A good salary in Germany is usually above Germany’s median salary of 44.074 euros gross a year and above the average gross wage of 51.009 euros gross a year.
A salary between 64.000 and 70.000 euros gross a year is considered a good salary in Germany. For a single person, this means roughly 40.000 to 43.000 euros net a year or between 3.300 and 3.600 euros net a month.
Salaries vary greatly by location. To give you an idea of the range, in Hamburg, a good yearly salary is 68.500 euros; in Munich, it’s 80.000 euros.
To fully grasp the answer to such a subjective question, I need to give you more context. In 2023, we sent a survey to our Simple Germany newsletter subscribers. We got 500 replies from international skilled workers in Germany.
We asked a few salary-related questions and one crucial question: “Are you happy with your salary in Germany?”. About 52% of international skilled workers are happy with their salary, while 48% are unsatisfied.
In this guide, I will dive deeper into the answers we got from our survey and look at overall salary statistics. We will explore important factors that impact your salary tremendously, such as location, profession, and years of experience.
What is a good salary in Germany by location?
In Germany, living costs vary, with Munich, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart being the priciest. So it’s safe to say that a good salary is strongly related to where you decide to live in Germany.
Our survey results below show what skilled workers in Germany consider a good salary, broken down by location.
| City | Median Satisfactory Salary |
|---|---|
| Düsseldorf | €59.700 |
| Hamburg | €68.500 |
| Cologne | €69.500 |
| Berlin | €70.000 |
| Stuttgart | €75.000 |
| Frankfurt | €79.000 |
| Munich | €80.000 |
In the graph below, you can see that international workers in Germany are the happiest with their salaries in Hessen and while working remotely.
Another interesting observation is that low earners in Hamburg and the NRW are happier than high earners in Berlin and Bavaria.
What is a good salary in Germany by industry?
The results of our survey also showed what an international skilled worker in Germany considers a good salary by industry.
| Industry | Median Satisfactory Salary |
|---|---|
| Finance | €75.000 |
| Manufacturing | €75.000 |
| Pharma | €74.000 |
| Automotive | €73.500 |
| IT | €71.414 |
| Healthcare | €68.890 |
| E-Commerce | €69.500 |
| Retail | €68.000 |
| Food Industry | €66.250 |
| Biotechnology | €63.500 |
| Energy | €62.000 |
| Medical | €57.000 |
| Academia | €54.950 |
| Logistics | €54.000 |
| Education | €44.164 |
Some industries have more satisfied skilled workers than others, even though their salary is not necessarily as high as other industries.
The happiest skilled workers seem to be working in the following industries:
- Education
- Logistics
- Academia
- Gaming
- Energy
- Retail
- Finance
- Automotive
- Manufacturing
- Biotechnology
What is a good salary in Germany based on years of experience and degree?
Skilled workers that earn more than 70.000 euros a year, which is a good salary in Germany, have 7 years of experience or more.
Also, 77% of skilled workers who are satisfied with their salary have a job matching their academic degree.
What is the minimum wage in Germany?
As of January 1st, 2024, the minimum wage in Germany is 12,41 euros per hour. For a 40-hour week, that’s around 2.159 euros gross a month. Part-time employees work on average 19,5 hours a week, making their minimum wage 1.053 euros gross a month.
What is the average salary in Germany?
The average salary in Germany in 2022 was 51.009 euros gross a year. This data was reported by the Stepstone Gehaltsreport 2022.
Average gross salary in Germany by gender
As in any other part of the world, Germany also struggles to decrease the gender pay gap. Although there are a lot of initiatives in Germany to breach the gap, studies still show that men earn more than women. On average, men earn 47.320 euros a year (gross), and women 40.533 euros a year (gross).
If you would like to find a company that strives to reduce the gender pay gap and value diversity in their company, you can check the job listings in a great initiative called 50inTech.
Average gross salary in Germany by location
The location also plays a significant role in the average income in Germany. According to the website gehaltsvergleich.com, the average gross salary in the most popular cities for expats is:
- Munich: 45.360 euros per year (gross)
- Düsseldorf: 43.512 euros per year (gross)
- Stuttgart: 45.048 euros per year (gross)
- Hamburg: 41.700 euros per year (gross)
- Frankfurt: 45.276 euros per year (gross)
- Berlin: 38.016 euros per year (gross)
Now, it is important to highlight that the cost of living is also very different in every city. For example, Munich and Frankfurt are the most expensive cities in Germany. In comparison, Berlin and Düsseldorf are in the middle.
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You can also use a website like Numbeo to check the cost of living in the city in Germany you would like to move to.
In Germany, high taxes and social contributions are deducted from your salary every month (roughly 40%). And the gross wage is not what you will be seeing in your bank account. You can use an online calculator to estimate your disposable income (amount after paying taxes and social contributions).
Average gross salary in Germany by profession and work experience
Your monthly salary will also depend on your profession and experience level. Below is a list of some of the most popular professions in Germany for expats. You can click on each link, which will take you to Gehalt.de, a website with detailed information on how much you can expect to earn in your profession.
- Accountant
- Data Analyst
- Dentist
- Doctor
- Nurse
- Product Manager
- Project Manager
- Software Engineer
- UX Designer
- Web developer
If you don’t find your profession listed above, check Gehalt.de.
Average gross salary in Germany by company size
According to a study done by the job listing website Stepstone in 2019, the company’s size highly affects whether you will get an above or below the average wage. Companies with 500 employees or less pay around 10% less than the average. Companies with 501-1.000 employees pay roughly 2% above average. And a corporate company with more than 1.000 employees pays around 16% more than the average pay.
Please take this with a grain of salt, as it highly depends on the company and your profession.
The same study found that product managers and IT managers earn well above average in large companies.
F.A.Q.s
Salary Requirement for A Blue Card in Germany
The minimum gross salary in Germany for an EU Blue Card is 45.300 euros per year. For in-demand bottleneck professions in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural science, engineering, and human medicine (excluding dentistry), and other fields a lower minimum gross salary of 41.042 euros a year applies for the EU Blue Card. We link to a list of all bottleneck professions created by the German government.
Salary requirement for A work permit in Germany
Should you not qualify for the EU Blue Card, your German employer needs to pay you the same salary as your German co-workers get paid. To prevent exploitation, this is one of many things the German Federal Employment Agency checks before permitting your future employer to actually employ you.
Is 60.000 euros a good salary in Germany?
60.000 euros a year in Germany is considered a good gross salary as it is well above the average salary of 47.700 euros a year for the whole country. Most Germans who earn 60.000 euros or more are very happy with their salary.
However, whether this salary is enough for you or not, depends on your lifestyle and the size of your family. For example, your diet, transportation, entertainment options, size and location of your apartment, how often you shop, etc.
Is 100K euros a good salary in Germany?
You are considered a top earner in Germany if you earn 100.000 euros gross a year or more. So it is a really good salary in Germany.
According to Statista, only 7,5% of the workforce in Germany earns 100.000 euros yearly or more. This aligns with our survey, as 8% of the international skilled workers that participated earn 100K euros gross annually.
Our survey shows that those who earn more than 100.000 euros gross a year or more have:
- More than six years of work experience
- The majority live in Munich
- 85% of top earners are satisfied with their salary
Is 200K euros a good salary in Germany?
According to Statista, you are amongst the top 3,5% of top earners in Germany if you earn a salary of 200.000 euros gross a year or more. So that is an impressive salary!
Final thoughts
Only you can answer whether a salary is good for you or not. Based on the survey we sent out to 500 international skilled workers in Germany, any salary that is 70.000 euros gross a year makes them happy.
You can continue reading our guide on the cost of living in Germany to understand better how much disposable income you might have every month.
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