IT salaries tend to rise moderately

Full-time employees in IT professions received a median monthly gross wage of 5907 euros in 2024, according to figures from the Federal Employment Agency (BA). Compared to the median salary for IT workers in 2023 (EUR 5,688), the figure rose by around 3.85%, which trumps the official inflation rate of 2.2% in 2024. The median is the value in the middle of a series of figures; in other words, there are an equal number of salaries that are lower and higher than the median salary.

In 2024, the median salary of all full-time employees subject to social security contributions rose by a much higher percentage of 5.7 percent, which according to the BA is mainly due to higher collective wage agreements. However, the general figure of EUR 4,013 calculated by the BA is also clearly below IT salaries. And in absolute figures, IT professionals are slightly ahead: their increase is 219 euros, while the increase for all occupational groups is 218 euros.

Gender pay gap persists

According to the BA's updated pay atlas, there are also considerable differences among IT specialists depending on the field and qualification. IT specialists for application development earn a median gross salary of 4,449 euros per month, IT systems electronics technicians 4,350 euros. Above this are web developers with 4,826 euros, IT administrators with 5,331 euros, ERP consultants (5,712 euros) and software developers (6,097 euros). IT security coordinators (EUR 6,517) and backend developers (EUR 6,528) can also earn significantly more. Gender also plays a role – Depending on the job, women in IT perform just over a hundred euros to around 700 euros worse.

Across all occupational groups in Germany, the BA comes to gross earnings of 2,987 euros for people without a vocational qualification, and 3,870 euros for employees with a recognized vocational qualification. The general median for academics is 5,916 euros.

Also in IT: the East earns less

As is often the case with such salary surveys, there are also clear regional differences. While the highest IT salaries are generally paid in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hamburg and Hesse, the eastern German states are usually well behind. According to the BA, a system administrator in Baden-Württemberg, for example, would receive a median of 5,713 euros per month, compared to only 4,474 euros in Saxony. If they lived in Stuttgart, it would be 6,223 euros, in Dresden only 4,483 euros.

According to the BA, the data is based on employers' social security contributions. It should be noted that only wages and salaries up to the contribution assessment ceiling for pension insurance are included in the authority's calculation. Last year, this was 7,550 euros in western Germany and 7,450 euros in eastern Germany. For professions with very good earning potential, the median values could therefore be even higher.

(axk)