Salary in Berlin – this is how much you should get paid
Salary in Berlin is always a difficult topic to address. It’s hard to talk about it with your boss or with your fellow employees. In general, people also tend to keep the figure to themselves, probably because they are afraid of being underpaid, overpaid or even making other people jealous. I guess it depends on your cultural background as well. Where i come from, you tend to keep it to yourself.
However, this is wrong as it sometimes plays out in favor of the employer, who takes advantage of the lack of information to negotiate a lower salary than what you deserve. This post is aiming at correcting this in favor of you, the employee. Better informed, you will be in a better situation to negotiate your next wage or your next raise.
Incomplete information plays in favor of the employer during negotiation, so stay smart and do your research
Unfortunately, there won’t be the exact data fitting to your profile, field of expertise, level of experience, qualifications or diplomas. However, gathering a few figures will help you a lot to decide how much you should ask for. Try to think those as a way to put your self somewhere on a graph, like this :
All figures below are average yearly gross salaries.
How much experienced people should get paid in Berlin
A 2021 study by Stepstone, a leading job-board for skilled workers & managers, has revealed some interesting facts about current state of affairs depending on the job category. It gives away a simple fact already: a salary in Berlin is lower than the national average. Here are some examples.
| Job category | Berlin average (€) | National average (€) |
|---|---|---|
| Engineers & technical jobs | 56 888 | 62 564 |
| IT | 56 746 | 59 870 |
| Marketing & PR | 55 046 | 60 174 |
| Sales | 55 958 | 59 691 |
| HR | 53 686 | 58 029 |
| Finance, Banking, Insurance | 62 624 | 66 786 |
| Purchasing & Logistics | 49 163 | 50 358 |
| Care & Therapy | 43 476 | 45 724 |
| Average – all | 53 408 | 56 985 |
Before you get spooked by the figures, bear in mind that those numbers are taken from relatively experienced profiles, including commissions & other additional bonuses.
What could explain such a gap in wages between Berlin & the rest of the country ?
Lower cost of living could be a reason (at least, it used to be the case). Also the city’s economy is more & more driven by start-ups which tend to pay employees less, mechanically reducing the average wage, especially for sales, marketing & HR. Let’s not forget the impact of expats such as us. There has been a massive influx of well educated profiles coming from abroad leading to an increased competition between applicants. An abundance of qualified workers tend to keep the average salary in Berlin down too. That holds true for other high-skilled workers coming from other parts of Germany as well.
How much junior profiles should get paid in Berlin
Are you only starting your career and looking for a junior position ? Another study from 2021 by the same company is having a closer look at the numbers for young professionals.
For junior roles with academic backgrounds, this is the average starting salary in Berlin, based on major:
| Studies | Berlin average (€) |
|---|---|
| Humanities | 34 646 |
| IT | 45 292 |
| Natural sciences | 44 474 |
| Engineering sciences | 44 938 |
| Psychology, sociology | 39 738 |
| Business & economics | 40 427 |
| Average – all | 41 670 |
Again here, bear in mind that those numbers are including commissions & other additional bonuses. The data is taken from profiles with less than 2 years of experience. No surprise here as well; the more technical your profile is, the better you chances are to get a good salary in Berlin at the end of the month.
For junior roles, the starting salaries are also more dependent on the size of the company
There is an additional component for young professionals to consider when starting your work life. The difference is of salary in Berlin is even greater depending on how big your company is. Bigger companies tend to agree to a higher starting salary as this other study from 2012 points out (sorry, can’t find more recent date).
| Company size | Average starting salary (€) |
|---|---|
| 1 to 10 employees | 35 000 |
| 10-99 employees | 37 000 |
| 100 to 999 employees | 39 000 |
| 1000+ employees | 42 000 |
Those are nation-wide figures so apply the usual 10-15% decrease to obtain a Berlin-realistic value.
A 2016 study over 2000 respondents by job portal Berlin Startup jobs also uncovered the following matrix. It is a nice summary across experience and fields for working in start-ups in Berlin. Read more about the study here.
Salary in Berlin: how much should I get paid as a developer
The excellent job matching platform for programmers Honeypot has released a study in 2021 focusing on tech jobs in Germany. There is data about Berlin too by maximum, average and minimum for different roles. Quite relevant stuff. The infographic is way too long to feature here but here is the original post.
Here are the key insights though:
- Tech professionals with 8 or more years experience earn more on average in Berlin than they do in Hamburg.
- On average, the highest paying tech role in Germany for engineers with 6 to 8 years experience is DevOps.
- Berlin remains the most attractive city for developers in Germany
How much should I get paid when I don’t speak German so well
This might get closer to a figure you had in the back of the mind. However, we have to dig a bit deeper here and not fool ourselves. We all know that when you don’t speak German fluently, the chances to get a good salary decrease a little bit more. The reason is simple; there are far more expats in Berlin that don’t speak German proficiently than expats who can indeed use German in the work place. As a result, even more people are fighting for those english-speaking-only jobs. (As mentioned here already: yes, the key to a real job & career is learning German.)
When you can’t use German in the workplace, the chances of a better wage will likely decrease
The closest data i could find to explore this particular sub-segment of people is a study from early 2016 made by another job-board Taledo.com In this study, we learn more what people who want to work in start-ups expect to earn. The data sample is albeit less reliable because it focuses on start-ups profiles only and it’s an Europa-wide study. However, many people coming to Berlin who don’t speak German often end-up working for start-ups, so it stays relevant to a certain degree.
Here are the findings for this group:
| Experience level | Expected salary (€) |
|---|---|
| Junior roles | 29 500 |
| Senior roles | 39 800 |
| Manager positions | 42 400 |
| Head of, C-level | 61 000 |
On a more personal note, a tip or two:
I have had the opportunity in my career to be in the position of hiring workers, which leads me to give you the following observation :
- More often than you would think, applicants under-estimate their worth and set a lower salary expectation than what they could actually ask for. Just bear in mind that the figure you will ask during your interview is also a way for the recruiter to assess how your perceive your value, and whether or not you are confident in it.
- Don’t get fooled by all the “perks” to compensate for a lower salary in Berlin. A free MacBook & all-you-can-eat breakfast do not replace a proper wage.
- If some performance-based system is planned, make sure it’s also in the contract, with the right % or amount.
- Equity sounds like a good deal, but sometimes is not. Trust this guy, he knows.
How to check for a specific company or a specific role at a company
If you want to make research on a particular company to know how much they pay their employees, you can use employer review website such as Glassdoor and Kununu which has data from past and current employees as well as prospective candidates.
I highly recommend to check Gehalt.de as well (“Gehalt” means “salary”) which also has up to date information.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, there is no single source to turn to so if you know one that’s relevant to Berlin & up-to-date, do let me know so i can add it here. I would also love your thoughts.
How to calculate your net salary
When you find the job of your dreams that pays well, you might wonder how much of your salary will land on your bank account after all German income tax and contributions are paid. You can also use this net salary calculator for Germany for that.
Why not posting in the comment section what you earn describing your role & level of experience & company size ? That might help others out.
The information on Junior pay is extremely outdated as of 2022 – it has gone up a lot! Please also check out Robert Half’s salary guide for Germany (unfortunately only in German). https://www.roberthalf.de/gehalt/start
Hey Joni. Thanks the input. This page is due an update for 2023. I will use your resource. thanks.
this place is a joke. don’t forget to factor in the crazy taxation!
Yikes, how do people survive in Berlin on such awful salaries? Rents are going up a lot and salaries dont seem to be keeping pace. I considered staying in Berlin but these low low salaries make Berlin like San Francisco.
I’ve lived in Berlin for a year, came with a full-time employment contract. I have a Bachelor and postgrad certificate in my field (no master). I am at “manager” level, but I don’t have a team under me. My starting salary was 60k – so I’m not really sure where this article got these prices for, but for anyone looking to move to Berlin, I think the key is looking at larger companies that are present in more than just Germany. There are plenty of jobs and the cost of living here is super low – so the quality of life is great. Cheers, E.
Do you think having a Master degree and 7 years of expereince in Multination company could help me to get closer to 80k? I’m about to apply to another well-known multination company. BTW what about the taxes? I’m 32 w/o kids.
Thanks!
Hey M. Yes, probably. Depends. Here is about income tax in Germany.
Just a comment about German skills and salary based on personal experience.
Unless you are required to interface with German customers/suppliers/contractors/etc, and all other things being equal, employers will end up taking the non-German speaking person because they don’t want to pay more for your German skills.
People don’t talk about their salary because they’re not allowed to, contractually. That’s a standard clause (not just for start-ups).
That’s an interesting comment. I have never signed such contracts, didn’t know it existed. Is there a link to a standard contract template to illustrate this?
I also find the whole concept of “Gehaltsvorstellung” pretty strange und unintuitive. When companies decide to hire, there is already a budget set aside so they know how much they can / want to pay you already. If market value / contractual obligations were really the problem they could post a range to set the applicants’ expectations.
I guess the problem with posting the salary (range) could be that:
1) If a current employee is getting paid lower than the budget amount, he might end up asking for more, or simply quit when a better offer comes along.
2) There are always candidates who offer themselves at lower-than-budget/market salary.
I have to reply to this super-old comment because it is something that I am very passionate about.
Yes, it often is in your contract but THAT IS ILLEGAL! Your employer is not allowed to do that by German law!
There are certain exceptions like in the case of top managers. There it would be bad for the company if the competition knew their salary.
But the usual employee is allowed to talk about their salary to anyone they want!
Employers do this specifically to prevent you from comparing your salaries.
This way they can pay you way less then your co-workers and nobody will ever notice!
Yup. It amazes me how the whole “you’re not allowed to talk about your wage/salary” thing continues to this day when it’s just a flat lie. Interesting to see it’s not just a US phenomenon either.
Hey Sophie, do you have a source or specifics for this? I like the idea of organising _within_ companies to expose pay discrimination, but I’m not entirely sure if there’s legal protections for sharing your salary info with your colleagues, even if it’s expressly forbidden by the law.
let’s start a discussion about why employees are legally prevented from sharing their salary information with others.
Hey Adam. Not in Germany; it’s allowed.
hey,
just out of curiosity, are we talking about gross wages here? please also explains what kinda deductions we expect from gross salary?
Hi Azeem, as mentioned in the post: “All figures below are average yearly gross salaries.”. Deductions depend on your situation (kids, married, income, etc).
Also for the junior data? I need a bit of help..I am applying for a job in a Stiftung, it’s an entry-level, the field is energy transition. I’m completely clueless on how much should I ask 😀 I have an MA.. Advice pls 🙂 (I have an internship and couple of months of work in a relevant insitution)
For a decent salary, then 30% or more is gonna go in deductions.
Kununu is also a good resource for checking the company beforehead – at least what former and actual employees say 🙂 But yes, it is almost all in German… https://www.kununu.com
I find your estimates pretty accurate actually, well done!
Hi Monica. Thanks for the suggestion. I already mentioned Kununu elsewhere on the blog but didn’t put it here. It’s done now!
Stepstone research table seams correct, according to several people that I know in Berlin 🙂
I second you, the Berlin table is even valid for 2017. In my experience people applying for jobs should expect exactly the same amount otherwise they will not get the job.
Hi, I am being interviewed at a company in berlin for junior data engineer and i have experience of around 3 years… what can I expect as a salry. The INTERVIEWERS have accepted my caliber n knowledge is bit higher acc to the job profile but since its a junior position how much can i expect ?
Prateek do your research yourself. You’re a “data engineer”, do you need help making a basic salary research? Or maybe your time is more important than ours?
It’s funny “prateek” means “practical” in French but you are not very pratique.
In my research about my potential salary, I’ve found the following website: http://www.payscale.com/research/DE/Country=Germany/Salary
As far as I’ve been able to tell it seems more or less accurate. I’ve gotten lost exploring my profession in different countries.