Every year, the salary comparison website Gehalt.de releases its Salary Atlas (Gehaltsatlas), which gives a detailed analysis of salaries in Germany across numerous jobs, industries and locations. This year, Gehalt.de has worked with Stepstone to combine their findings and publish the Salary Report 2022.

Salary Report 2022

This year, Gehalt.de and recruitment platform Stepstone have combined their databases to jointly publish the Salary Report 2022. Much like Gehalt.de’s Salary Atlas, the report provides a detailed overview of salaries in Germany, and demonstrates how occupation, location, industry and education affects employees’ salaries in Germany.

The 2022 Salary Report analysed over 600.000 data points on different salaries across a wide range of jobs, differing in terms of their industry, region, city and required experience. The data was collected between 2019 and 2021 and reviewed by experts over the past 12 months. Overall, 64 percent of the data came from male employees and 36 percent came from female employees.

The gross average salary in Germany across all jobs is around 51.010 euros, while the median is 44.070 euros.

Doctors earn the most money in Germany

Doctors are, once again, Germany’s best-paid professionals, raking in an average of 92.597 euros per year. They are followed by engineers and IT professionals, who have become increasingly important over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. Other important business roles, such as corporate consultants and human resource employees, round off the top five. The jobs have been ranked by median income (followed by the average income for each job in brackets).

1. Doctors - 78.320 euros (92.600 euros)
2. Engineering - 59.280 euros (64.330 euros)
3. IT - 56.990 euros (61.670 euros)
4. Corporate consulting - 56.380 euros (60.670 euros)
5. Human resources - 47.840 euros (54.420 euros)
6. Marketing & PR - 45.760 euros (52.560 euros) 
7. Finance - 45.550 euros (52.010 euros)
8. Crafts and technical jobs - 44.800 euros (49.790 euros)
9. Sales - 42.850 euros (50.520 euros)
10. Health and social services - 37.780 euros (43.520 euros)
11. Purchasing, materials management, logistics - 37.670 euros (43.570 euros)

Germany’s most profitable industries

It should come as no surprise that several of Germany’s most in-demand industries of 2021 feature in this year’s ranking. Many of these industries have experienced high demand for their services over the past year, particularly the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, which have been spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent scramble for the manufacture and distribution of vaccines.

1. Semiconductor - 62.960 euros (76.320 euros)
2. Biotechnology - 61.540 euros (74.340 euros)
3. Banks - 61.540 euros (63.790 euros)
4. Aviation - 57.410 euros (64.260 euros)
5. Pharmaceutical industry - 56.160 euros (63.430 euros)
6. Automobile industry - 55.860 euros (62.120 euros)
7. Wholesale - 54.150 euros (65.890 euros)

On the other side of the spectrum, where employees are offered the least compensation for their work, we have industries that have been adversely affected by the pandemic. While these are mostly made up of different aspects of the retail sector, hotels, restaurants and call centres have also all been affected by the pandemic – something which is reflected in the rankings. The lowest-paid industries in Germany are:

1. Call centre - 28.920 euros (32.620 euros)
2. Hotels and restaurants - 31.200 euros (36.890 euros)
3. Retail: Groceries - 32.440 euros (37.010 euros)
4. Retail: Other - 33.010 euros (37.980 euros)
5. Retail: Construction and furnishing - 34.110 euros (38.620 euros)
6. Retail: Clothing and textile - 34.260 euros (39.320 euros)
7. Retail: Tech - 35.310 euros (40.420 euros)

Where in Germany can you earn the most money?

As one would probably expect, there is a significant wage gap between the western and eastern federal states. The top five states in terms of median salary are all former West German states. Employees in Germany’s western states earn an average salary of 42.290 euros, a good 22 percent more than the average salary in the eastern states (35.420 euros).

1. Hesse - 47.840 euros (55.020 euros)
2. Baden-Württemberg - 47.810 euros (54.670 euros)
3. Bavaria - 46.800 euros (53.660 euros)
4. Hamburg - 46.800 euros (53.450 euros)
5. North Rhine-Westphalia - 43.940 euros (50.950 euros)

In contrast, the states where employees earn the least are all in eastern Germany.

1. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - 34.320 euros (40.000 euros)
2. Brandenburg - 34.700 euros (41.090 euros)
3. Saxony-Anhalt - 35.360 euros (40.790 euros)
4. Saxony - 36.090 euros (41.640 euros)
5. Thuringia - 36.400 euros (41.670 euros)

Highest salaries by state capital

It probably comes as no surprise that the most lucrative state capitals generally match up with the most lucrative states. While it is Munich that comes out on top in this list, the state capitals for Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia also make the top five, as does the city-state of Hamburg.

1. Munich - 53.890 euros (60.780 euros)
2. Stuttgart - 53.590 euros (60.820 euros)
3. Düsseldorf - 48.880 euros (56.040 euros)
4. Wiesbaden - 48.670 euros (55.020 euros)
5. Hamburg - 46.800 euros (53.450 euros)

Does a degree ensure you a higher salary?

The Salary Report also looked at the salaries of those who had achieved an academic degree, as well as at the salaries of those without an academic degree. Of those with an academic degree, doctors made the most money.

1. Doctors - 78.320 euros (92.600 euros)
2. Finance - 61.150 euros (68.580 euros)
3. Sales - 62.380 euros (70.750 euros)
4. IT - 60.840 euros (65.980 euros)
5. Consulting - 62.120 euros (66.440 euros)

Finance also proved to be a lucrative industry for employees who had not obtained an academic degree.

1. Finance - 43.120 euros (47.490 euros)
2. IT - 42.760 euros (44.980 euros)
3. Staff - 42.010 euros (45.930 euros)
4. Crafts and technical jobs - 41.600 euros (45.250 euros)
5. Sales - 41.450 euros (44.370 euros)