What Is Considered A Good salary in Germany? [Detailed 2023 Guide] (2024)
So you’re wondering what a good salary in Germany is? You might have gotten a job offer and don’t want to be getting less than the average salary in Germany, or you want to know how much money you need to cover your basic expenses?
A good salary in Germany is the one that will allow you to afford the lifestyle that you want. Anything above47.700 euros a year (gross)will place you in Germany’s above-average range of income.
In this guide, we will dive deep into salaries in Germany so you can better assess where you stand and whether you need to negotiate your salary with your future employer.
Table of Contents
What is Considered a Good Salary in Germany?
If you ask ten people what a good salary in Germany is, you will get ten different responses; this is a very subjective question, and the answer depends on lifestyle and location. In some cities, you will earn more; however, the average cost of living might also be higher.
StepStone, a job listing site in Germany, did a salary study in 2021 where they analyzed 250.000 salary data points. In their report, they surveyed Germans and found that 43% said they were happy with their yearly gross salary of 64.253 euros. 41% of the Germans said they were not happy with their salary of 49.630 euros a year. So even though they earn above average in Germany, they did not feel that was enough.
If you’re looking for the answer to how much things cost in Germany, we have written a detailed guide on thecost of living in Germanywhere you can assess how much you can expect to spend on things.
If you are moving to Germany from abroad and have a job contract, you need to know that you should be receiving a minimum salary to get your work permit or EU Blue Card.
Salary Requirement For Blue Card In Germany
The minimum gross salary in Germany for an EU Blue Card is 58.400 euros per year. For in-demand professions in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural science, engineering, and human medicine (excluding dentistry), a lower minimum gross salary of 45.552 euros a year applies for the EU Blue Card.
Salary Requirement For 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.
What Is The Minimum Wage In Germany?
As of October 1st, 2022, the minimum wage in Germany is12,00 euros per hour. The government has declared that after the change on October 1st, 2022, the minimum wage will remain stable for the next 15 months, and they will only reassess it in January 2024.
According to theFederal Statistical Office of Germany, full-time employees work on average 41 hours a week. So the grossminimum wage for a full-time employee on a four-week month would be 1.968 euros.
Part-time employees work on average 19,5 hours a week, making their minimum wage936 euros.
What Is The Average Wage In Germany?
According to Statista, in 2021, the average gross annual salary in Germany was47.700 euros a year, or 3.975 euros a month.
The numbers above are for all of Germany. However, the average gross salary will depend greatly on your location, professional experience, education, size of the company, and gender. Yes, you read that right: gender.
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 showthat men earn more than women. On average,men earn 49.752 euros a year (gross), and women 42.936 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 called50inTech.
Average Gross Salary In Germany By Location
The location also plays a significant role in the average income in Germany. According to the website calledgehaltsvergleich.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 costs of living are 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.
Related Guide:Best Cities To Live In Germany [For Expats]
You can also use a website likeNumbeoto 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 anonline 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.
If you don’t find your profession listed above, checkGehalt.de.
Average Gross Salary In Germany by Company Size
According to astudy 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.
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.
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What is Your purchasing power with Your salary in Germany?
Your salary in Germany might not mean much if you don’t know how many goods and services you will be able to purchase with it.
So let me introduce an economic concept calledpurchasing power parity. Don’t worry; I won’t dig deep into this concept and will try to keep it as simple as possible.
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a metric used in macroeconomics to compare the number of goods and services you can buy in different countries. Economists create a basket of goods and services that can be purchased in every country and use it as a base for their comparison. It is a tough job to come up with this metric, and it is not perfect; however, it is the best one we have found to give you an idea of how far your euros can take you in Germany.
The most popular purchasing power parity ratio is theBig Mac Index. So how can you use the price of a burger to figure out your purchasing power in Germany?
In our calculations below, we need to make sure we are working with the same currency, so we will need to convert everything into US dollars.
Step 1: we will figure out how many Big Macs you can purchase in your country with your current salary.
Find the price for theBig Mac in US dollarsin your country. I’ve gathered a selected list below: – USA: US$5,15 – UK: US$4,48 – India: US$2,34 – Mexico: US$3,67 – Turkey: US$2,50 – Germany: US$5,00
Convert your net salary to US dollars
Divide your current net salary in US dollars by the price of the Big Mac in your country
The result will tell you how many Big Macs you can currently buy in your country.
Step 2: we need to calculate how many Big Macs you could purchase in Germany.
If you already have a job offer, estimate your disposable income (net salary) with anonline calculator.
Convert your net income into US dollars
Divide your net income in US dollars by the price of the Big Mac in Germany (5 US dollars)
The result will tell you how many Big Macs you can purchase in Germany with your job offer.
Example: Now let’s look at an example to explain this concept better. I am from Guatemala, and I am earning an exceptionally goodnet monthly salaryof 20.000 Quetzales (Guatemalan currency), which equals around 2.550 US dollars.
The Big Mac Price in Guatemala is 3,31 US dollars. So I would be able to purchase770 burgers with my income in Guatemala.
Imagine I get a job offer in Germany for 59.000 euros a year (gross); this is a little above the minimum threshold for an EU Blue Card. The job offer is for Düsseldorf, which is in North Rhine-Westfalia. I am single, and I don’t paychurch tax. Using thesalary calculator, I estimate my net monthly income will be 3.059,27 euros or 3.286,71 US dollars. With this salary, I would be able to purchase664 burgers with my income in Germany.
Now at first glance, it’s obvious that my purchasing power will decrease in Germany as I will have fewer burgers, so to speak. However, what is important to highlight in this calculation is that the result will provide a general sense ofa standard of livingand does not consider thequality of life in each country.
Quality of life is one of the main reasons people move to Germany, as there are a lot of social security services to benefit from, education is free, there is minor corruption and violence.
So yes, in Guatemala, I would have a higher purchasing power because the cost of services is lower, and I would be earning a well-above-average pay. So I could have a regular cleaning service and a nanny (if I had kids). However, the health, political and educational system are among the worst in the world.
So at the end of the day, I rather have fewer burgers to eat and have a high quality of life than have a lot of burgers in a dangerous and corrupt environment.
Final Thoughts
Only you can answer whether a salary is good for you or not. You will need to consider your cost of living, disposable income, purchasing power, and quality of life in a country.
I hope this guide has guided you in what the average gross salary for your profession in Germany is to feel comfortable accepting the job offer or feel empowered to negotiate for a higher salary that will allow you to buy more burgers 🍔.
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.
Wages in Germany is expected to reach 4121.00 EUR/Month by the end of 2023, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations.
If a worker works 52 weeks a year, this equates to a national annual salary of $51,168, up 5.1 per cent from the previous year. Any sum beyond that should be regarded as a good salary; however, this is not always the case.
According to recent wage negotiations, German workers can expect an average wage increase of about 2.5% in 2023. This is slightly more than the average wage increase of 2.3% in 2022.
A good salary in Germany not only depends on your lifestyle but also on where you live as the cost of living differs from city to city. A good annual gross salary in Germany is between €64,000 to €81,000. But most Germans who earn a yearly gross salary of €60,000 and above are happy with their salary.
IW also notes the net monthly salary that would place a single German earner in the top five and top one percent, which would be €4,560 and €7,190 respectively.
You can expect the average cost of living in Germany to range anywhere between 1.000 to 3.000 euros per month. Your monthly expenses depend greatly on your lifestyle, the city you live in, and how many family members you are living with.
In general, the average monthly expenses in Germany can add up to €1,698 for a single person or €3,561 for a family of 4. However, these averages can vary depending on where you live, as rental prices are higher in cities popular among expats. For instance, the average rent in Germany is €800 per month.
As of Jun 17, 2023, the average annual pay for an American in the United States is $58,563 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $28.16 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,126/week or $4,880/month.
In 2021, the median household income is roughly $68,000. An upper class income is usually considered at least 50% higher than the median household income. Therefore, an upper class income in America is $100,000 and higher.
The expected COLA for 2023 is 8.7%., meaning if you were going to give an employee an annual salary increase of $10,000, you would adjust that amount to $10,870 to account for inflation.
Grundfreibetrag (basic tax-free allowance) rises to 10,908 euros. The Grundfreibetrag, meaning the maximum amount of your income for which no tax is due, will increase from 10,347 euros to 10,908 euros from the first of January 2023. This means that you will be able to earn 561 euros more tax-free in 2023.
In 2023 the Germany tax rates for an individual are 14% - 45%. Singles pay on income above EUR 277,825 income tax of 45% before 5.5% solidarity tax and 8%-9% church tax which are imposed on the income tax.
The highest-paid professions in Germany belong to the medical, engineering, and financial sectors. According to research, Germany's highest-paying jobs average at least €55,475 per year. Here are the top 12 highest-paying jobs in Germany as of 2023: Doctor.
For single people, earning 4.560 euros would put them in Germany's top 5 percent, and earning 7.190 would set them within the country's richest 1 percent.
Reading note for Panel B: A single person in Germany with an annual disposable income between USD 23 000 and USD 30 000 is considered to be part of the lower middle-income group; a person with a disposable income between USD 46 000 and USD 61 000 is part of the upper middle-income group.
In general, wages in the United States tend to be higher than those in Europe, particularly for skilled and high-paying jobs. Part of the reason for this is that the cost of living in the U.S. is usually higher than in Europe. This means that workers need to make more money to keep their standard of living the same.
When considering the cost of living in Germany vs. the U.S., you'll find that the cost of living in Germany is nearly 19% lower. Munich is the most expensive city in Germany, and yet consumer prices are 32.5% lower than in New York City and 14% lower than in Los Angeles.
Germans generally spend 15% of their income on food, beverages, and tobacco. On average, a single-person household spends €200 per month on groceries; a couple will spend around €365, while a family of four spends around €520.
The median household income in Germany is 42,192€ per year. In Berlin, it's 43,572€ per year. This is only for households with working people. The median income per person is much lower: 2,109€ per month.
5. Specialists in the U.S. and Germany earn the most among the countries surveyed. On average, male specialists in the U.S. earn $376,000 per year, while female specialists earn $283,000, compared to $194,000 and $131,000 respectively in Germany.
Canada and Germany were the developed countries in the survey with the second highest number of participating workers who said they live paycheck to check. About 40% of the participants in each of those countries said they live paycheck to paycheck.
As an American, you can stay in Germany for up to 90 days without a visa. To stay longer, you'll need to apply for a temporary residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) during your initial 90 days.
What is the average cost of rent in Germany? Average rent costs in Germany range from €300 to €800 per calendar month for a room in shared accommodation and from €500 to €1,346 for a one-bedroom flat.
The average sales price of single-family and duplex homes in the biggest cities in Germany varied between approximately 5,000 euros and 11,000 euros per square meter in the third quarter of 2022.
To find out more about how many people make over 100k per year, we've gathered essential facts and data. According to our extensive research: 18% of individual Americans make over $100k per year. 34.4% of US households make over $100k per year.
Many have graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Household incomes commonly exceed $100,000, with some smaller one-income earners household having incomes in the high 5-figure range.
Pew draws on the same formula used in the SmartAsset report, defining the middle class as those with incomes between two-thirds and twice the national median income. That works out to a national salary range of roughly $52,000 to $156,000 in 2020 dollars for a three-person household.
To feel wealthy, Americans say you need a net worth of at least $2.2 million on average, according to financial services company Charles Schwab's annual Modern Wealth Survey.
In the United States, the upper class, as distinguished from the rich, is often considered to consist of those families that have for many generations enjoyed top social status based on their leadership in society—also referred to as old money.
While the 2022 COLA adjustment was 5.9%, government inflation data showed costs grew at a faster pace for much of last year. Now, the 8.7% COLA for 2023 is outpacing current inflation, with a 5.8% increase over the past 12 months for the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, or CPI-W.
The figure marks an increase over the 4.6% pay hike feds received in 2023, and would be the highest proposed pay hike federal workers have seen since the Carter administration implemented a 9.1% average pay increase in 1980.
Companies typically offer employees a 3-5% pay increase on average. Even if this range doesn't seem like a reasonable raise to you, keep in mind that consistent wage increases can add up over time, providing you with a higher income than what you received when you started at the company.
In 2023, people who are earning in Germany will be able to make more without having to pay tax. The basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag) will rise to 10.908 euros for the tax year of 2023. Anyone who earns less than this will not pay any income tax. For married couples filing jointly the limit is 20.694 euros.
2. Basic tax-free allowance. The basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag) ensures that you only pay income tax on your annual income above a certain threshold. In 2021 the basic tax-free allowance is 9.744 euros and will be increased to 10.347 euros in 2022.
Here's how the math works: The first $11,000 of income will be taxed at 10%; the next $33,725 will be taxed at 12%; the last $50,275 will be taxed at 22%. That equals a tax bill of $16,207 for 2023, compared to $16,636 for 2022.
Standard deduction increase: The standard deduction for 2023 (which'll be useful when you file in 2024) increases to $13,850 for single filers and $27,700 for married couples filing jointly. Tax brackets increase: The income tax brackets will also increase in 2023.
Germany's new citizenship bill seeks to transform the process of obtaining citizenship by allowing for dual and multiple citizenships and aims to shorten the required minimum stay in Germany before a resident can apply for German citizenship.
As of 2023, the top tax rate of 42 percent will be applied to annual incomes of 62,810 euros (2022: 58,597 euros). The basic tax-free allowance is being increased from 10,347 euros (2022) to 10,908 euros (2023). Only the income earned above this amount must be taxed.
Germany has four tax brackets. For 2023, the first tax bracket states than an income of €10,908 or less is tax-free for a single person (2024: €11,604). In the second tax bracket, incomes up to €62,810are taxed with a rate that progresses incrementally from 14 per cent to 42 per cent.
The employee and the employer both share these contribution payments equally of 9.3% each. The state pension contribution ceiling for 2021 is 7,100 EUR in West Germany while it is 6,700 EUR in East Germany.
65 years and 7 months is the standard age at which someone in Germany can retire, but some schemes allow people retiring here to take out less money on their pensions in exchange for retiring early. The standard age is slightly about the OECD and EU averages of 64.
Reading note for Panel B: A single person in Germany with an annual disposable income between USD 23 000 and USD 30 000 is considered to be part of the lower middle-income group; a person with a disposable income between USD 46 000 and USD 61 000 is part of the upper middle-income group.
After taxes (42%), the average salary in Germany in 2022 stood at around €28,570 per annum and €2,380 per month. These estimates stand for 2023, although the same federal office estimates that, mainly due to inflation, real earnings fell 3.1% between 2022 and 2023.
Germany - Employment rates of recent graduates was 92.20% in December of 2022, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Germany - Employment rates of recent graduates - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2023.
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