The Stepstone Group

Press release Analysis of over 1 million salary data shows the top salaries in Germany An annual income of 80,000 euros is enough for the top 10% – large regional differences Top earners mainly in Hamburg, Hesse and the south of Germany Top salaries not only for executives — highly qualified employees achieve high salaries DÜSSELDORF, April 15th 2025 — Salary is often the most important factor when deciding on a job. Using data from the 2025 salary report, The Stepstone Group has now analyzed the income level at which full-time employees in Germany can count themselves among the highest earners. The data also shows the regions and occupations that offer high salaries. The result: anyone in Germany who wants to be among the top ten percent of earners needs to earn 80,000 euros – and 97,000 euros is required for the top five percent. Anyone who earns 143,750 euros a year belongs to the highest-earning one percent of employees.

Upper 1 percent	Upper 5 percent	Upper 10 percent	Median
143,750 euros	97,000 euros	80,000 euros	45,800 euros

With these salaries, full-time employees in Germany are among the highest earners (gross median salary) – Stepstone Salary Report 2025 High salaries in Hamburg, Hesse and southern Germany
In the strong economic areas, salaries are booming. The highest gross median salaries are paid in Hamburg (52,000 euros), Baden-Württemberg (50,250 euros), Hesse (50,250 euros) and Bavaria (50,000 euros) – well above the German national median of 45,800 euros. A significantly higher salary is required to be among the top earners in these regions. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, employees in the top ten percent have to earn over 61,750 euros, while in North Rhine-Westphalia, they have to crack 79,000 euros. “Top earners are mainly found in the economically strong metropolitan areas. Many global companies are based there, shaping Germany's image in the world and competing for top talent. Factors such as specialization, personnel responsibility, university degree and industry increase the chance of a top salary,” says Dr. Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert at The Stepstone Group. Even without staff responsibility, top salaries are possible
Top executives bear responsibility, lead large teams and manage multi-million budgets and can expect the highest salaries. However, not only executives earn above-average salaries — highly specialized professionals can also earn well over 100,000 euros a year without staff responsibility The highest salaries without staff responsibility are earned by doctors (radiologists 121,750 euros, anesthetists 103,000 euros), consultants (principal consultant 101,250 euros), lawyers (senior legal counsel 105,000 euros, patent attorneys 106,500 euros) IT specialists also benefit from the high demand for tech specialists. These include, for example, enterprise architects (102,750 euros), senior solution architects (102,250 euros) and lead engineers (91,750 euros). “In the international competition for the best specialists to drive the German economy forward, companies will continue to pay high salaries. These are, for example, specialists in the pharma and biotech, aerospace and defense industries, as well as experts in the sustainable technology transformation. Positions involving artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are already in high demand. As our society continues to age, the healthcare sector will also play an increasingly important role”, says Dr. Tobias Zimmermann. Data and methodology
For the top earners report, more than 1 million compensation data points from the Stepstone Salary Report 2025 were analyzed to present the gross median salaries of the top 1, 5 and 10 percent of full-time employees in Germany at the federal and state level. In addition, the salaries of employees without supervisory responsibilities were analyzed. The values are rounded to the nearest 250 euros for better readability. All data was reviewed and weighted by our compensation consultants. About the Stepstone salary planner
The job platform Stepstone offers not only the annual Stepstone Salary Report but also other services related to salaries. These include the Stepstone Salary Planner, for which job experts and market researchers have developed an algorithm that provides a very accurate personal salary forecast based on the most important salary drivers (e.g. industry, job, experience). Further information is available at: www.stepstone.de/gehaltsplaner
What is the median salary? And how does it differ from the average salary?
The average is calculated by adding up all the values and then dividing them by the number of data records. The average value can be distorted by extremely high or low values. For a better understanding of the average value, it is therefore helpful to compare it with the median. The median is the value that lies exactly in the middle of all the values. This means that there are exactly the same number of salaries that are lower and higher than the median salary. About the Stepstone Salary Report 2025
The Stepstone Salary Report 2025 is built on one of the largest salary databases in Germany with salary information by location and region, occupational group, industry, professional experience and much more. The Salary Report 2025 is representative of the working population at national and state level according to the criteria of age, gender, university degree and economic sector. The salary figures are not directly comparable with those from previous years. This is due to changes in the evaluation methodology and the composition of the sample. About The Stepstone Group 
The Stepstone Group is a leading global digital recruitment platform that connects companies with the right talent and helps people find the right job. AI-driven job marketplaces and programmatic-powered marketing solutions connect about 140 million job applications with around 140,000 employers every year. In 2024, The Stepstone Group generated revenue of over €900 million. The Stepstone Group operates in more than 30 countries - including Stepstone in Germany, Appcast in the USA and Totaljobs in the UK. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany and employs around 3,500 people worldwide. For more information: www.thestepstonegroup.com/english Contact The Stepstone Group media relations team press@stepstone.com