What share of jobs are informal in Catamarca?

45.1% of employed people in Catamarca held informal jobs in the first quarter of 2026 under INDEC's definition, 14th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the figure for all 31 survey areas was 44.2%.

What share of homes in Catamarca have sewers?

84.0% of households in Catamarca were connected to a public sewer in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 13th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the figure for all 31 survey areas was 73.0%.

What share of homes in Catamarca have piped water?

99.3% of households in Catamarca had running water from the public network inside the home in the first quarter of 2026, 10th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site.

Economy, jobs and prices in Catamarca, Argentina: official figures

The unemployment rate in Catamarca was 6.4% in the second quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), joint 12th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; it was 6.0% a year earlier, so it is up 0.4 percentage points. The rate for all 31 survey areas was 7.9%.

Unemployment rate (INDEC EPH, Q2 2026)

6.4%

Q2 2026

Employment rate (INDEC EPH, Q2 2026)

41.1%

Q2 2026

Mean per-person family income (INDEC EPH, Q1 2026)

595,841 pesos

Q1 2026

What is the employment rate in Catamarca?

The employment rate in Catamarca (employed people as a share of all residents) was 41.1% in the second quarter of 2026, joint 7th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site, against 41.6% a year earlier and 45.0% across the 31 survey areas.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

What is the labour force participation rate in Catamarca?

43.9% of residents of Catamarca were working or looking for work in the second quarter of 2026 (the activity rate), 5th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the year before it was 44.2%.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

What is the underemployment rate in Catamarca?

In the second quarter of 2026, 15.8% of the labour force in Catamarca worked fewer hours than they wanted (underemployment), 5th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site, compared with 12.8% a year earlier and 11.5% across the 31 survey areas.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How many people in Catamarca work for the government?

In Catamarca, 19.1% of employed people were self-employed and 47.1% of employees worked in the public sector in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH); across the 31 survey areas the shares were 24.2% and 21.9%.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How many workers in Catamarca are looking for another job?

Among employed people in Catamarca, 27.1% were also looking for another job in the second quarter of 2026, 2nd highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

What is the average income per person in Catamarca?

Mean family income per person in Catamarca was 595,841 pesos a month in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH, current pesos), 13th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the mean for all 31 survey areas was 731,516 pesos.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

What is the median income in Catamarca?

The median person in Catamarca lived in a household with family income of 436,667 pesos per person a month in the first quarter of 2026, joint 11th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site (all 31 survey areas: 500,000 pesos).

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

What is the average wage in Catamarca?

Employed people in Catamarca who reported earnings made a mean of 887,612 pesos a month from their main job in the first quarter of 2026 (median 730,000 pesos), 11th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site on the mean; across the 31 survey areas the mean was 1,104,227 pesos.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How unequal are incomes in Catamarca?

The richest tenth of residents of Catamarca, ranked by family income per person, received 33.7% of all income in the first quarter of 2026, 4th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site on income concentration (all 31 survey areas: 33.4%).

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Is income in Catamarca above the national average?

Mean family income per person in Catamarca was 0.81 times the mean for the 31 survey areas in the first quarter of 2026, and the median was 0.87 times the 31-area median.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How many homes in Catamarca have piped gas?

29.4% of households in Catamarca cooked mainly with piped gas in the first quarter of 2026, 7th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site (all 31 survey areas: 64.7%).

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How many people in Catamarca rent their home?

In Catamarca, 83.2% of households owned their home and 9.5% rented it in the first quarter of 2026; the shares for all 31 survey areas were 67.8% and 20.9%.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

How Catamarca compares with other cities in Argentina

Unemployment rate (Q2 2026)

Catamarca ranks 18 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Unemployment rate
15	Resistencia	7.5%
16	Paraná	6.7%
17	Santa Rosa-Toay	6.7%
18	Catamarca	6.4%
19	Río Cuarto	6.4%
20	Concordia	6.1%
21	Posadas	5.9%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Employment rate (Q2 2026)

Catamarca ranks 23 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Employment rate
20	Río Cuarto	42.6%
21	Formosa	42.3%
22	Resistencia	41.3%
23	Catamarca	41.1%
24	San Nicolás-Villa Constitución	41.1%
25	Santa Fé	41.0%
26	Corrientes	40.8%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Activity rate (Q2 2026)

Catamarca ranks 26 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Activity rate
23	Santa Fé	44.8%
24	Resistencia	44.7%
25	Formosa	44.4%
26	Catamarca	43.9%
27	Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly	42.4%
28	Concordia	42.0%
29	Rawson-Trelew-Playa Unión	40.7%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Underemployment rate (Q2 2026)

Catamarca ranks 5 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Underemployment rate
2	Tucumán-Tafí Viejo	18.5%
3	Rawson-Trelew-Playa Unión	17.2%
4	Mendoza	17.0%
5	Catamarca	15.8%
6	Mar del Plata-Batán	15.6%
7	Paraná	15.6%
8	La Rioja	14.5%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Informal jobs, share of employed (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 14 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Informal jobs, share of employed
11	Salta	51.0%
12	Córdoba	48.5%
13	San Luis - El Chorrillo	46.1%
14	Catamarca	45.1%
15	La Rioja	43.9%
16	Buenos Aires	43.0%
17	La Plata	42.6%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Mean family income per person (pesos a month) (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 18 of 30, highest first. Current pesos, people in households that reported income

Rank	City	Mean family income per person (pesos a month)
15	Santa Fé	641,276
16	Paraná	625,582
17	Salta	605,221
18	Catamarca	595,841
19	San Juan	583,128
20	Mendoza	575,737
21	Tucumán-Tafí Viejo	558,923

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Median family income per person (pesos a month) (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 20 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Median family income per person (pesos a month)
17	Salta	450,000
18	San Salvador de Jujuy-Palpalá	440,000
19	Tucumán-Tafí Viejo	436,667
20	Catamarca	436,667
21	San Juan	430,000
22	San Luis - El Chorrillo	429,200
23	Mendoza	402,000

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Mean main-job income of earners (pesos a month) (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 20 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Mean main-job income of earners (pesos a month)
17	Mendoza	933,774
18	Paraná	931,982
19	San Luis - El Chorrillo	893,588
20	Catamarca	887,612
21	Tucumán-Tafí Viejo	879,339
22	Formosa	835,240
23	San Juan	786,528

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Share of income received by the richest tenth (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 4 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Share of income received by the richest tenth
1	Santa Rosa-Toay	42.0%
2	La Plata	34.8%
3	Buenos Aires	34.5%
4	Catamarca	33.7%
5	Rawson-Trelew-Playa Unión	33.6%
6	Ushuaia-Río Grande	33.1%
7	Formosa	31.9%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Households connected to a public sewer (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 18 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Households connected to a public sewer
15	Formosa	86.6%
16	Rosario	86.2%
17	Río Cuarto	84.3%
18	Catamarca	84.0%
19	Paraná	81.2%
20	Santa Rosa-Toay	80.4%
21	Bahía Blanca-Cerri	80.1%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

Households cooking with piped gas (Q1 2026)

Catamarca ranks 24 of 30, highest first.

Rank	City	Households cooking with piped gas
21	Santiago del Estero-La Banda	53.6%
22	San Salvador de Jujuy-Palpalá	50.4%
23	Santa Fé	50.1%
24	Catamarca	29.4%
25	Concordia	22.0%
26	La Rioja	16.3%
27	Formosa	4.1%

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copy

More on Catamarca: overview · health · education and schools · poverty and living standards · all cities in Argentina

Sources

Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos (EPH), segundo trimestre de 2026 (Tables 3.2 and 3.3), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b0a700bac4db…)
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH): bases de microdatos usuarias, individual y hogar, primer trimestre de 2026 (figures computed with the survey weights), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d9d23945d4b1…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.