Developer Salaries in Cologne, Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf
Developer Careers Hunter Wright
Update: We recently analysed 13,000 data points to find out what developers are being paid across Germany today. In short, we found that the average developer salary across Germany is €63k.
Germany is a great location for developers to find jobs. A developer survey done by Stack Overflow for the year 2017 lists the highest paid programming languages and IT jobs in Germany:
According to PayScale, the median salary for a software developer in Germany in 2017 is €46,163 a year. For a more detailed breakdown of developer salaries in Berlin, check out one of our previous posts.
Along with a high salary, Germany offers foreign developers the chance to work in English.
Jobs for English-speaking developers in Germany
Germany was ranked by Education First as the ninth best country for English proficiency in the world. Here’s how some of Germany’s major cities including Cologne (Köln), Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf stacked up in percentage of proficient English speakers per city:
Developer salaries in Stuttgart
Stuttgart was ranked ahead of Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin as the second best city for IT jobs in Germany by Jobspotting. Stuttgart’s high median developer salary is certainly attractive:
This beats the German-wide median by more than €3,000 annually.
Best programming language to know in Stuttgart
Java Developers earn on average €59,180 a year in Stuttgart, with a median income of €55,000. This means that being a Java developer in Stuttgart will earn you €10,000 more a year than the average developer there.
Developer salaries in Cologne
We see a drop in median salary when looking at Cologne:
English speakers desired
Cologne ranks in the top three of English proficiency when compared to other major German cities making it an especially good destination for non-German speaking developers.
Cologne Culture
As the host of Gamescom, Cologne is a huge Mecca for gamers. A chance to test out games before anyone else, while taking part in cinema style trailer screenings, attracts more than 350,000 attendees every year.
Developer salaries in Düsseldorf
Median developer salaries in Düsseldorf are €1,700 more a year when compared to Cologne:
Best IT job in Düsseldorf
Software Engineers can expect a high median salary of €50,421 when working in Düsseldorf.
English Proficiency
Düsseldorf comes in last for English proficiency among major German cities. However, as it is only 1 or 2 percentage points behind tech cities like Berlin or Stuttgart, this difference isn’t a deal breaker.
Summary
Cologne, Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf have all seen tremendous growth in their demand for developer talent. However, Stuttgart stands out due to its high salaries, solidly ranked English proficiency level, and the jobs security and stability provided by large corporations headquartered there.
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