The median gross monthly pay for all full-time employees subject to social security contributions stood at €4,217 in 2025. Compared with 2024, wages and salaries have therefore risen by an average of €203, or 5.1 per cent. The significant increase is mainly attributable to wage increases resulting from higher collective wage agreements.
Salary by gender
While the median pay for men was €4,138, women earned €3,793. The difference amounted to €309, representing a decrease of €21 compared to 2024. This so-called unadjusted gender pay gap has various causes. The different professional fields and industry focuses of women and men play a decisive role here. Family-related career breaks, which are more common among women, also delay or sometimes prevent career advancement and, as a result, higher earnings.
Highest fees in Hamburg, lowest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Based on data on place of work, the highest median earnings were recorded by full-time employees in Hamburg (€4,768), Baden-Württemberg (€4,546) and Hesse (€4,530). The median is lowest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (€3,294), Thuringia (€3,307) and Saxony-Anhalt (€3,353).
Academics were among the top earners
How much employees earn also depends heavily on their qualifications. Whilst people without a vocational qualification earned an average of €3,133, the median pay for employees with a recognised vocational qualification was €4,069. For graduates, the average figure is €6,146.
Age affects pay
With increasing age – which is usually accompanied by greater professional experience – the median pay of employees rises. Employees under the age of 25 earned an average of €3,202, whilst those aged between 25 and 55 earned €4,286. Employees aged 55 and over earned a median salary of €4,362.
Salary Atlas with results by profession
With the publication of the latest figures, the BA Salary Atlas (available in German only) has also been updated accordingly. There, the fees for all professions can be accessed in real time.
You can find detailed information on gross wages on the statistics page of the Federal Employment Agency of Germany (available in German only).
Wichtig:Methodological notes
The BA statistics show median salaries and not "average salaries" in the strict sense. Furthermore, only full-time employees are taken into account. The data is based on social security contributions reported by employers. As wages and salaries are only reported up to the pension insurance contribution assessment ceiling – which stood at €8,050 last year – it is not known for all employees what their actual earnings were. The BA statistics therefore show the median wage, i.e. half of the employees earn a wage below this median wage and half earn a wage above it. The BA always assesses salaries on December 31 for all full-time employees.