Software Engineer Salary in Germany: 2026 Figures by Level and City

Short answer: Software engineers in Germany earn a median gross salary of €65,250 a year, according to Stepstone's Gehaltsreport 2026 for software developers. The IT field as a whole sits at a median of €66,750. Juniors start around a median €39,200, and freelance software developers in the DACH region charge a median €90 an hour.

Last verified: November 4, 2026. Salary figures come from the Stepstone Gehaltsreport 2026, the Stepstone Junior-Softwareentwickler salary page, Levels.fyi Germany and the freelancermap Freelancer-Kompass 2026 press release (23 July 2026). All were opened on that date. Figures are gross, before tax and social insurance.

If you're weighing a move into software in Germany, the number you'll see quoted most is the Stepstone median. Below you'll find how it changes with experience, region and company size, what juniors earn, and how freelance rates compare. For the wider picture beyond Germany, see our guide to the salary of a software engineer.

Software engineer salary in Germany at a glance

Stepstone and Levels.fyi measure different things. Stepstone reports gross base salary across the whole market. Levels.fyi reports total compensation (base, bonus and stock) that users submit, and it leans toward larger tech employers. Don't average the two; use Stepstone for a typical offer and Levels.fyi for what big tech pays.

How experience changes IT pay in Germany

Experience is the biggest lever. Stepstone's 2026 report gives these medians for the IT field:

The same report shows a gap by gender in IT: men at a median €67,500 and women at €62,250. A degree also matters. IT professionals with a university degree earn a median €73,750, compared with €64,250 without one.

Does company size or region affect salary in Germany?

Yes, both do. In Stepstone's 2026 figures for IT, companies with 1 to 50 employees pay a median €58,750. That rises to €65,000 at 51 to 500 employees, €70,750 at 501 to 5,000, and €76,750 above 5,000.

Region matters too. Across all jobs, Stepstone puts the median in western Germany at €56,250, against €48,750 in the east (Berlin excluded). For IT, the highest state medians are Hessen and Baden-Württemberg at €70,000, Hamburg at €69,750 and Bayern at €69,500. Berlin sits at €66,250.

What is the salary of a junior software engineer in Germany?

Stepstone's page for Junior-Softwareentwickler puts the median gross salary in Germany at €39,200 a year, with a range of €34,700 to €46,600. A junior in Berlin is at €41,400 (€35,400 to €48,300). In Hamburg it's €42,400 (€36,600 to €49,500), and in Munich €39,200.

That junior page and the IT field median measure different groups, so the jump from €39,200 to over €50,000 in your first years reflects role and employer as much as time.

Freelance vs. full time job

freelancermap's Freelancer-Kompass 2026 puts the median hourly rate for IT freelancers in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) at €95. Within IT, software and web development is €90, IT infrastructure is €95, data and analytics is €100, and SAP and ERP is €120. The surveys ran from 17 November 2025 to 8 February 2026.

A higher hourly rate isn't a salary. Freelancers pay their own social insurance and have unpaid time between projects.

How to aim for the higher end of these salaries

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