4.6 Million German Workers Earn Below €2,750 as East-West Pay Gap Persists
Published on 06/18/2026 at 22:43 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
More than 4.6 million full-time employees in Germany earn less than €2,750 a month gross, data from the Stepstone Gehaltsreport 2026 shows. That represents roughly one in five of the country’s workforce and exposes a deep regional fracture. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the lowest-paying state, every third full-time worker falls below that threshold. At the top of the pay table sits Hamburg, where the median monthly salary reaches €4,527.
The national median gross salary stands at €53,900 a year. But the spread between sectors and regions remains enormous. Sachsen-Anhalt illustrates the gap from another angle: its disposable per-capita income rose 4.6% in 2024 to €26,297, outpacing the national average growth of 3.7% to €30,069. Yet the state still reaches only 87.5% of the federal benchmark. Bavaria, the leader, posted €31,525 per capita in 2023.
Doctors and IT Experts Top the Earnings Ladder
Anyone aiming for a six-figure salary in Germany is best off in medicine or technology. Physicians routinely break the €100,000 mark. IT consultants earn a median €106,750, while AI developers start at around €92,000. In banking, the typical salary sits at roughly €70,250.
Managers across all industries earn roughly 21% more than staff without supervisory duties. And 69% of companies now give special pay premiums for deep specialist knowledge, according to a separate survey by Robert Half.
Industry Shrinks as Wage Premium Erodes
The industrial sector is in the middle of a long-term slump. A joint study by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW) found that manufacturing employed just 6.6 million people, a ten-year low. Its share of total employment dropped from 22% in 2014 to 19% today.
The wage advantage that industry once offered new hires has narrowed sharply. Entry-level pay in manufacturing exceeded that of other sectors by 20.4% a decade ago. By 2024, that premium had shrunk to 10.4%. The main reason: companies are hesitating to fill open positions.
At the same time, the labour market faces a demographic shock. Roughly 20 million baby boomers are set to leave the workforce by 2036. The IW projects that will reduce the overall labour pool by 4.3 million people. The hardest-hit states are Saarland, Saxony and Bavaria.
Pay Transparency Stalls After EU Directive
The EU Pay Transparency Directive was meant to bring clarity. Its implementation deadline in Germany passed on 7 June 2026, but the impact has been muted. In the first quarter of 2026, only 23% of job ads listed concrete salary figures. The logistics sector showed the highest rate; marketing and PR brought up the rear with just 14%.
Pensions Rise in July
For retirees, there is a bright spot. Pensions will increase by 4.24% on 1 July 2026. That translates into a monthly boost of €77.85 for a standard pension after 45 contribution years. After deductions, the average payout will then be €1,289. The government has extended a floor that guarantees a pension level of 48% until 2031. Without that safety net, the increase would have been only 4.05%.
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