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Salary expectations in Germany: how to answer the pay question

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In Germany you state your salary expectations as a gross amount per year (Bruttojahresgehalt), never as a net or monthly figure (University of Kassel, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). You can give a narrow range or one figure. You put it in your cover letter only if the job ad asks for it. In the interview, you usually wait until the employer raises the topic.

ContentsWhere the salary question comes up

This guide shows you where the pay question comes up, how to find a fair number with official German data, and what to say in English and in German.

Key takeaways

  • Always name a gross annual figure, for example “€52,000 gross per year” (Kassel).
  • Mention pay in the cover letter only when the job ad asks for it (Kassel).
  • Research with official tools: the Entgeltatlas of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and the Destatis salary comparison.
  • Check if the employer pays by a collective agreement (Tarifvertrag). In 2025, 49% of employees in Germany worked in a company bound by one (Destatis, 20 Mar 2026).
  • Back your number with facts about what you bring, not with your rent (FH Münster, Nov 2025).

Where the salary question comes up

The pay question can reach you at three points. The career service of FH Münster notes that the topic usually comes up near the end of an interview, or only in the second interview. But you often meet it much earlier, when you send your documents (FH Münster, Nov 2025).

Where What happens What you do
Job ad The ad asks for your “Gehaltsvorstellung” (salary expectation) Give one gross annual figure or a narrow range in your cover letter
Online form A field asks for your expected salary Enter a gross annual amount
Interview The interviewer asks “What are your salary expectations?” Name your figure calmly and give one or two reasons
Offer The employer names a salary Compare it with your research, then negotiate if there is a gap

If the employer asks for a salary expectation in the ad or the online form, you should give one (FH Münster). Leaving it out means you ignored part of the request.

Gross per year: the German norm

German employers think in gross annual salary. The University of Kassel is very direct: state the gross annual salary, and never a net or monthly salary (Kassel). FH Münster gives the same rule: your range should always be a gross amount per year (FH Münster).

Gross means before tax and social security. Your take-home pay will be lower, and how much lower depends on your personal situation. This guide does not cover that part. What matters here: the number you give the employer is always gross.

See what a gross figure means in net pay for your tax class.

Calculate my net salary

Key point: Name a gross amount per year, never a net or monthly figure (Kassel).

Some salary data you will find is monthly. Be careful when you turn monthly figures into a yearly one. Check what the source counts: base pay only, or base pay plus bonuses. The Destatis salary comparison, for example, shows monthly base pay without extras like Christmas pay (Weihnachtsgeld) (Destatis, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

Range or one figure?

Both work in Germany.

  • A range shows that you are flexible and open to talk. Keep it narrow (Kassel).
  • One figure is also fine (Kassel).

FH Münster adds two practical rules (FH Münster):

  1. If you give a range, the lower end should be the salary you actually want.
  2. If you give one figure with “about” (ca.), it should not be your minimum. It should sit about 10% above your minimum.

Example: Sara’s research shows that €50,000 is the lowest she would accept for a role. With one figure, she could write “about €55,000 gross per year”. With a range, she could write “€52,000 to €55,000 gross per year”, where €52,000 is a salary she is happy with. (This is an invented example.)

How to research a fair salary in Germany

Pay in Germany depends on the industry, the region, the company size, your role and your experience. It can also depend on whether the employer pays by a collective agreement (FH Münster). Kassel warns to be careful with single numbers from the internet and to compare several sources (Kassel). These official tools are a good start.

Tip: Don’t trust a single number from the internet. Compare several sources before you decide on your figure (Kassel).

1. Entgeltatlas (Bundesagentur für Arbeit)

The Entgeltatlas of the Federal Employment Agency shows the median gross monthly pay of full-time employees for each occupation group (BA, Hilfe zum Entgeltatlas, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). The median is the middle value: half of the people earn more, half earn less.

What you can filter by (BA):

  • region
  • age group
  • gender
  • skill level (Helfer, Fachkraft, Spezialist, Experte)
  • industry (ten sector groups)

Know the limits (BA):

  • The data runs up to 31 December 2025.
  • The figures include regular pay and one-off payments, up to the pension insurance contribution ceiling. In 2025 that ceiling was €8,050 per month. For well-paid jobs, the tool shows only “>8.050 Euro”, not a median.
  • You search by occupation group, not by your exact job title.
  • The Entgeltatlas is available in German only (Make it in Germany, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). Search with the German job title, for example “Softwareentwickler” instead of “software developer”. The German title from the job ad is a good start.

To put your result in context: on 31 December 2025, the median gross monthly pay of all full-time employees in Germany was €4,217 (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 20 Jul 2026). For people with a university degree it was €6,146. For people with a recognised vocational qualification it was €4,069.

2. Destatis salary comparison (Gehaltsvergleich)

The Federal Statistical Office runs a free, anonymous salary comparison. You enter your occupation, education, industry, federal state, age, whether the employer has a collective agreement, company size, contract type and years with the company. It then estimates the average gross monthly pay for that profile (Destatis, retrieved 31 Oct 2026).

Destatis says clearly that these are estimates. Real salaries can be above or below them, and the figures leave out bonuses like Christmas pay (Destatis). The site does not store your inputs.

3. National salary figures for orientation

Destatis also publishes yearly pay statistics. For full-time employees in 2025, including special payments (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026):

  • Median€54,066
  • Average (mean)€64,441
  • Lowest 10% earned€33,828 or less
  • Top 10% earned€100,719 or more

Region and industry make a big difference. The median in western Germany was €55,435. In eastern Germany without Berlin it was €46,013 (Destatis). Energy supply (€77,522) and finance and insurance (€76,594) had the highest medians. Hospitality had one of the lowest at €35,545.

The Federal Employment Agency shows the same pattern by state. Monthly medians at the end of 2025 ranged from €4,768 in Hamburg and €4,530 in Hesse to €3,497 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (BA, 20 Jul 2026).

Key point: These national numbers are for orientation only. Your own figure should come from your occupation, your level and your region.

4. Collective agreements (Tarifverträge)

Many employers in Germany pay by a collective agreement between unions and employers. It often sets minimum and starting salaries, plus extra benefits (FH Münster).

In 2025, 49% of employees worked in a company bound by a collective agreement (Destatis, 20 Mar 2026). Coverage differs a lot by industry:

Industry Share of employees in companies with a collective agreement (2025)
Public administration, defence, social security 100%
Energy supply 84%
Education 79%
Hospitality 23%
Professional, scientific and technical services 23%

Source: Destatis, 20 Mar 2026.

How to use this:

  • Look for words like “Tarifvertrag”, “tarifliche Vergütung”, “TV-L”, “TVöD” or a pay group (Entgeltgruppe, EG) in the job ad.
  • If you find one, look up the pay table for that agreement. FH Münster suggests checking with the relevant union or official collective agreement databases (FH Münster).
  • In the public sector, pay is set by the pay scale, not negotiated. At state level the TV-L applies. Kassel’s career service names pay groups 9 to 12 for bachelor’s degrees and 13 to 15 for master’s degrees and doctorates. The exact group depends on the tasks and responsibility of the role (Kassel).

If the ad names a pay group, your “salary expectation” can simply refer to it. See the phrases below.

Tip: Search the job ad for “Tarifvertrag”, “TV-L”, “TVöD” or “Entgeltgruppe” first. If you find one, look up the pay table for that agreement.

Paste the job ad and see what it asks for at a glance.

Check a job ad

5. StepStone salary report: medians by field

The job portal StepStone publishes a yearly salary report from its own data. The 2026 report uses 1,326,157 salary data points collected from January 2022 to November 2025. The figures are medians for 2025, gross per year, for full-time work at 40 hours a week, including bonuses and commissions (StepStone, Gehaltsvergleich 2026, updated 7 Jan 2026, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). Its national median is €53,900 (StepStone, retrieved 1 Nov 2026), close to the Destatis figure above but based on different data.

A selection of fields from the report:

Field (StepStone name) Median gross per year, 2025
Engineering (Ingenieurwesen) €75,000
Technical development and design (Technische Entwicklung & Konstruktion) €72,250
IT (Informationstechnologie) €66,750
Management and organisation (Unternehmensorganisation und Management) €66,750
Purchasing, sales and trade (Einkauf, Vertrieb & Handel) €60,500
Finance and accounting (Finanzen & Rechnungswesen) €59,250
Nursing, rescue and midwifery (Pflege, Rettung und Geburtshilfe) €58,000
Marketing, media and communication €57,250
HR (Personalwesen) €54,500
Hospitality and tourism (Gaststätten, Hotellerie und Tourismus) €50,500
Logistics and transport (Logistik & Verkehr) €49,750

Source: StepStone, Gehaltsvergleich 2026. StepStone also offers a free salary planner (Gehaltsplaner) on the same page to compare by industry, position and region.

Key point: A field median is not your number. It mixes juniors and seniors, small and large companies, and all regions. Use it to check whether your figure is in a realistic range, then adjust for your level and city.

6. Salary sites with employee data: kununu and Glassdoor

On Glassdoor you can look up salaries by job title (Glassdoor, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). kununu publishes salary data that employees share on the platform. Its salary analysis for 2024, for example, was based on more than 625,000 salary entries shared on kununu in 2023 (onlinemarketing.de, 16 Jan 2024, retrieved 1 Nov 2026). Both sites rely on what people choose to share, so there may be only a few entries for your job or your employer. Treat them as one more reference, next to the official data above.

Tip: If a job ad is from a company you can find on kununu or Glassdoor, check the entries for the same job title there. If the numbers differ a lot from the Entgeltatlas, trust the larger data set and ask about the range in the interview.

7. People and graduate surveys

Kassel recommends graduate surveys that show starting salaries by subject (Kassel). FH Münster suggests talking to other graduates and checking salary studies from professional associations (FH Münster).

Research checklist

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Your net salary 2026

Gross to net for 2026, with every official rate.

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

The EU pay transparency rules: where things stand

The EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970 gives job applicants new rights. Under it, employers must tell applicants the starting pay or its range in good time, for example in the job ad or before the interview. Questions about your current or previous pay are not allowed under the directive (IHK Hannover, 2 Jun 2026).

EU countries had to put the directive into national law by 7 June 2026 (IHK Hannover). Germany missed this date:

  • In November 2025 the federal family ministry said it aimed to start the law-making process in early 2026 (BMBFSFJ, 7 Nov 2025).
  • In June 2026, the IHK Hannover wrote that there was no final German draft law yet (IHK Hannover, 2 Jun 2026).
  • The law firm Noerr reported, citing the ministry, that the German law is expected to take effect in early 2027, with some duties starting later (Noerr, 3 Jun 2026).

What this means for you today: some employers already publish a salary range in their job ads, others do not. If an ad shows a range, use it as your anchor. If an interviewer asks what you earn now, you can answer with your expectation for this role instead.

Germany also has an older pay transparency law, the Entgelttransparenzgesetz from 2017. It gives employees (not applicants) a right to ask about the average pay for comparable work, in companies with usually more than 200 employees (EntgTranspG § 10, § 12, retrieved 31 Oct 2026). It does not help during the application, but it is good to know once you work there.

How to state salary expectations in your cover letter

Only add a salary line when the ad asks for it (Kassel). Put it near the end, in one sentence, together with your earliest start date if the ad asks for that too. Keep the rest of the letter about why you fit the job.

Phrases you can adapt (the figures are examples):

Template: Salary line in the cover letter, English (pick one)
My salary expectation is about €55,000 gross per year.

My salary expectation is between €52,000 and €55,000 gross per year.

My salary expectation is in line with pay group E 13 TV-L.

I can start on 1 March 2027. My salary expectation is about €55,000 gross per year.
Template: Salary line in the cover letter, German (pick one)
Meine Gehaltsvorstellung liegt bei ca. 55.000 € brutto jährlich.

Meine Gehaltsvorstellung liegt zwischen 52.000 € und 55.000 € brutto im Jahr.

Meine Gehaltsvorstellung orientiert sich an der Entgeltgruppe E 13 TV-L.

Ich kann zum 1. März 2027 beginnen. Meine Gehaltsvorstellung liegt bei ca. 55.000 € brutto jährlich.

The first German phrase follows the model sentence in FH Münster’s guide (FH Münster). Write the letter in the language of the job ad.

Tip: Put the salary line near the end of the letter, in one sentence. Keep the rest of the letter about why you fit the job.

If you want help with the rest of the letter, see our guide to the cover letter for Germany.

In online application forms

Many companies use an online form with a field for your salary expectation (FH Münster). Enter a gross annual amount. If the field takes only one number, use your single figure (about 10% above your minimum), not the bottom of your range. If there is a free-text field, you can add “gross per year” so there is no doubt.

In the interview

Kassel’s advice: don’t bring up salary yourself. The interviewer will raise it (Kassel). When they do, name your figure calmly and give a reason based on facts: your skills, your experience, projects, languages, the requirements of the role. Don’t argue with your rent or living costs. After you say your number, stay calm and let the pause happen (FH Münster).

Typical questions and answers, based on the examples in FH Münster’s guide (FH Münster):

“What are your salary expectations?” / “Was ist Ihre Gehaltsvorstellung?”

Template: Answer to “What are your salary expectations?”
EN: Based on my research, I think €52,000 to €55,000 gross per year is realistic. I looked at the role, my experience and typical salaries for this job in the region.

DE: Auf Basis meiner Recherche halte ich 52.000 bis 55.000 € brutto im Jahr für realistisch. Ich orientiere mich an der Position, meiner Erfahrung und den marktüblichen Gehältern in der Region.

“How did you get to this number?” / “Wie kommen Sie auf diese Zahl?”

Template: Answer to “How did you get to this number?”
EN: I checked the Entgeltatlas of the Federal Employment Agency and compared it with other sources. I also took my experience in [area] and the requirements of this role into account.

DE: Ich habe den Entgeltatlas der Bundesagentur für Arbeit geprüft und mit anderen Quellen verglichen. Dazu habe ich meine Erfahrung in [Bereich] und die Anforderungen der Stelle berücksichtigt.

“Would you also accept less?” / “Wären Sie auch mit weniger zufrieden?”

Template: Answer to “Would you also accept less?”
EN: The whole package matters to me. I am open to talk about other parts, for example training, extra holiday days or flexible hours.

DE: Mir ist das Gesamtpaket wichtig. Ich bin offen, über andere Leistungen zu sprechen, zum Beispiel Weiterbildung, zusätzliche Urlaubstage oder flexible Arbeitszeiten.

“What do you earn now?” / “Was verdienen Sie aktuell?”

Template: Answer to “What do you earn now?”
EN: For this role I expect about €55,000 gross per year, based on the tasks and my experience.

DE: Für diese Position stelle ich mir ca. 55.000 € brutto im Jahr vor, passend zu den Aufgaben und meiner Erfahrung.

Tip: After you say your number, stay calm and let the pause happen (FH Münster).

Practise your answers out loud, alone or with a friend (FH Münster). The salary question is one of many in a German interview. Our guide to the job interview in Germany covers the rest.

Practise the salary question out loud.

Practise in the Mock Interview Trainer
Three stations: job ad, application form and interview. At each one, the salary is said the same way: as gross pay per year, for example €55,000.Job ad €55,000gross per yearApplication form €55,000gross per yearInterview €55,000gross per year
Whether you read it in an ad, type it into a form or say it in an interview: use gross pay per year.

Negotiating the offer

When you get an offer, compare it with your research before you say yes. If the number is below your expectation:

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Compare the offer in net pay before you answer.

Calculate my net salary

Phrases for the offer stage (examples):

Template: Offer stage phrases, English (pick what fits)
Thank you for the offer. Could you tell me how you arrived at this figure?

Based on my research and my experience in [area], I was expecting about €55,000. Is there room to move?

If the salary is fixed, could we talk about a training budget or more home office days?

Which pay group and step would I be placed in?
Template: Offer stage phrases, German (pick what fits)
Vielen Dank für das Angebot. Können Sie mir sagen, wie Sie auf diesen Betrag kommen?

Auf Basis meiner Recherche und meiner Erfahrung in [Bereich] hatte ich mit ca. 55.000 € gerechnet. Gibt es da Spielraum?

Wenn das Gehalt feststeht, können wir über ein Weiterbildungsbudget oder mehr Homeoffice-Tage sprechen?

In welche Entgeltgruppe und Stufe würde ich eingruppiert?

Common mistakes

  • Giving a net or monthly figure instead of gross per year (Kassel).
  • A very wide range, for example €45,000 to €65,000. Keep it narrow (Kassel).
  • Putting your minimum at the bottom of the range (FH Münster).
  • Using salary numbers from your home country or from another German region without checking.
  • Leaving the salary field empty when the ad or form asks for it (FH Münster).
  • Arguing with personal costs instead of your skills (FH Münster).

How Joblumi helps

Joblumi helps you build a German CV and cover letter for each job ad, so your salary line sits in a clear, well-structured letter. With a pass, you can track each application on a board and practise interview answers with the Mock Interview Trainer.

Put this guide to work

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

Practise my salary talk

FAQ

Should I give my salary expectation in gross or net?

Gross, and per year. German career services advise against net or monthly figures (University of Kassel).

Do I have to include my salary expectation if the job ad does not ask for it?

No. Mention salary in the cover letter only if the ad asks for it directly (Kassel).

Is a range or a single number better?

Both are fine. A narrow range shows flexibility (Kassel). If you use a range, make the lower end a salary you are happy with (FH Münster).

Where can I find reliable salary data for Germany?

Start with the Entgeltatlas of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and the Destatis salary comparison. Then check whether the employer has a collective agreement, and compare with at least one more source.

What is the median salary in Germany?

For full-time employees in 2025, the median gross annual salary including special payments was €54,066 (Destatis, 1 Apr 2026). Your own figure depends on your job, level, industry and region.

What do software developers or engineers earn in Germany?

The StepStone salary report 2026 gives a median of €66,750 gross per year for IT and €75,000 for engineering, for full-time work in 2025 including bonuses (StepStone). Your own figure depends on your level, the company and the city. Check the Entgeltatlas with the German job title as well.

I come from another country. Can I use salaries from home as a guide?

No. German employers compare your figure with German pay, and pay differs even between German regions: the 2025 median was €55,435 in western Germany and €46,013 in eastern Germany without Berlin (Destatis). Build your figure from German data for your region, and always state it as gross per year.

Can an employer ask what I earn now?

Under the EU pay transparency directive, questions about current or previous pay are not allowed (IHK Hannover, 2 Jun 2026). In June 2026 there was no final German draft law yet, and Noerr reported it is expected in early 2027 (Noerr, 3 Jun 2026). If you are asked, you can answer with your expectation for the new role.

Should I bring up salary in the interview myself?

No. Wait until the interviewer raises it (Kassel). It often comes near the end, or in a second interview (FH Münster).

Sources