North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany’s most populous state and home to several bustling cities, including Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Wuppertal and Dortmund to name just a few. 

Although only around 30 minutes apart, Cologne and Düsseldorf have a long-standing (and mostly friendly) rivalry, with each city famously taking pops at the other during carnival celebrations. However, due to their close proximity, many people live in one and work in the other, or in the surrounding region.

Cologne is known for its historic and cultural offering with nearby nature, while Düsseldorf is famous for its fashion and arts scene.  

Both cities on the Rhine river attract people from abroad looking to settle in Germany. 

Of the just over one million people who live in Cologne, around 42 percent of all residents had a migration background in 2023, and around one in five Cologne residents was non-German (20.9 percent), according to city statistics released this year.

Düsseldorf is smaller, with about 640,000 residents. Around 164,000 people have a foreign background, according to Statista figures for 2022. The city is also known for its vibrant Japanese community, with around 8,400 Japanese nationals making it their home.

Cologne is home to a large mix of industries and sectors covering IT, media, life sciences and finance, while Düsseldorf is known for fashion, trade and the energy sector.

Some notable employers in the region include Bayer, Deutsche Telekom, Deloitte, Douglas, L’Oreal, Adidas, E-on and Trivago. 

Although these are large and often multi-national companies, there are also plenty of smaller businesses and startups – many of which want to diversify their workplace and seek international talent. 

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What’s the average and median wage in Germany?

Firstly let’s look at the big picture. 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.

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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. Is 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 differ significantly depending on where you live. For instance, there are major income differences between eastern and western states nearly 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

What can you expect in Cologne and Düsseldorf?

According to Stepstone’s analysis released at the start of 2024 and based on findings from November 2023, the median gross salary (before tax) for full-time employees in Cologne is €50,000 per year. It is placed fifth in a ranking of large German cities. Düsseldorf comes fourth, with a median gross salary for full-time employees of €50,750.

The top three-earning cities in Germany, by the way, are Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main. Munich is the city where employees get the highest salaries in Germany, with a median wage of €56,000. Stuttgart follows with €54,500 and in Frankfurt the median gross salary is €54,250, according to the analysis.

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For a snapshot of how different salaries in Germany can be, the median salary in Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is €39,000, according to this analysis, while in Berlin it’s €46,500. 

When it comes to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as a whole, the median gross salary is €44,000. But people in management positions can earn around €73,750 and the median salary for academics is €56,500.

What’s left after tax?

Your gross salary (Bruttolohn) is your pay before taxes and deductions. So it’s important to think about what your salary will be after taxes (Nettolohn), which is what you’ll have left to spend. 

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.  Your exact tax rate depends on how much you earn and other factors including your marital status and whether you have children or not.

You also have to pay social security contributions. As an employee, you pay a fixed percentage of your salary for social security membership, and your employer pays a fixed percentage as well. The amount you’ll pay will be split evenly between you and your employer. 

Meanwhile, if you are a member of the church, you will pay church tax to the tax office. 

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Is cost of living high in Cologne and Düsseldorf?

There’s no doubt that high inflation following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had an impact on most people’s lives in Germany. The cost of everyday goods and services have spiralled upwards, making activities like eating out a much more expensive business. 

Compared to other German cities, Cologne and Düsseldorf are not the most expensive – but that’s not to say that they are cheap. 

In this year’s Mercer Cost of Living survey, eight German cities were said to be among the 100 most expensive cities in the world, with Düsseldorf landing in the 51st spot. Berlin took the top spot as the most expensive German city, mainly due to the rising costs of renting an apartment in the capital. 

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According to cost of living site Numbeo, which compiles information from users and reputable sources, a single person in Cologne faces monthly costs of around €1,000 without rent, while a family of four’s living costs amount to about €3,425. 

A one-bedroom apartment in the city centre could set you back around €1,000 per month, and about €790 outside of the centre of Cologne, according to these figures. 

Meanwhile, a three-bedroom flat could be around €2,000 in a central location in Cologne, and about €1,300 in a less central zone. 

In Düsseldorf, Numbeo found that a single person has monthly costs of about €1,044 without rent and a family of four could see living costs of €3,500.

For a one-bedroom flat in the centre of Düsseldorf, it could amount to around €918 per month and about €813 outside of the centre, according to these figures. 

A three-bedroom flat in the city centre might set you back €1,900, and it could be about €1,465 on the outer zones. 

Which jobs pay the most or the least in Germany?

Stepstone’s 2024 salary report for Germany lists median salaries for a number of professions which gives a picture of what you can expect in different industries. 

According to the report, medical doctors earn the most with a gross median salary of €94,750 This means they earn more than twice as much as the national average.

Employees in the banking and finance sector, with €57,000 gross per year, and engineers with €56,000, are also among the top earners.

At the other end of the scale are retail, catering and hotel employees, with a gross median salary of around €35,500 per year.

Germany’s minimum wage (€12.41 per hour in 2024) amounts to about €26,000.

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