The minimum wage and average salaries in Germany in 2025

As an expat, your job is often what takes you abroad. Therefore, it is crucial that you understand your rights within the labor law of your new home country, including how much you should earn. Fortunately, if you happen to be moving to Germany, the labor laws are fairly straightforward and the country has clear legislation surrounding the nation’s minimum wage.

To help you gain a better understanding, this article includes the following information:

The minimum wage in Germany

The official minimum wage in Germany is €12.82 per hour (January 2025). Germany’s monthly minimum wage is €2,161 in 2025, the fourth-highest in the European Union, after Luxembourg, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Germany was one of the last European countries to adopt a minimum wage of €8.50 per hour in 2015, under the Minimum Wage Act (Mindestlohngesetz). The Minimum Wage Commission assesses the minimum wage level at least once every two years, sometimes more often.

Minimum wage in Germany amounts to about 45% of average monthly earnings, placing it in the middle of the table compared to other European countries.

What counts towards minimum wage in Germany?

Only monetary payments count towards minimum wage. Benefits in kind are not permitted. However, the following does count:

• Allowances under an employment contract
• Performance-based premiums
• Unusual working hours, overtime, and difficult conditions
• Accommodation for seasonal workers

Minimum wage in Germany: exclusions and variations

Although the government sets the official minimum wage in Germany, there are some people who receive different amounts.

Below, you can see how it applies to different groups of workers:

Type of worker	Does minimum wage apply?	Notes
Self-employed worker	No
Those re-entering the job market after more than 12 months of unemployment	No	These workers are not legally entitled to the minimum wage in the first six months of employment.
Part-time workers	Yes	The minimum wage is calculated on an hourly basis.
Temporary and seasonal workers	Yes
Interns	It depends	You can find out whether a minimum wage applies to your internship on the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs website.
Those in vocational training (Ausbildung)	Yes – at a lower rate	People in vocational training receive remuneration, but the rate depends on your profession and experience level.
Workers aged 13–18	No

Minimum wage variations by sector in Germany

Germany also sets several industry-specific minimum wages, which are higher than the general official minimum wage. You can find a complete list of these roles on the German Federal Statistics Office (Statistisches Bundesamt – De Statis) website, but they include the following pay requirements from 2025:

Sector/role	Usual minimum hourly wage	Minimum hourly wage for skilled/with additional qualifications (if applicable)
Temporary employment agency	€14.53
Teaching staff	€19.37	€19.96
Roofing	€14.35	€16.00
Electrical	€14.41
Scaffolding	€13.95
Painting and varnishing	€13.00	€15.00
Nursing	€15.50	€16.50 (€19.50 if skilled with additional qualifications)
Chimney sweep	€14.50

Minimum wages in these sectors are negotiated by unions and employers through collective bargaining.

Minimum wage calculator in Germany

The German government provides a minimum wage calculator where you can check your monthly and hourly earnings against pay regulations.

Paylab also allows you to check whether your earnings are in line with the average for your role.

Salaries and wages for international workers in Germany

The amount that expats can expect to make in Germany depends on the field they work in and their level of skills and expertise. As a result, the average salary for international workers varies significantly.

Internationals comprise 15.3% of Germany’s workforce (2023). The sectors with the highest proportion of foreign workers are as follows:

• Cleaning
• Food production
• Civil and structural engineering
• Tourism and restaurant businesses
• Transport and logistics (excluding drivers)

On average, foreigners earn €3,034 gross per month, compared to €3,945 for German workers. The highest-earning workers come from India (€5,359), the United States (€5,095), and Austria (€5,083).

Average salary in Germany

In April 2024, the average salary of full-time employees in Germany amounted to €27.88 per hour, €4,634 monthly, or €55,608 per year. This is high compared to most other European countries.

In fact, Germany had the sixth-highest salary in the European Union in 2023. Moreover, this figure has been steadily increasing each year.

The federal states in Germany with the highest annual median incomes in 2024 were:

• Hamburg: €52,000
• Baden-Württemberg: €50,250
• Hessen: €50,250
• Bavaria: €50,000

Meanwhile, those with the lowest were:

• Thuringia: €40,250
• Saxony-Anhalt: €39,750
• Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: €39,500

Average salary in Germany by sector

According to De Statis, the sectors with the best average monthly pay for full-time workers were as follows:

• Financial and insurance activities: €6,182
• Information and communication: €5,955
• Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply: €5,789
• Professional, scientific, and technical activities: €5,681

Meanwhile, these industries represented the lower end of the scale:

• Accommodation and food service: €3,042
• Agricultural, forestry, and fishing: €3,133
• Administrative and support services: €3636

What are the highest-paying jobs in Germany?

The German Federal Employment Agency lists the following professions as having the highest average pay:

Role	Average salary
Vehicle driving in air traffic	€7,100+
Management and board of directors	€7,100+
Human and dental medicine	€7,100+
Technical Research and Development	€6,690
Economists	€6,217

Salaries also vary by experience level, with median earnings as follows:

• Trainee: €2,720
• Skilled worker: €3,519
• Specialists: €4,794
• Experts: €6,057

Salary checker in Germany

The German Federal Employment Agency provides a salary checker tool where you can look up the average salary in different regions for your (prospective) role.

Furthermore, websites like Glassdoor can help you compare wages between companies. You can also explore honest reviews from current and former employees.

Gender pay gap in Germany

Despite being one of the world’s largest economies there is still a significant gender pay gap in Germany. For instance, in 2024, women earned 16% less per hour than their male counterparts. Moreover, this has only decreased by 7% since 2006, showing slow progress in the area of equality.

Unfortunately, the gender pay gap exists across multiple industries in the country, as well as different types of employment contracts, and skill levels. The gap ranges from 3% in the transport and storage sector to a whopping 26% in finance and insurance.

Germany has the fourth-highest pay gap in Europe after Estonia, Austria, and Czechia. By contrast, Luxembourg and Italy have the lowest: -0.7% and 4.3%, respectively.

What to do if you’re not being paid the minimum wage

German labor law is explicit about the national minimum wage. Therefore, if your employer pays you less than €12.82, they can face legal consequences.

In the first instance, you should contact your employer in writing to request your proper wage after verbally requesting it. However, if this yields no result, you can go to a local Advice Center which will be able to advise you on your legal rights.

If this yields no results, you can take legal action against them through the Labor Court.

This is a fairly straightforward process and can be done with or without a lawyer. However, just keep in mind that the official language in the court is German. Therefore, you may need to ask a local friend to accompany you and help you communicate.

You must complete and submit a claim form in German and send it to the Labour Court by post or fax, along with supporting documents such as your employment contract, list of hours, and identity card.

If the employer still refuses to pay you the minimum wage in Germany, they are in violation of the country’s labor law and are liable to receive a fine or even imprisonment through the local Financial Control of Illegal Employment (FKS).

What to do if your salary is too low in Germany

German labor law aims to protect workers from unfair practices, including discriminatory wages. The General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz – AGG) prohibits discrimination in the workplace and daily life. If you believe that you are receiving a lower salary due to discrimination, you have several options.

Your employer should have an internal AGG complaints body that you can contact. Otherwise, you should share your concerns with management or your company’s Human Resources department.

If this does not resolve matters, you may need to take legal action – in this case, you must tell your employer within two months of the most recent discriminatory incident occurring, and you then have another three months to file the suit.

Make sure to keep hold of as much evidence as possible. If your wages are discriminatory, this means being able to prove that other colleagues in the same position, with the same responsibilities, and the same working conditions are earning more than you.

If your claim is successful, you may be entitled to a salary adjustment and a backdated pay increase.

Useful resources

• Federal Anti-discrimination Agency – FAQs about discrimination in the workplace
• Federal Employment Agency – salary checker
• Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – practical information on Germany’s minimum wage