Are you part of Germany’s wealthiest 10 percent? (2024)

If you earn 3.340 euros net per month then congratulations – you are officially part of Germany’s wealthiest! According to a new study from the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne, if your income as a single person is at least 3.440 euros net per month or more, then you are part of the highest-earning 10 percent in the country.

Do you earn 3.340 euros net per month?

This amount does vary across Germany. In the east part of Germany, a single person who earns 2.839 euros is part of the wealthy top ten percent, while in the west of Germany, they would only be part of the top 20 percent.

Couples without children and families,with children who have already left the household, with a combined net income of 5.160 euros a month were also found to be among the richest 10 percent.However, don’t go rushing off to brag about your new status just yet, as even if you are part of the top 10 percent, it does not automatically mean you are rich.

“Income wise yes, but this does not necessarily mean wealthy,” says Maximilian Stockhausen, IW expert. “We only looked at what ends up in your bank account every month. Being wealthy includes other assets, such as real estate, sports cars, yachts or even planes. So, it is hard to define who belongs to the upper-middle class exactly.”

Are you part of Germany’s wealthiest 10 percent? (1)

Dividebetween rich and poor: 1.869 euros net income a month

People who live in rural areas were also found to be worse off than their city-dwellingcounterparts, with the median income dropping by 116 euros. In addition,homeowners earn more per month than their renting counterparts, with apartment tenants earning 1.493 euros net per month versus homeowners at 2.252 euros net per month.

But what is the middle income that divides the country from the poor and the less poor? The monthly net income may surprise you. In 2016, IW found that the average median income for the entire country was1.869 euros (net) a month using data from the Socio-Economic Panel. Half of the population earns less than this and the other half more than this.

Are you part of the lower or upper-middle class?

What’s more, those with a single household net income of between 1.121 and 1.495 euros a month were found to belong to the lower-middle class, while those who earn between 1.496 euros and 2.804 euros net per month are part of the middle class. To consider yourself upper-middle-class, then you should earn between2.805 euros and 4.673 euros net per month as a single household, and anything over 4.673 euros net is considered to be relatively wealthy.

If you are interested in boosting your monthly income, the study found that one of the main factors linked to higher wages was…education. Academics and those who went to university and college were among those earning more than the average net income of 1.869 euros a month.

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Are you part of Germany’s wealthiest 10 percent? (2024)

FAQs

Are you part of Germany’s wealthiest 10 percent? ›

How much do you need to earn to be considered “wealthy” in Germany? It's actually less than you might think. According to a new income analysis by the German Economic Institute (IW), a single person who earns a salary of more than 3.700 euros net per month is part of the highest-earning 10 percent in the country.

Are you part of Germany's richest 10 percent? ›

Data published by the Institute for German Economy found that any single person earning 3.700 euros per month after taxes is considered part of Germany's rich, in the top 10 percent of earners. For a couple without children, earning a combined net salary of 5.550 euros will place them in the top 10 percent.

What is the salary of top 10% in Germany? ›

What is the top 10 income in Germany? According to the Institute for German Economy (IW), a single person earning 3,700 euros per month after taxes qualifies as being in the top 10 percent of earners in Germany, indicating a substantial income level compared to the rest of the population.

What percent of Germany is wealthy? ›

One way in which this can be seen is in the share of total net wealth belonging to the wealthiest 10% of households in Germany. This encompasses households whose net wealth totalled at least €725,900 in 2021. In 2021, this group possessed around 56% of total net wealth in Germany (2017: 55%).

How much money do you need to be rich in Germany? ›

Having a net worth of over 1 million euros puts you in the top 8% wealthiest households in Germany. Several million euros is generally considered financially independent or rich. How many millionaires are there in Germany? Germany has over 2 million millionaire households representing over 8% of the total population.

Am I in the 10 percent? ›

What are the annual wages of top earners?
BracketAverage annual wages
Top 0.1%$3,212,486
Top 1%$823,763
Top 5%$342,987
Top 10%$173,176
Apr 30, 2024

What is the top 1% in Germany? ›

To reach the top 1 percent of earners, you would need a monthly take-home salary of 7.190 euros. This is equivalent to an annual net income of almost 86.000 euros, after taxes, or an annual gross salary of around 150.000 euros.

Which part of Germany is richer? ›

In 2022, the German state of Bavaria recorded the highest per capita purchasing power at 29,209 euros. Hamburg and Baden-Württemberg in the south rounded up the top three.

Is Germany a rich or poor country? ›

If we simply consider a nation's gross domestic product—the sum of all goods and services produced by a country during one year—then we would have to conclude that the richest nations are exactly the ones with the largest GDP: United States, China, Japan, Germany.

Who is the most wealthy in Germany? ›

Klaus-Michael Kuehne, leads as the 1st in Germany, with $40.39B in Logistics sector. Followed by Dieter Schwarz, 2nd in Germany, making waves in Fashion & Retail at 33th globally, and Reinhold Wuerth & family, 3rd in Germany, contributing significantly to Manufacturing at 47th globally.

Is 70k a year good in Germany? ›

While Germany remains a high-income country, disparities exist between urban and rural areas and among various industries. A salary between €64,000 and €70,000 gross a year is considered a good salary in Germany.

How much money is enough in Germany? ›

The cost of living in Germany is quite reasonable compared to other European countries. As a single person, you will need a minimum of €934 per month (around $1,018 US dollars) or €11,208 per year (around $12,217 US dollars) to cover your living expenses in Germany as of 2024.

Is 3000 a good salary in Germany? ›

Yes, a monthly pre-tax income of €3,000 allows a single person to live quite comfortably in Germany. If one is earning €3,000 after taxes, they are nearing the threshold of being considered wealthy, which is defined as having an income at least 200% above the median.

What is the average wealth of a German citizen? ›

In 2022 the median and mean wealth per adult in Germany was 256.180 USD, a decrease of 14.360 USD from 2021 figures, making the federal republic the 16th wealthiest country in the world.

What is the wealth divide in Germany? ›

Altogether the wealthiest ten per cent of households together own about 60 per cent of the total wealth, net, i.e. minus debts. The lower 20 per cent have no assets at all. About nine per cent of all households have negative equity and are in debt (Grabka and Westermeier 2014).

What percentage of Germany is middle class? ›

More than 80 percent of Germans classify themselves as belonging to the middle class. In fact, statistically speaking, about 26.1 million households in Germany belonged to the middle class in 2019. At 63 percent, this represents less than two-thirds of all households.

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