Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

JOBS

What are the best paying jobs in France?

For many people, moving to France is more about the quality of life or the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. That said, having some cash in your pocket can't hurt either, so here are the best-paying jobs in France.

Published: 11 June 2020 17:41 CEST
Updated: 30 July 2020 15:30 CEST
What are the best paying jobs in France?
Photo: AFP

The 'rich list' of the best-paying professions has been compiled by L'Observatoire des inégalités (the inequality observatory) using data from the Labour Ministry and statistics body INSEE.

The ranking breaks down salaries by profession for both self-employed and salaried workers. The data is from 2019, so does not take into account the effects of lockdown on business sectors.

The salaries quoted are net salaries, after the French taxman has taken his (fairly hefty) slice of your monthly wage, and take the top 10 percent of earners within the profession.

For salaried employees, these are the best remunerated professions:

  • Transport, logistics and aviation – the top 10 percent of earners take home an average of €6,958 a month
  • Salaried doctors (ie hospital doctors as opposed to GPs who are self employed) – €6,408
  • Banking and insurance – €6,089
  • Engineers and tech employees – €5,924
  • Finance executives – €5,855
  • Commercial executives – €5,736
  • Researchers – €5,461
  • Communications professionals – €5,073
  • Construction executives and managers – €4,977
  • Computer engineers – €4,739

At the top of the list is transport and aviation, a category which includes airline pilots – the best-paid of whom net around €7,000 a month.

Several of the categories listed had a wide range of salaries, particularly the IT sector which showed high pay at the top, but also low salaries for those just starting out.

The report also looked separately at fonctionnaires (civil servants) who also show a wide diversity of salary.

The average earning among the top 10 percent of earners is €3,260 a month. In the top 1 percent of the profession, the average salary rises to €6,410 with the best paid being senior staff in embassies and consulates abroad, who take €13,800 a month.

But if you really want to be making money in France, you need to look at the self-employed workers including the professions libérales – which includes lawyers and doctors.

Among these the highest earners are;

  • Lawyers and accountants – the top 10 percent of earners take home an average of €18,940
  • Doctors and dentists – €17,740
  • Pharmaceutical professionals – €13,430
  • Finance and insurance – €13,410
  • Vets – €10,350
  • Management consultants – €9,420
  • Wholesalers – €8,270
  • Architects and engineers – €8,110
  • Real estate agents – €7,930
  • Communications – €7,800

But while being self-employed is clearly where the real money is, as an employee in France you will enjoy a range of benefits including generous holiday allowance, subsidised healthcare, plenty of days off on public holidays and (for some) extra benefits like restaurant vouchers and subsidised travel.

READ ALSO The perks and benefits of being an employee in France 

 

 

 

Member comments

  1. Researchers earn Euro 5461 in France? I wonder where that stat came from? Possibly only institute directors and heads of R&D in major corporations get to take home that much. Researchers working for CNRS, INRA, INRIA, INSERM and other French agencies, who constitute the bulk of the community, earn far less than that. A CR2 in CNRS, who almost always holds a PhD and usually has several years of post doctoral experience, starts off with a monthly net of 1800 Euros! Researchers are generally, very poorly paid in France compared to other EU countries.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TAXES

Explained: France’s exit tax

Planning on leaving France? You may, depending on your circumstances, be charged the 'exit tax'.

Published: 11 April 2024 11:28 CEST
Explained: France's exit tax

Like some other European countries, France does have an exit tax for those (French or foreign) who are leaving the country. It’s known by the English name l’Exit tax.

However, it won’t affect most people.

Only those who have been tax resident for a minimum six years of the 10 years immediately before they permanently move out of the country are liable to pay an exit tax – if, that is, they own property, titles or rights worth a minimum of €800,000, or that represent 50 percent of a company’s social profits.

If that affects you, the best advice is to seek expert individual financial advice before moving out of France for good. The relevant page on the French government’s impot.gouv.fr website says it is possible to defer payments, and some relief is available.

Because of the relatively high figures involved, this tax is irrelevant for most people. That said, however, you will still have to inform tax authorities that you are moving out of the country because you may still have income, property and capital gains taxes to pay.

Income tax

You must inform the tax office that you are moving and give them your new address so that your tax declarations can be transferred to your new address.

You are liable for tax on everything you earned in France prior to your departure as well as on any French earnings that are taxable in France under international tax treaties that you earned after your departure.

The year of your departure, you declare your previous year’s earnings as normal – declarations in spring 2024 are for earnings in 2023.

A year later, you will have to declare any earnings taxable in France from January 1st up to the date of your departure, and any French-sourced income taxable source until December 31st of the year of your departure.

If you continue to have any French-sourced income – such as from renting out a French property – you will have to declare that income annually, using the non-residents declaration form.

Property taxes

You will have property taxes to pay if you own a French property on January 1st of any given year – whether it is occupied or not. 

Property tax bills come out in the autumn, but they refer to the situation on January 1st of that year, so even if you sell your property you will usually have the pay a final property tax bill the following year.

Moreover, if you receive income from property in France or have rights related to that property (such as shared ownership or stock in property companies), as well as any additional revenue connected to the property, during the year you leave France, you will be required to pay taxes on these earnings.

If any property assets in France exceed €1.3 million on January 1st of a given year, you may also have to pay the wealth tax (IFI).

READ ALSO What is France’s wealth tax and who pays it?

Manual widget for ML (class=”ml-manual-widget-container”)

Capital gains tax 

If you sell your French property or share of a French property, you may be liable for capital gains tax at a rate of 19 percent. It will also be subject to social security contributions at the overall rate of 17.2 percent.

Capital gains tax varies depending on how long you have owned the property and whether it was a second home or your main residence.

READ ALSO How much capital gains tax will I have to pay if I sell my French property?

The good news is, if you move to another EU country, or any country that has a specific tax agreement with France, you may be exempt from capital gains tax for non-resident sellers on the sale of a property that was your principal residence in France.

If you move elsewhere, you may be able to claim exemption on capital gains tax up to €150,000. As always, you should seek expert financial advice.

Tell Social Security

Inform social security that you are leaving France permanently – and return your carte vitale if you have one. If you do not, you may be liable for any benefits you receive to which you are no longer entitled.

More mundane tasks involve informing utility and water companies, your internet provider, if you have one, the phone company, your insurance companies, banks – and La Poste, who will be able to forward your mail for up to 12 months, for a fee…

SHOW COMMENTS