The highest-paying professions in Germany as of October 2023 have been revealed through data published by several job search and recruitment platforms. When it comes to choosing a profession, numerous factors need to be considered, but one of them—potential income—is often the most crucial.
Although discussing one's income openly in Germany is still somewhat of a taboo, you no longer have to inquire about others' earnings to find out how much professionals in various fields make, thanks to a recent study conducted by online job portals.
Related topic: 7 unusual jobs that pay well but few know about
Job search site kununu, employment portal Stepstone, and recruiting agency Robert Half recently released the results of their research on the highest-paying professions in the country.
Here is how they are distributed.
The highest-paying professions in Germany
Career site kununu regularly compiles salary data for representatives of various professions in Germany. The current database contains over two million salary reports covering 900 different professions.
The latest report revealed that the highest-paying profession in Germany is medical consultants, with an average annual salary of €85,800. Medical consultants are experts in the field of medicine and science, bridging the gap between medical practice and scientific research.
They are followed by pilots, earning an average of €85,700 per year, and doctors, whose annual salary averages €84,300.
According to kununu's research, here are the top 10 highest-paying professions in Germany with their average annual salaries:
- Medical Consultant - €85,800.
- Pilot - €85,700.
- Doctor - €84,300.
- Management Consultant - €82,500.
- Project Manager - €82,400.
- Lawyer - €82,400.
- Programmer - €82,300.
- Department Head - €80,600.
- Legal Counsel - €79,700.
- New Channel Sales Manager - €78,700.
While average earnings are an important factor for job seekers, considering the potential for salary growth is also crucial. The potential for salary growth depends not only on the industry but also on the personal qualities of the employee and their negotiation skills with employers.
Although comprehensive data on salary growth may be limited, recruiting agency Robert Half has gathered information on over a thousand salaries, providing insights into 16 professions with the most significant salary growth.
Leading the list are IT consultants, whose salaries increase on average by 83% from the initial level to the level of a highly skilled specialist. Tax inspector assistants experience an average salary growth of 79% throughout their careers, while Scrum Masters' (leaders of agile projects, often working in the IT sector) salaries increase by an average of 76%.
Legal consultant positions appear to be an attractive career choice as they are present in both lists, offering both a high initial salary and significant income growth (72%).
The highest-paying professions in Germany: average salaries
In addition to the average salary, calculated by summing all salaries and dividing by the number of data entries, another important indicator for comparing salaries is the median. This is because extremely high or low earnings can significantly impact the average salary.
On the other hand, the median represents the middle value in the dataset. In simpler terms, it is the point where half of the salaries are below, and half are above.
Stepstone, the employment portal, conducted an analysis of over 560,000 salary data points and identified an average gross salary of €53,118 and a median salary of €43,842 across Germany.
According to Stepstone's research, doctors remain among the highest-paid professions, with a median salary of €93,800, more than twice the country's average salary. Among other highly paid professions are consulting professionals (€54,000 per year), engineers (€52,600), and IT professionals (€52,000).
According to Stepstone's data, here are the top 10 highest-paying professions and professional groups in Germany with both average and median annual salaries.
Professions and specialist groups:
- Doctors: €93,793 (median) €97,983 (mean).
- Consulting: €53,956, €60,398.
- Engineers: €52,577, €58,309.
- IT: €52,045, €58,851.
- Marketing and PR: €49,249, €57,400.
- Banking, Finance, and Insurance: €48,415, €59,997.
- Human Resources Management: €46,738, €56,130.
- Sales: €43,605, €53,419.
- Trade: €39,956, €42,578.
- Healthcare and Social Services: €38,139, €42,435.
Work experience correlates with salary
It's no secret that newcomers to a profession earn less than experienced veterans. According to Stepstone, on average, the difference between entry-level employees and experienced workers is almost €15,000.
An employee with less than a year of experience earns an average of €35,003. In contrast, an employee with 11 to 25 years of experience earns an average of €49,969 per year.
Here are the average salarises:
- Less than one year: €35,003.
- 1-2 years: €36,166.
- 3-5 years: €40,043.
- 6-10 years: €44,374.
- 11-25 years: €49,328.
Salary comparison in Germany - leading industries 2023
The Stepstone study also revealed that the highest-paying industry in Germany is the banking sector, where the annual gross salary is approximately €57,631. The aerospace industry takes the second spot with a median salary of €56,153 per year.
Here are the top 5 leading industries with median and mean salaries:
- Banking: €57,631 (median), €65,950 (mean).
- Aerospace Industry: €56,153, €64,209.
- Pharmaceuticals: €54,822, €65,043.
- Insurance: €53,852, €62,202.
- Automotive: €52,284, and €63,101.
On the other hand, in industries such as the hotel business (€34,195), agriculture and forestry, fishing, and horticulture (€36,141), the annual remuneration is the lowest.
Related topics:
Salaries in Germany for the medical consultant profession are particularly high, with an average annual salary of €85,800 as indicated by the latest report from career site kununu. Interestingly, doctors and pilots also rank among the highest-paid professions in Germany, earning annual salaries of €84,300 and €85,700 respectively.
