tenants. i’m talking about hunting for a wage that doesn’t feel like you’re haunting your own life. you move here for the “new capital” vibes, the futuristic skyline that looks like a screensaver, and you think, “surely, a city that builds bayterek tower from scratch pays a person to live.” lol.

let’s get the numbers out of the way before i start channeling spirits. average monthly salary? around 300,000 kzt (that’s like, 650 usd at the weird exchange rate that jumps more than my anxiety). feels low until you remember a coffee is 500 tenge and a studio apartment in the city center is 150,000-200,000 kzt. the math is haunted. *rent is the real demon here. i crash in a shared flat in the selinovsky district for 90k, which is a steal but means my commute is longer than my attention span. safety? weirdly, it’s one of the safest places i’ve ever been. i’ve left my phone on a park bench and it was still there an hour later. but the psychological safety of affording groceries? that’s another story.


see that pin? that’s where i ate a 3,000 tenge “business lunch” that was two boiled potatoes and a sad piece of chicken. the food costs are a middle finger. unless you’re cooking rice and lentils every day-and trust me, i’ve ghosted many a restaurant menu because of it-your stomach and your wallet will both weep.

now, the weather. don’t let the sunny google images fool you. winters here aren’t “brisk.” they’re like a spiritual cleansing that lasts six months and requires a loan for a proper coat. last week, it was -25°c and i saw a man just… walking. no hat. i think he was already a ghost and didn’t know it. summer? suddenly it’s 35°c and the concrete vents hot air like the city itself is sweating from the financial pressure. “just a short flight away” to almaty for actual mountains and avocado toast that doesn’t cost a day’s wage, or a bus to the steppe where you can hear your own thoughts-and your bank account crying.

Astana skyline


overheard gossip blockquote #1: “my cousin works in kazmunaigas. says they pay well but you need to be related to a nazarbayev. like, second cousin twice removed is the minimum.” (this was from a guy at a dubara-themed bar who was definitely three drinks deep and possibly a spy).

blockquote #2, from a finance bro in at bta bank: “you’re not here to make money. you’re here to make connections. the salary is a bonus. a tiny, sad bonus.” he then ordered another cognac that cost more than my internet bill.

job market is a rollercoaster built on oil dreams. foreign oil companies, construction, diplomacy-that’s where the real money ghosts live. but if you’re in creative or service? prepare to barter your soul for tenge. i tried to get a part-time gig as a “cultural event coordinator” (i have a history degree and can moderately play harmonica). the offer? 80,000 kzt for “experience.” my experience tells me that’s below poverty line here.

Astana street view


let’s talk transport. the metro is clean, cheap, and smells faintly of cabbage. but it only has two lines. buses? unpredictable. taxis are a gamble between yandex (cheap) and random mercs that quote prices based on how desperate you look. i once got a 2,000 tenge ride from the airport because the driver saw my ghost-hunting gear (okay, it was just a backpack) and assumed i was a rich foreigner. i wasn’t. i was a broke blogger.

drunk advice from a bartender at twist coffee: “if you’re single, date someone who works at the national bank. their ‘bonuses’ are like, a car. but they’re all married to oligarchs’ daughters.” useful? no. hauntingly accurate? yes.

i keep checking local boards like r/astana and this forum called ‘kaz forum’ (link below) where people argue about whether 400,000 kzt is “living large” or “slumming it.” the consensus is a split personality: if you’re an expat on a foreign contract, you’re golden. if you’re local with a kazakhstani salary? you’re either a budgeting ninja or permanently in debt.

food*-oh man. european supermarket prices are a horror movie. 1,200 tenge for a pack of feta? that’s not cheese, that’s a cry for help. but the bazaars! the壮嚴 bazaar (yes, that’s the name) is where you buy potatoes by the sack and cucumbers that taste like sunshine. you can eat like a king for 200 tenge a day if you don’t mind your hands smelling like garlic and regret.

so, are the wages worth the costs? only if your soul is already mortgaged to a northern oil field. for the rest of us-the freelancers, the artists, the history nerds who came here for the soviet-modernist architecture clash-it’s a constant haunting. you feel the phantom limb of a higher salary from wherever you came from. but then you see the bayterek at night, all lit up, and you think, “i am literally watching a country build its identity from dust.” and for a second, the rent doesn’t sting as much.

wanna stalk more salary ghosts? here’s where i lurk:
- r/astana’s monthly rent thread where people post apartments that vanish in 2 hours.
- expat.com astana jobs board for those oil-and-gas unicorn roles.
- tripadvisor’s astana food section to avoid my 3,000 tenge mistake.

final thought: astana doesn’t pay in cash. it pays in bizarre, beautiful loneliness and the certainty that your next salary will feel like finding a tenge on the street-useless, but a tiny surprise. i’m teaching a “ghost hunting for beginners” workshop here to supplement income. first rule: the real ghosts are your student loans, and they’re coming for you.

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About the author: Ethan Hunt

Advocate for mindful living in a digital age.

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