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Average salary in Germany: what people really earn

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The average full-time salary in Germany was €4,784 gross per month in April 2025 (Destatis, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). The median, the middle value, is lower: €4,217 gross per month at the end of 2025 (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 20 Jul 2026). Per year, full-time employees had a median of €54,066 and an average of €64,441 in 2025, both including bonuses like Christmas pay (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).

ContentsAverage and median: what is the difference?

These are gross figures, before tax and social insurance. To see what one of them means for your bank account, use the salary calculator Germany.

This guide shows what the numbers mean, how pay differs by state, industry, age, gender and degree, and how to check the figure for your own job.

Key takeaways

  • Median full-time pay: €4,217 gross per month on 31 Dec 2025 (BA, 20 Jul 2026).
  • Median full-time pay per year: €54,066 gross in 2025, including special payments (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).
  • The average is higher than the median because a small group of high earners pulls it up.
  • Pay depends a lot on state, industry and qualification. For your own job, the Entgeltatlas of the Federal Employment Agency is a good free starting point.
  • Most figures here are for full-time employees. The gender pay gap of Destatis covers all employees.
  • IT and engineering roles pay well above the overall median. At the expert level, the median for software developers was €6,301 a month and for electrical engineers €7,238 (Entgeltatlas, 31 Dec 2025).

Average and median: what is the difference?

The average (mean) is the sum of all salaries divided by the number of people. The median is the value in the middle: half of all employees earn more, half earn less (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).

The two numbers tell different stories. A few very high salaries raise the average, but they hardly move the median. In 2025, the top 1% of full-time employees earned €219,110 or more per year (Destatis). That is why the yearly average (€64,441) sits about €10,000 above the median (€54,066).

Key point: For most people, the median is the better comparison. It shows what a typical full-time employee earns.

The latest official figures at a glance

Two public bodies publish the main numbers. They measure in different ways, so do not mix them.

  • Average gross pay per month, full-time€4,784Period April 2025Source Destatis
  • Average gross pay per hour€28.19Period April 2025Source Destatis
  • Median gross pay per month, full-time€4,217Period 31 Dec 2025Source BA
  • Median gross pay per year, full-time, with special payments€54,066Period 2025Source Destatis
  • Average gross pay per year, full-time, with special payments€64,441Period 2025Source Destatis

All sources retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

How Destatis measures. The Federal Statistical Office runs the earnings survey (Verdiensterhebung) with employers. The yearly figures include taxable special payments like holiday pay and Christmas pay. They count only full-time jobs with at least seven working months in the year (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).

How the Federal Employment Agency measures. The Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) uses what employers report to social insurance, always on 31 December. Pay is only reported up to the pension contribution ceiling, which was €8,050 per month in 2025. So the BA shows medians, not averages (BA, 20 Jul 2026).

The BA median rose by €203, or 5.1%, compared with 2024. The BA explains this mainly with higher collective pay agreements (BA).

How pay is spread

Destatis also shows where you stand on the scale. Full-time employees in 2025, yearly gross including special payments (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026):

Group Yearly gross pay
Bottom 10% €33,828 or less
Median €54,066
Top 20% from about €80,000
Top 10% €100,719 or more
Top 1% €219,110 or more
Scale of yearly gross pay for full-time employees in Germany in 2025: bottom 10% up to €33,828, median €54,066, average €64,441, top 10% from €100,719, top 1% from €219,110. The few very high salaries pull the average above the median. €33,828bottom 10%€100,719top 10% top 1%: €219,110+ → Median €54,066 Average €64,441
The average sits about €10,000 above the median, because a few very high salaries pull it up. Source: Destatis, full-time employees 2025, yearly gross incl. special payments, 1 Apr 2026

Average salary by federal state

Pay is higher in the west than in the east. In 2025, the yearly median for full-time employees was €55,435 in western Germany and €46,013 in eastern Germany without Berlin, a gap of €9,422 (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).

The BA names the states with the highest and lowest monthly medians, measured by place of work (BA, 20 Jul 2026):

Federal state Median gross pay per month, full-time, 31 Dec 2025
Hamburg €4,768
Baden-Württemberg €4,546
Hesse (Hessen) €4,530
Germany overall €4,217
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) €3,563
Thuringia (Thüringen) €3,508
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania €3,497

Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, press release No. 27, 20 Jul 2026, retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

The gap between Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is €1,271 per month. For the other states, use the Entgeltatlas and choose your region there.

Average salary by industry

Industry makes a big difference too. Yearly medians for full-time employees in 2025, including special payments (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026):

Industry Median gross pay per year
Energy supply €77,522 (highest)
Finance and insurance €76,594
All industries €54,066
Agriculture, forestry and fishing €35,689
Hospitality (hotels and restaurants) €35,545 (lowest)

Source: Destatis, press release No. 113, 1 Apr 2026, retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

Tip: Inside each industry, pay still varies by job and level. For example, a software developer and a receptionist can work for the same bank. That is why you should look up your occupation, not only your industry.

Your net salary 2026

Gross to net for 2026, with every official rate.

Calculate my netRuns in your browser. Your salary stays here.

Average salary by age and experience

Pay rises with age, which usually also means more work experience (BA, 20 Jul 2026). The BA does not publish pay by years of experience, so age groups are the closest official figure:

Age group Median gross pay per month, full-time, 31 Dec 2025
Under 25 €3,202
25 to under 55 €4,286
55 and older €4,362

Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 20 Jul 2026, retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

The biggest step is between the youngest group and the middle group (€1,084). Between the middle group and people aged 55 and older, the difference is only €76. If you want a figure that takes your time with the company into account, the Destatis salary comparison asks for it (see below).

Average salary by gender

Women earn less than men in Germany. There are two common ways to show the gap.

Measure Women Men Gap Source
Median gross pay per month, full-time, 31 Dec 2025 €4,019 €4,328 €309 BA, 20 Jul 2026
Average gross pay per hour, April 2025, all employees €22.81 €27.05 €4.24 (16%) Destatis, 16 Dec 2025

All sources retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

The official gender pay gap of Destatis compares average gross hourly pay. In 2025 it was 16%, the same as in 2024 (Destatis, 16 Dec 2025). This is the unadjusted gap.

About 60% of the gap can be explained, according to Destatis. The main factors are part-time work, the pay levels of the industries and jobs where women work, and the job level. After Destatis removes these factors, an adjusted gap of 6% remains. Destatis calls this an upper limit for possible pay discrimination (Destatis).

The gap is much smaller in eastern Germany (5%) than in western Germany (17%). It is also smaller in the public sector (4%) than in the private sector (17%) (Destatis).

Average salary by qualification

Qualification makes a large difference. Median gross monthly pay of full-time employees on 31 Dec 2025 (BA, 20 Jul 2026):

Qualification Median gross pay per month
No vocational qualification €3,133
Recognised vocational qualification (Berufsabschluss) €4,069
University degree €6,146

Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, retrieved 31 Oct 2026.

People with a university degree earn about €2,000 more per month than people with vocational training. The Entgeltatlas also splits pay by job level: Helfer (helper), Fachkraft (skilled worker), Spezialist (specialist) and Experte (expert) (BA, Hilfe zum Entgeltatlas, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

Tip: If your job ad says “Experte”, compare with that level, not with the whole occupation.

Not sure what an ad really asks for? Paste it into the free job ad analyzer to see its must-haves and nice-to-haves.

Salaries in IT and engineering roles

The national median says little about specialist jobs. Here are the figures for four common roles in IT and engineering. They come from the Entgeltatlas: median gross monthly pay of full-time employees on 31 Dec 2025, at the job level “Experte”, which stands for highly complex tasks (Entgeltatlas, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). We matched each job title to its occupation group with the BA’s job database BERUFENET.

Role (occupation group) Germany Lower quartile, Germany Berlin Munich Frankfurt am Main
Software developer (software development) €6,301 €5,034 €6,913 €7,284 €6,822
Data scientist (computer science, no specialisation) €6,702 €5,413 €6,767 €7,970 €7,030
Mechanical engineer (mechanical engineering) €7,084 €5,674 €6,609 €6,572 no figure
Electrical engineer (electrical engineering) €7,238 €5,871 €6,598 €7,836 €7,459

Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Entgeltatlas, data 2025, retrieved 1 Nov 2026. “Lower quartile” means a quarter of employees earn less than this amount. The Entgeltatlas shows no Frankfurt figure for mechanical engineers.

How to read the table:

  • These are expert-level figures. If your role is less complex, compare with a lower level in the Entgeltatlas, such as Spezialist or Fachkraft.
  • The data scientist figure is for the wider group “computer science, no specialisation”. It includes other IT roles.
  • For the upper quarter of most of these groups, the Entgeltatlas shows no figure, because pay is only reported up to €8,050 a month (BA, Hilfe zum Entgeltatlas).

Key point: Compare yourself with your own occupation, level and city. The national median of €4,217 mixes all jobs and is too low a benchmark for the roles in this table.

Gross and net: what you take home

All salary figures in Germany are gross (brutto). Net (netto) is what is left after taxes and social insurance (Make it in Germany, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

Your employer takes these amounts off your pay before it reaches you:

  • Income tax (Lohnsteuer), taken directly from your wage (§ 38 EStG)
  • Social insurance: health, pension, unemployment and long-term care insurance. Your employer pays them in one sum, including your share (§ 28d SGB IV, § 28e SGB IV)

Key point: How much is left depends on your tax class, church membership, children and health insurance. Two people with the same gross salary can get a different net amount.

Enter your own numbers in the gross to net salary calculator. For how the six tax classes work, read tax classes in Germany. This guide does not give tax advice. For your personal situation, ask a tax adviser (Steuerberater) or a wage tax help association (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein).

The minimum wage in 2026

Since 1 January 2026, the minimum wage in Germany is €13.90 gross per hour. On 1 January 2027 it rises to €14.60 (§ 1 MiLoV5, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). For who is covered and how to check your pay, see our guide to the minimum wage in Germany.

How to check your own salary

The national median is only a rough guide. What counts is the pay for your job, your level and your region. Two free official tools help.

1. The Entgeltatlas of the Federal Employment Agency

The Entgeltatlas shows the median gross monthly pay of full-time employees for each occupation group. You can filter by region, gender, age group, job level and industry. The data now covers 2025 (BA, Hilfe zum Entgeltatlas, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

How to use it:

0 of 4 done

Know the limits (BA):

  • For well-paid jobs, the tool may show only “>8.050 Euro” instead of a median, because pay is only reported up to that ceiling.
  • If fewer than 500 people work in a group, the tool shows a broader group instead.
  • The data has no working hours. Someone who worked full-time on 31 December was not always full-time all year.

2. The Destatis salary comparison

The Destatis salary comparison (Gehaltsvergleich) estimates the average gross monthly pay for a profile. You enter your occupation, education, industry, federal state, age, collective agreement, company size, contract type and years with the company. The figures are estimates for full-time work of 39 hours per week, without special payments like Christmas pay. Destatis says it does not store your inputs (Destatis, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

3. Turn the number into your own range

Use both tools, then compare with the salary ranges in real job ads for your role. Remember that Destatis yearly figures include special payments, while the Entgeltatlas and the salary comparison show monthly pay. When you name a number in an application or interview, give a gross amount per year. Our guide to salary expectations in Germany shows how to build and say that number.

Your salary check before you name a number

0 of 6 done
Template: Naming your figure
My salary expectation is [€X] gross per year.

Example: An invented case. Sam gets an offer of €50,000 gross per year for full-time work. That is a little below the 2025 median of €54,066 and well above the bottom 10%. Before deciding, Sam checks the median for the occupation in the Entgeltatlas, because the national figure is only a rough guide.

See what a gross offer like this means per month after tax and social insurance.

Calculate my net salary

Practise saying your figure when the salary question comes up in an interview.

Practise in the Mock Interview Trainer
Lumi checks three signs: occupation, region and level. Together they give a salary range, not a single number.OccupationRegionLevel Your salary rangelow endhigh end
Look up your occupation, region and level. Together they give you a range, not one number.

Pay is one part of your search. If you are still at the start, our guide on how to find a job in Germany walks you through the steps. When you have a job ad that fits, Joblumi helps you write a German CV and cover letter for it and track your applications.

Put this guide to work

Start free. Build your CV and cover letter for each job ad.

Practise my salary talk

FAQ

What is the average salary in Germany?

The average gross monthly pay of full-time employees was €4,784 in April 2025 (Destatis, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). Per year, including special payments, the average was €64,441 in 2025 (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026).

What is the median salary in Germany?

The median gross monthly pay of full-time employees was €4,217 on 31 December 2025 (BA, 20 Jul 2026). Per year, including special payments, the median was €54,066 in 2025 (Destatis).

Why are there different numbers for the same year?

Destatis and the Federal Employment Agency use different data and methods. Destatis asks employers in a survey and counts special payments in its yearly figures. The BA uses social insurance reports on 31 December, capped at the pension contribution ceiling (BA). Some figures are averages, others medians. Always compare like with like.

Which state pays the most?

Hamburg had the highest median at €4,768 gross per month at the end of 2025, followed by Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had the lowest at €3,497 (BA, 20 Jul 2026).

Is €50,000 a good salary in Germany?

For full-time work, €50,000 gross per year is a little below the 2025 median of €54,066. It is well above the bottom 10% at €33,828 or less (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026). Whether it is good for you depends on your job, level and city. Check your occupation in the Entgeltatlas.

How big is the gender pay gap in Germany?

The unadjusted gender pay gap was 16% in 2025. The adjusted gap, after factors like part-time work and job choice, was 6% (Destatis, 16 Dec 2025).

What does a software developer earn in Germany?

At the expert level, the median for full-time software developers was €6,301 gross a month on 31 Dec 2025. In Berlin it was €6,913 and in Munich €7,284 (Entgeltatlas, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). Check the level that fits your role, because the figures are lower for less complex jobs.

How much do I keep from my gross salary?

That depends on your tax class, health insurance, church membership and children. Income tax and your share of social insurance are taken off before you get paid (§ 38 EStG, § 28e SGB IV). Use the salary and tax calculator for your own figure.

Sources