How easy is it to earn the required salary for a skilled worker permit in Germany?

Faced with an aging population, Germany is currently desperate to attract the best and brightest from abroad into its economy - either as students, as jobseekers, or on one of its skilled worker visas.

Skilled worker permits are work permits for people with vocational training or a university degree who want to come to Germany to work in their chosen profession. 

One of the best known is the EU Blue Card: a residence permit available to non-EU nationals, intended to allow skilled professionals to live and work in the EU. Some 25 out of 27 member states issue them. Germany’s scheme is one of the most in-demand. 

Applicants must have a degree in their chosen field - with the exception of experienced IT professionals - and also secure a job offer that meets the minimum salary requirement. As of January 1st, 2025, this rate is set at: 

-       €48,300 (€4,250 a month) for most professions

-       €43,760 (€3,647 a month) for career starters and applicants in shortage occupations, including IT, construction and education

Meanwhile, Germany's skilled worker visa doesn't require a university degree, with vocational training and two years' of experience sufficing instead. The minimum salary threshold for this type of permit is €43,470 per year. 

READ ALSO: How Germany is making it easier for skilled workers to get an EU Blue Card

If you want to check if you're in a "shortage occupation", a full list can be found on the government's Make it in Germany website here. 

How hard is it to meet these thresholds?

According to the Federal Office of Statistics (Destastis), the median salary in Germany in 2024 stood at €52,159. This means that half of workers last year earned more than this amount, while the other half earned less. Germany's median salary is therefore around €8,700 more than the threshold for an ordinary skilled worker visa, and around €4,000 higher than the threshold for an EU Blue Card. 

Of course, there are huge variations across different professions and regions, but the median salary is nonetheless a good reference point. It's also worth noting that the lowest ten percent of earners commanded gross salaries of €32,526 or less. 

For a more detailed view, Federal Employment Agency (BA) statistics give an estimate of salaries at the 25^th percentile in various professions from 2023. You can check your profession on the BA website (in German) here. 

The 25^th percentile means that three out of four people working in that profession earn more. This figure can therefore be used to estimate whether most jobs in that sector pay enough to meet Blue Card minimum salary requirements. 

Two-thirds of computer scientists, for example, earn more than €4,968 a month - comfortably above the Blue Card threshold. Most computer scientists should therefore have no trouble meeting the requirements for the regular rate, though STEM professions are actually on the shortage list and therefore benefit from the lower minimum salary. 

READ ALSO: How much do software developers typically earn in Germany?

For teachers, the figure stands at €4,113. Because teachers are on the shortage occupation list, this means most teachers should be able to benefit from the Blue Card scheme. 

Nurses, meanwhile, are on the cusp, with the vast majority earning €3,603 per month or more - almost exactly the threshold for shortage occupations. This could mean that some nurses will need to negotiate to edge up to the salary they need. 

Professions where most will find it difficult to quality for the scheme include dental assistants (€2,387), paralegals (€2,500) and plumbers (€3,006). 

However, these are general figures, which mask wide variation across areas in Germany, ages and gender. 

Salaries are typically higher in the western federal states and lower in the former East Germany. Men typically earn more than women, while salaries rise by age until they start dropping in the mid-50s. 

The figures are also over a year old, which means they are likely a little lower than salaries on job ads active now.