PayScope EU

Average salary in Germany (2025)

Statistical averages from Eurostat. Figures in euros; local currency shown where useful.

Average gross / month
€4,834
Average net / month
€3,045
Minimum wage / month
€2,343
About 50% of the average wage
Real change (3y)
-2.5%
Wage growth after inflation
Job marketEmployment, vacancies, inflation and working patterns
Inflation right now
2.0%
As of 2025-12
Unemployment rate
3.8%
Share of the active workforce
Youth unemployment
7.1%
Ages 15–24
Employment rate
81.1%
Ages 20-64, share of the population in work
Job vacancy rate
2.8%
As of 2025-Q4
Part-time workers
29.2%
Share of employment, ages 20-64
Usually work from home
13.0%
Plus 11.7% sometimes (2025)
Income, tax & workHousehold income, tax burden, time and employer cost
Median income / year
€28,891
Household equivalised, after tax
Tax wedge
44.7%
Tax + social contributions on labour
Usual weekly hours
35 h
Main job, ages 20–64
Labour cost / hour
€46
Total cost to employ (gross + employer)

Compared with the EU average

Deviation from the simple average of all covered countries. Green means better for workers: higher pay and employment, lower costs, unemployment and tax.

Average net / month€3,045 vs EU €2,592 · +17.5%
Average gross / month€4,834 vs EU €3,309 · +46.1%
Cost of living109 vs EU 98 · +11.2%
Unemployment rate3.8% vs EU 6.3% · -39.2%
Employment rate81.1% vs EU 75.8% · +7.0%
Tax wedge44.7% vs EU 35.6% · +25.4%

Pay by age (2022)

Mean gross monthly pay by age band, all occupations.

Occupation-level figures come from the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey, the latest round of this four-yearly survey. The next round covers 2026.

Net salary trend

Average net monthly salary in euros.

Cost of living by category

Price level relative to the EU average (EU = 100). Above the line is pricier than the EU norm; below is cheaper.

Food & non-alcoholic drinks102.4
Alcohol & tobacco98.4
Clothing & footwear101.8
Housing & utilities113.9
Furnishings & household equipment104
Health113.5
Transport110
Information & communication122.6
Recreation & culture108.2
Education121
Restaurants & hotels108.4
Other goods & services104.5

Housing

House prices (1-year change)
+3.2%
Annual change in the house price index
Housing cost overburden
11.2%
Share of people spending over 40% of income on housing

Work incentives

How much of extra earnings is lost to taxes and withdrawn benefits. Lower is better: it means taking a job or a raise pays off.

Low-wage trap
73.0%
Lost when pay rises from a low wage
Unemployment trap
76.5%
Lost when taking a job from unemployment

Gender pay gap by sector

Unadjusted gap in average gross hourly pay between men and women, by economic sector.

Financial services26.0%
Professional & scientific25.2%
Wholesale & retail trade19.3%
Information & communication19.3%
Manufacturing19.1%
Health & social work18.7%
Construction10.0%
Education8.9%

Pay by occupation

Monthly earnings by ISCO-1 occupation group. Click headers to sort.

OccupationMedianP10P90
Managers€8,068€7,078€3,681€12,847
Professionals€5,431€5,072€2,921€8,198
Technicians and associate professionals€4,210€3,858€2,115€6,673
Craft and related trades workers€3,090€2,952€1,682€4,658
Clerical support workers€3,078€2,845€1,688€4,700
Plant and machine operators and assemblers€2,814€2,675€1,622€4,140
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers€2,558€2,404€1,610€3,547
Service and sales workers€2,317€2,083€1,512€3,394
Elementary occupations€1,919€1,748€1,466€2,617

Occupation-level figures come from the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey, the latest round of this four-yearly survey. The next round covers 2026. Bonuses and special payments add about 1% of annual pay, overtime about 0.6%.

Managers€8,068

Salary range

P10 €3,681Median €7,078P90 €12,847

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€4,470
30 to 49
€7,119
50 and over
€8,140
Men, mean gross
€8,295
Women, mean gross
€5,838
Professionals€5,431

Salary range

P10 €2,921Median €5,072P90 €8,198

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€3,403
30 to 49
€5,260
50 and over
€5,993
Men, mean gross
€5,850
Women, mean gross
€4,628
Technicians and associate professionals€4,210

Salary range

P10 €2,115Median €3,858P90 €6,673

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,571
30 to 49
€4,062
50 and over
€4,297
Men, mean gross
€4,498
Women, mean gross
€3,365
Craft and related trades workers€3,090

Salary range

P10 €1,682Median €2,952P90 €4,658

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,275
30 to 49
€3,336
50 and over
€3,398
Men, mean gross
€3,149
Women, mean gross
€2,561
Clerical support workers€3,078

Salary range

P10 €1,688Median €2,845P90 €4,700

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,350
30 to 49
€3,297
50 and over
€3,307
Men, mean gross
€3,360
Women, mean gross
€2,999
Plant and machine operators and assemblers€2,814

Salary range

P10 €1,622Median €2,675P90 €4,140

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,569
30 to 49
€3,052
50 and over
€2,875
Men, mean gross
€2,983
Women, mean gross
€2,477
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers€2,558

Salary range

P10 €1,610Median €2,404P90 €3,547

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,167
30 to 49
€2,855
50 and over
€2,726
Men, mean gross
€2,725
Women, mean gross
€2,194
Service and sales workers€2,317

Salary range

P10 €1,512Median €2,083P90 €3,394

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€2,040
30 to 49
€2,647
50 and over
€2,563
Men, mean gross
€2,560
Women, mean gross
€2,437
Elementary occupations€1,919

Salary range

P10 €1,466Median €1,748P90 €2,617

Middle 80% of full-time earners fall between P10 and P90.

Pay by age (2022)

Under 30
€1,913
30 to 49
€2,246
50 and over
€2,202
Men, mean gross
€2,290
Women, mean gross
€2,032

Other regions: Germany

Shade the map by GDP, income or unemployment. Hover a region; click to open it.

RegionGDP per personHousehold incomeUnemployment
ArnsbergDEA5€43,800€26,7004.7%
BerlinDE30€56,600€26,4006.5%
BrandenburgDE40€38,300€26,0003.8%
BraunschweigDE91€57,600€26,8003.9%
BremenDE50€58,900€25,0005.1%
ChemnitzDED4€36,500€25,5004.4%
DarmstadtDE71€66,200€30,1003.6%
DetmoldDEA4€47,300€28,0003.7%
DresdenDED2€40,900€25,5004.7%
DüsseldorfDEA1€51,800€27,1004.8%
FreiburgDE13€46,800€29,1003.1%
GießenDE72€44,500€26,6002.7%
HamburgDE60€87,500€29,9005.3%
HannoverDE92€50,000€27,2003.9%
KarlsruheDE12€55,400€29,1003.4%
KasselDE73€48,100€26,9003.6%
KoblenzDEB1€42,600€27,6002.9%
KölnDEA2€52,800€28,0003.9%
LeipzigDED5€43,400€24,7005.2%
LüneburgDE93€37,700€28,4003.3%
Mecklenburg-VorpommernDE80€39,100€25,4003.5%
MittelfrankenDE25€56,400€30,0003.8%
MünsterDEA3€42,500€27,0003.4%
NiederbayernDE22€50,300€29,3002.9%
OberbayernDE21€75,700€34,7003.0%
OberfrankenDE24€48,700€29,1003.2%
OberpfalzDE23€54,700€29,2002.8%
Rheinhessen-PfalzDEB3€47,900€27,7004.0%
SaarlandDEC0€42,200€25,0004.1%
Sachsen-AnhaltDEE0€37,200€24,8004.9%
Schleswig-HolsteinDEF0€43,100€28,8003.7%
SchwabenDE27€48,500€30,1002.7%
StuttgartDE11€68,500€30,8003.6%
ThüringenDEG0€37,100€25,2003.7%
TrierDEB2€39,300€27,600
TübingenDE14€54,400€30,0002.9%
UnterfrankenDE26€51,600€29,8003.0%
Weser-EmsDE94€47,000€27,0002.9%

Averages are simple means of available NUTS 2 regional observations; they are not population-weighted. For unemployment, rank 1 is the lowest rate.

Pay by industry

Mean gross monthly pay by economic sector.

Occupation-level figures come from the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey, the latest round of this four-yearly survey. The next round covers 2026. Covers firms with 10 or more employees.

Pay by education

Mean gross annual pay by highest completed education.

Below upper-secondary€29,797
Upper-secondary€42,970
Tertiary (degree)€71,411

A tertiary degree pays about 66% more than an upper-secondary education here.

Occupation-level figures come from the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey, the latest round of this four-yearly survey. The next round covers 2026.

Income inequality

How evenly income and pay are distributed.

Gini coefficient
30.1
0 = fully equal, 100 = fully unequal
Top 20% vs bottom 20%
4.7x
Income share ratio (S80/S20)
High pay vs low pay
3.64x
P90 earnings vs P10 earnings
In-work poverty
6.7%
Employed but below the poverty line
Low-wage earners
19.0%
Earning under two-thirds of the median wage

Estimate your net salary

Germany
Net (EUR)
€3,045
Net (local)
€3,045
Deductions
37.0%

Estimate based on Eurostat net/gross ratios. Not tax advice.

Summary

In 2025, the average net monthly salary in Germany was around €3,045. That corresponds to an average gross salary of roughly €4,834/month. The statutory minimum wage is about €2,343/month. Real wages have fallen by 2.5% over the last three years, after inflation. Price levels sit at 109% of the EU average.

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Source: Eurostat. Figures are statistical averages, not tax advice.