How does your income compare to the German median?

A recent study by the German Economic Institute (IW) uses the median income to define five income groups. The study includes an interactive tool that shows what percentage of the German population earns less than you and what percentage earns more.

What is the median income in Germany?

Based on income figures gathered by the European Union in 2024, the IW has determined that the median income for a single person living in Germany was 2.419 euros per month after tax. 

The institute then used this median income figure to define who is low income, lower middle income, middle income, upper middle income and wealthy in Germany. Based on the monthly income for a single-person household, these five groups are divided as follows:

• Below 1.450 euros: relatively poor
• 1.450 euros to 1.940 euros: lower middle
• 1.940 euros to 3.630 euros: “middle in the strict sense”
• 3.630 to 6.050 euros: upper middle
• 6.050 euros or more: relatively wealthy

The IW also released figures for different kinds of households, including single parents with a child under 14; two-person households without children; two-parent households with one child under 14 and two-parent households with two children under 14.

However, it is important to note that the IW analysis accounts for income and wealth from some assets such as pensions, but not other assets, such as homeownership. The analysis also doesn’t consider the varying cost of living in different parts of Germany. 

For example, someone renting in Munich and earning a “middle in the strict sense” income might have less money left over after rent and utilities than someone living in Leipzig on a lower middle income.

Germany’s rich don’t know they are rich

The study also found that very wealthy people in Germany rarely recognise how wealthy they are in comparison to the rest of the population, and that most people see themselves as belonging to the middle class.

“One possible reason is that many people tend to compare themselves primarily with those who are socioeconomically similar to them,” the IW press release explained. 

“If you measure yourself solely against colleagues, neighbours or friends in similar circumstances, you quickly come to regard yourself as average, even if the overall distribution paints a very different picture.”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) makes for a good example. Back in 2018, the former lawyer, judge and insurance man described himself as “upper middle class” despite his then annual salary of 1 million euros and owning two private jets. His private wealth is estimated to be in the multimillions.