Gehalt: Top-Verdiener in Deutschland: In diesen Berufen wird am besten bezahlt

In Germany, certain professions offer significantly higher salaries compared to others. According to an exclusive analysis by the job platform Stepstone for the Handelsblatt, the median annual salary of the top 1% earners in the country is 139,000 euros, more than double the average employee's income. To be among the top 5% or 10%, employees need to earn 101,250 euros and 87,000 euros respectively.

Related to location, Hamburg leads with the highest average salary for top earners, followed by Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and Bavaria. In contrast, the top earners in the new federal states, such as Saxony-Anhalt, earn significantly less, with the top 1% median salary standing at 101,500 euros, around 40,000 euros lower than in Hamburg or Hesse.

The concentration of strong industries and international companies in these regions contributes to the higher salaries. Dennis Dittrich, an economist and salary expert at Stepstone, explains that Hamburg, Hesse, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg benefit from a high concentration of economically active industries and multinational corporations.

Other factors that influence salaries include personal responsibility, the size of the team one leads, and the industry. For instance, managers with teams of more than 50 employees have a significantly higher chance of earning over 100,000 euros annually. Furthermore, industries that generate high value per head, have significant profit responsibility, and require specialized skills tend to offer better salaries.

Jobs such as physicians, Chief Information Security Officers, and leaders in research and development tend to provide the highest incomes. In terms of specialized professions, patent attorneys, audit professionals, and specialists in areas like financial services, pharmaceuticals, information technology with AI or cybersecurity expertise, and engineering can also earn very high salaries in Germany.