Highest and Lowest Earning Jobs for Employees in Germany
Curious about the big bucks in Germany? Pop the question no more! This fresh take on the hottest-paying jobs in Deutschland spills the beans on professions escalating your income to new heights, alongside those diggin' a little lower in the paycheck realm.
Job platform Stepstone, taking a deep dive into over a million full-time salary figures across Germany, unveiled a list of average salaries in various sectors. And oh boy, it's about to get interesting!
The Skinny on Salaries: Breaking it Down
Full-time employees in Deutschland earn a median gross annual salary (before tax) of around €45,800, as revealed by Stepstone's Gehaltsreport 2025. The median, or the golden mean, represents the value precisely in the middle of the distribution, with an equal number of higher and lower salaries both above and below it.
That figure significantly lags behind the average gross salary, checking in at €52,300 per year. The average salary is more prone to having high outlier paychecks affecting the overall average.
The Stepstone analysis also exposes a gender wage gap of 12.40%, with women commanding a median gross annual salary of €42,100 compared to men's €48,000.
Now, Let's Talk Pockets: The High-Fliers
According to Stepstone's findings, the top-paying job in Deutschland is that of a doctor, offering a mouthwatering median gross income of €98,750 per year.
In second place comes employees of banks and insurance firms, boasting a median gross income of €59,500. This group is followed by engineers (€58,500) and management consultants (€58,250).
If we dive into sector-specific earnings, employees in banking scoop up the highest salaries (€65,500 median salary), with the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries not far behind (both punching above €60,000). The insurance sector offers median annual gross wages slightly below this threshold (just under €60,000).
At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest-paying sectors reside in the hospitality industry, with the hotel workers taking home €37,250 as the median gross annual salary, followed closely by the catering industry at the same pay grade.
Schoolin' Ain't Cheap: The Higher the Degree, The Higher the Pay
Stepstone's analysis shows full-time employees holding a university degree earn a median gross salary of €60,500, which translates into approximately 40% more than employees sans a degree (€43,100 median salary).
Additionally, BOSS YOU UP - managers with personnel responsibility snag a gross median salary of €53,250, compared to the €43,300 earned by those without managerial duties.
Where's the Money, Boo? Location Is (Almost) Everything
Location, location, location! Stepstone's report indicates that where one lives and works in Deutschland could considerably impact one's earnings.
Hamburg leads the pack, offering employees a median annual gross salary of €52,000, placing employees a whopping €12,500 ahead of those in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the lowest-earning state, according to Stepstone's analysis.
Other top-performing states include Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and Bavaria, boasting median salaries in the ballpark of €50,000. Western German states generally offer median salaries ranging from €43,750 to €52,000, while the eastern German states are lagging behind, with Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt reporting median annual gross salaries of €39,500 to €41,000.
Sources:
[1] Stepstone. (n.d.). Salary Navigator. Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://www.stepstone.de/vergleichsalarien/
[2] Glassdoor. / Ifndeutsche-Jobmärkte/DE/HelloVitecDACH/ salaries/. Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://www.glassdoor.de/Salaries/stepstone-salaries-SRCH_KO4,32.htm
[3] Glassdoor. / Ifndeutsche-Jobmärkte/DE/Glassdoor-Deutschland-salaries/. Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://www.glassdoor.de/Salaries/glassdoor-deutschland-salary-SRCH_KO4,32.htm
In the world of business and finance, those working in banking and insurance sectors secure a median gross annual salary of €59,500, suggesting a lucrative career path. On the other hand, personal-finance management can also be profitable, as illustrated by the higher median salaries of managers with personnel responsibility, standing at €53,250.
