With its meandering waterways and elegant boulevards, Hamburg is a German city like no other. Situated just a few miles inland on the river Elbe, the city is steeped in maritime history, with a bustling trade economy that dates back to medieval times.

These days, however, the Hanseatic city is known for different things: a rich culinary culture, a thriving arts scene, and the electrifying atmosphere of the Reeperbahn, where tourists and locals rub shoulders in bustling bars and theatres.

With so much to offer, it’s no wonder that Hamburg remains one of the top destinations that foreigners in Germany choose to make their home. 

Almost a quarter of Hamburgs 1.8 million residents are foreigners, with around 400,000 non-Germans currently living in the city. Meanwhile, 34 percent of the population have a migration background, giving the city a truly international feel. 

In terms of the economy, it also happens to be one of most affluent cities in the country, with employees there enjoying salaries that are well above the average for Germany. 

As well as prominent German employers like Lufthansa and Techniker Krankenkasse, English-speaking foreigners can also find opportunities at international firms like Google, Airbus and Hapag Lloyd.

Here’s what kind of salaries to expect in Hamburg and how it compares to the rest of Germany. 

What’s the average and median wage in Germany?

According to data published by Germany’s statistical office (Destatis), the average monthly salary across Germany in 2023 for full-time employees was €4,479. This corresponds to an annual salary of approximately €53,748 before tax.

The average is calculated by adding up all of the individual values and dividing this total by the total number of values.

Another way to look at this is through the median. It is calculated by taking the ‘middle’ value, the value for which half of the salaries – in this case – are larger and half are smaller. This is often thought to give a more realistic picture.

According to career portal Stepstone’s 2024 report, the median gross salary in Germany is around €3,645 monthly, which works out at around €43,740 per year before tax.

But salaries in Germany can differ significantly depending on where you live. More than 30 years after reunification, for example, there is still a major divide between the eastern states, where salaries are lower, and the western states, where salaries tend to be higher.  

READ ALSO: What’s considered a good salary for foreigners in Frankfurt?

What salaries can foreigners expect in Hamburg?

For foreigners looking for job opportunities in Hamburg, the good news is that the city state boasts one of the highest median salaries in the country.

In fact, when it comes to all the Bundesländer – or federal states – Hamburg lands in top place. 

According to a recent analysis from Stepstone based on data from November 2023, the median salary in Hamburg is €49,700 per annum. This equates to a pre-tax income of around €4,140 per month.

Stepstone also tracked the salaries of different kinds of workers, from skilled workers to those without academic qualifications.

The 2024 report tracked a median salary of €57,500 per annum for so-called academics, or those with university degrees, while the median for less qualified workers was €43,250 annually. 

People in management positions in Hamburg earned a healthy median salary of €81,500 – the highest in the country for this type of role. Skilled workers, meanwhile, scored a median annual salary of €44,000. 

In another study carried out by apprenticeship portal Azubiyo and based on 2021 data, Hamburg also emerged as the state with the highest average salaries.

According to Azubiyo, the average worker in the Hanseatic city-state takes home a gross salary of €5,209 per month, equating to €62,508 per year.

Which jobs pay the most and the least?

As you might expect, the port city of Hamburg is still heavily influenced by its maritime past, with shipping and logistics still playing an important role in the economy.

However, things are shifting fast, and these days employees are likely to find a wealth of opportunities in aircraft engineering, renewable energy, tech and IT and media in Hamburg – with tech and engineering jobs commanding the highest salaries of all.

READ ALSO: The best-paid jobs you can get without a university degree in Germany

According to Azubiyo’s data, air traffic controllers take home the highest pay packets, with workers in this field earning gross salaries of between €6,000 and €8,000 per month. 

Marketing specialists are also in high demand, with this group of workers taking home anywhere between €4,100 and €7,500 per month on average.

In the IT branch, project leaders can expect salaries of between €4,000 and €6,200 per month, while consultants command average monthly salaries of €3,900 to €5,600.

Shipping merchants can also do relatively well in this harbour town, with gross salaries in this field ranging from €2,600 to €4,000 per month.

On the lower end of the scale, meanwhile, are hospitality workers such as bartenders and waiters. Wages here start at the €12.41 per hour minimum wage, which equates to around €24,600 per annum or €2,050 per month. 

However, with more experience or in slightly more senior roles, salaries in this sector can range between €27,300 and €35,600, according to Stepstone.

What’s left of my German salary after tax?

One important thing to consider when looking at your earning potential in Germany is just how much of that salary you’ll actually be able to keep.

Salary offers from companies will typically tell you your gross income (Bruttolohn), but you’ll also need to calculate your net income (Nettolohn), which is the amount you take home after tax and deductions.

Germany’s tax rate starts at 14 percent for people earning just over the €11,784 threshold, but most full-time workers can expect a tax rate of between 25 and 42 percent on earnings over the threshold. 

For context, a rate of 30 percent is applied to salaries of around €36,000 per year, while the top rate of 42 percent is applied to salaries of around €66,000 per year and above. Parents and married couples get some tax breaks. 

READ ALSO: How to understand your German tax bill

You’ll also have to pay social security contributions, which are split equally between you and your employer.

In 2024, the rate 18.6 percent for pension contributions, 14.6 percent for health insurance, 3.4 percent for long-term care insurance and 2.6 percent for unemployment insurance. Again, you’ll be expected to pay half of this.

If this all sounds like way too much mental arithmetic, an online tax calculator can help you sort your Nettolohn from your Bruttolohn in seconds. 

Any extra income you make on top of your wage must also be declared to the tax office and you have to pay tax on it.

Is the cost of living high in Hamburg?

Working in this vibrant port city does come with a downside: the relatively high cost of living.

Like pretty much of all of Germany’s metropoles, prices for things like rent, transportation and eating out skew higher than in the rest of the country.

READ ALSO: Which German cities are the most expensive for residents in 2024?

All in all, the cost of living is 11.5 percent higher than the national average, according to figures from the German Economic Institute (IW). 

However, Hamburg is far from the most expensive city in Germany, landing in seventh place in the recent IW study. 

In this year’s Mercer Cost of Living survey, meanwhile, Hamburg came fifth out of eight German cities deemed to be among the 100 most expensive in the world.

For a more detailed breakdown of what to expect, cost of living site Numbeo has tracked data from users and other sources to trace the prices of everyday goods and services in Hamburg.

They found that a single person faces monthly living costs of around €1,075 in Hamburg, excluding rent, while a family of four needs around €3,660 per month to keep their heads above water.

Compared to Berlin, prices for everyday goods are around 4.7 percent more expensive. However, this excludes rental costs, which are currently around 14 percent cheaper in Hamburg than in the capital.