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WORKING IN DENMARK

What wages can you expect to earn in Denmark?

At an average of €46.90/hour, workers in Denmark earn the highest hourly wage in the European Union. But how do different professions stack up?

Published: 26 July 2022 14:55 CEST
What wages can you expect to earn in Denmark?
Unfortunately, a fat bundle of 50's doesn't get very far in kroner. Photo: Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Scanpix 2016

Using Statistics Denmark data from 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, the Local Denmark has compiled a table with a sampling of average salaries across industries. We’ve rounded to the nearest hundred kroner and used the average exchange rate for 2020 to determine yearly salary in euros (again rounding to the nearest hundred euros). 

And remember, these numbers are before SKAT — the Danish tax agency — takes its cut. Income tax rates in Denmark are progressive and vary based on where you live, with Copenhagen income taxes ranging from a floor of 37 percent to a maximum of 53 percent. 

READ MORE: Why is Denmark opposed to an EU minimum wage? 

Service Industry and Tourism 

Snopes, the viral internet fact-checking site, famously validated claims that Danish McDonald’s workers in Denmark earn over US$20 an hour, which many Americans rejected as impossible. But possible it is — waiters and bartenders make an average of more than 26,000 kroner a month, and all without tips! 

Waiters and bartenders 26,800 kroner/month  €43,100 per year
Cleaners (private, hotel, and office) 29,000  €46,700
Hotel managers  49,500  €79,600
Restaurant managers  61,800  €99,400
Hotel receptionists  31,000  €49,900

READ MORE: What’s the tipping culture in Denmark? 

Healthcare 

As of the first quarter of 2022, just under 198,000 people in Denmark were working in healthcare, accounting for seven percent of the entire labour force. Nurses are in particular demand after a wave of resignations following strikes in summer of 2021. 

Medical doctors 63,600 kroner/month €102,300 per year
Specialists  87,800  €141,200
Nurses 42,200 €67,900
Midwives  41,000  €65,900
Dentists  61,200  €98,400
Pharmacists 65,500  €105,400
Psychologists 48,300  €77,700

READ MORE: Denmark must do more to avoid shortage of nurses: health authority

Education 

Denmark offers public education for toddlers all the way though to graduate students, and has the bills to back it up. In 2020, Denmark invested more than 6 percent of its total GDP in education, according to Eurostat. 

University and higher education teachers   49,600 kroner/month €79,800 per year
Vocational education teacher  43,700  €70,300
Secondary education teachers  50,300  €80,900
Primary school  and early childhood  41,000  €66,000
Language teachers 47,500  €76,400

Creative Industries  

International hits like Borgen and the Chestnut Man have made Danish actors household names. But screenwriters, producers and other industry creatives have been pushing for fairer rights-sharing and compensation agreements with streaming giants like Netflix — with mixed results. 

Photographers  39,000 kroner/month €62,700 / year
Authors, journalists and linguists  49,000  €78,800
Graphic and multimedia designers 40,400 €65,000
Public relations 48,400 €77,900
Advertising and marketing  49,000 €78,800
Film, stage, and related directors and producers 43,900 €70,600

READ MORE: How streaming is pushing Danish film to breaking point 

Technology and IT 

Software developers  57,600 kroner/month €92,700 / year
Web and multimedia developers  47,700 €76,700
Applications programmers  60,000 €96,500

Engineering 

Just like any other country, engineers in Denmark take home a tidy sum, with mining engineers leading the pack. 

Mechanical Engineers 59,000 kroner/month €94,900 / year
Chemical Engineers 65,000 €104,600
Mining engineers, metallurgists and related professionals  82,600 €132,900
Electronics engineers  61,200 €98,400

READ MORE: How can you get a work permit in Denmark if you are not an EU national 

Miscellaneous 

To round out our list, we’ve chosen some roles you might encounter in your everyday life, or in a Richard Scarry illustration. You can explore the full data sheet provided by Statistics Denmark here. 

Lawyers 65,600 €105,500 / year
Air traffic controllers  72,000 €115,800
Airplane pilots 81,600 €131,300
Veterinarians  53,000 €85,300
Police officers 42,700 €68,700
Building and related trades workers (excluding electricians) 38,200 €61,500
Painters 34,200 €55,000
Car, taxi and van drivers  30,100 €48,400
Garbage and recycling collectors 39,000 €62,700
Bus and tram drivers 32,500 €52,279

Member comments

  1. Last time you showed this data there was one simple spreadsheet. So, far I cannot get anything to come out of the page with all the choices.

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For members

WORK PERMITS

EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Want to intern at the elite restaurant Noma, at the architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, as a vet or as a nurse? Here's what you need to know.

Published: 28 March 2024 14:51 CET
EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Denmark has a special scheme for foreigners offered work in the country as interns, with different rules for those employed in architecture, healthcare, farming or veterinary jobs, or other sectors such as the natural sciences, technical fields, the pharmaceutical sector, or culture.

As an intern, you can get a permit to work in Denmark and a residency permit without having to earn any salary whatsoever, let alone secure the generous pay levels required to qualify for the Pay Limit Scheme. 

But you do have to meet the conditions put in place, to prevent unscrupulous employers using the internship permit to bring low cost labour to the country. 

You can find an English language guide to internships on the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (Siri). 

READ ALSO: Danish work permit agency changes practice for hotel and restaurant interns

Who is eligible to get a work permit as an intern? 

You need to be between the ages of 18 and 35 (or 18 and 30 for some sectors), and you normally need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country or current country of residence .

In some cases you can already have recently graduated and in some cases you can be studying a subject not related to the internship, but if this is the case you need to show that you have passed a semester’s worth of courses in a relevant subject. 

If your internship is unpaid, you normally need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period.

If your internship is paid, your salary must be at least 6,820 kroner per month, which has to be stated in the standard contract, and paid into a Danish bank account in a bank operating legally in Denmark.

Be aware that opening a Danish bank account can be difficult, with applicants normally needing to have a Danish address and CPR personal number. If you are having trouble you can apply for a basic payments account.

What qualifications do I need to show or paperwork do I need to provide? 

The rules are different depending on which sector you intend to carry out your internship in. 

Agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary 

If you plan to intern in the agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary sectors, you need to show that you have passed a language test in English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or German at the A2 level or higher, in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale.

This is a very basic level, described in the CEFR as enough to communicate “very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment”. 

For English language tests offered by IELTS, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) accepts test scores from 3.0, and for English tests from TOEFL, scores at Studieprøven level (C1 CEFR level). You will need to send the results certificate along with your application. 

To qualify for an internship in these sectors you also need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country, or the country where you have residency, and the internship also needs to be timed to coincide with where you are in the course, for instance as a practical element following more theoretical ones. 

“We compare the content of your educational programme with the job tasks which you will be carrying out during the internship,” Siri writes in its guide to internships. 

You cannot be more than 30 years old for an internship in these sectors. 

Interns in these sectors do not need to provide proof that they can support themselves. 

Healthcare 

There are no language requirements for an internship in the healthcare sector, and for medical interns there is no upper age limit (although an age limit of 35 applies for other healthcare interns). 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

You can receive an internship in healthcare even if your studies have recently been completed, but you must show that the internship is a continuation of your studies and relevant to the future role you intend to take on. 

If you have completed your studies, you should include documentation of any work experience you have had since completing your studies. 

If your internship is unpaid, you need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Architecture 

To be eligible for a work permit in the architecture sector, you cannot have completed your education and cannot be more than 35 years old. 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

If your internship is unpaid, you also need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Which employers are eligible to take interns?

Employers need to be approved to take interns, either through a prior praktikpladsgodkendelse, or “place of internship approval”, or through sending detailed documentation to Siri on what the internship will consist of, including details of who will be supervising the intern, and prior experience the firm has with taking on interns or trainees. 

All public hospitals in Denmark are approved as places of internship.

If you are planning on interning at a Danish architecture firm, the firm must use the standard “Internship Agreement and Guidelines” issued by DANSKE ARK, the Danish association of Architectural Firms, and the Danish Union of Architects and Designers.

Architecture firms do not need to receive a separate praktikpladsgodkendelse but when filling in the standard contract, need to state the number of fully-trained architects and number of interns working at the firm. 

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