Social worker salary Germany
How much do social workers earn in Germany?
Salaries for social work in Germany are better than you might think. © Halfpoint / iStock.com
Social workers are badly needed in many parts of Germany. One potential reason for the shortage: The assumption that salaries for such work are low. But pay often isn’t as bad as people say.
Updated: 2024-09-10
Social worker salaries in Germany – Overview
- The median gross salary for social workers in Germany is 52,452 euros per year (4,371 euros per month)
- Most of the social workers are paid according to the collective bargaining agreement for public servants for social and social education jobs (TVöD-SuE)
- Salaries are highest in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg
Average salaries of social workers
Whether in schools, at the youth welfare office, in hospitals, with the police or in the prison system: Most social workers are employed in the public sector and are thus paid according to applicable collective bargaining agreements. But graduates of social worker study programmes are also active in the private sector, such as in company human resources departments, where they perform tasks pertaining to personnel development.
Median gross earnings stand at 52,452 euros per year (4,371 euros per month, source: Federal Employment Agency Remuneration Atlas). This median value includes a number of professions, including social workers and social pedagogues in youth care, in the prison system, in probation services and out on the streets.
Salaries in the public sector
Social workers are frequently employed by either the federal government or by municipalities. In such cases, they are paid according to the collective bargaining agreement for public servants (TVöD).
To reflect the wide variety of different jobs in the social sector, a schedule was introduced at the municipal level for social and social education jobs (TVöD-SuE). It is divided into different pay groups, with the groups S 11b, S 12 and S 14 being relevant for social workers. With just a very few exceptions (such as a senior official in the Youth Welfare Office, for example) all public sector social workers are covered by these groups.
- According to the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW), around 90 percent of all social workers and social educators are paid according to the S 11b group.
- The S 12 group covers more specialized fields such as working with drug addicts.
- Social workers holding guardian positions, in which they are involved in decisions aimed at preventing harm to a child’s welfare, are classified under S 14.
Within these groups, there are six experience levels reflecting length of employment.
Excerpt from the TVöD-SuE 2024* pay scale (monthly gross pay in euros)
| Pay group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
S11b |
3,697.55 |
3,948.84 |
4,125.39 |
4,575.55 |
4,927.22 |
5,138.23 |
|
S 12 |
3,747.09 |
4,002.01 |
4,335.64 |
4,631.04 |
4,996.80 |
5,151.53 |
|
S 14 |
3,847.03 |
4,109.38 |
4,422.05 |
4,740.10 |
5,091.81 |
5,337.97 |
Salaries by German state
Salaries for social workers vary by region. And the differences are relatively significant: Between the state of Saxony (3,889 euros gross per month) and Bavaria (4,513 euros), there is a 600-euro-per-month difference between median pay for fulltime jobs – which adds up to more than 7,000 euros per year. The following table includes median pay for social workers for each of Germany’s 16 states (current as of September 2024).
Salary by state*
| State | Median salary (monthly gross pay in euros) |
|---|---|
|
Bavaria |
4,513 |
|
Hesse |
4,335 |
|
North Rhine-Westphalia |
4,475 |
|
Saarland |
4,467 |
|
Baden-Wuerttemberg |
4,463 |
|
Rhineland-Palatinate |
4,422 |
|
Schleswig-Holstein |
4,390 |
|
Lower Saxony |
4,341 |
|
Bremen |
4,280 |
|
Berlin |
4,167 |
|
Hamburg |
4,107 |
|
Saxony-Anhalt |
4,079 |
|
Brandenburg |
4,042 |
|
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania |
4,020 |
|
Thuringia |
3,930 |
|
Saxony |
3,889 |
*) as of September 2024
Source: Federal Employment Agency Remuneration AtlasSalaries by age group and gender
As is the case in most professions, male social workers earn higher salaries on average than their female counterparts. Whereas women must settle for a median monthly salary of 4,286 euros, their male collegues earn an average of 4,607 euros.
The Remuneration Atlas also delineates three age groups, which generally correspond to different levels of experience. Accordingly:
- those aged 25 and under earn an average of 3,768 euros gross per month;
- those aged 25 to 54 earn an average of 4,285 euros gross per month;
- and those over 55 earn an average of 5,064 euros gross per month.
Salaries in academia
Academics who are, for example, employed as research assistants at universities, are paid according to the TV-L, which is the collective bargaining agreement for public servants of Germany’s states. As a rule, they fall into the E13 pay category. Postdocs, however, can sometimes be in the E14 category or, more rarely, E15.
Accordingly, young academics working at a university and who have the lowest level of experience are in the E13 pay category and earn a gross monthly salary of 4,188.38 euros to 6,037.38 euros gross per month (2024, full time). In the E14 category, monthly gross salaries tend to be around 350 to 400 euros higher. Professors are paid according to the W-scale (W1 to W3). Here, basic pay can be as high as 8,000 euros per month (plus allowances). Most social professions with high salaries are thus found in academia.
Salaries in the private sector
Whereas social workers in the public sector are paid in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, salaries in the private sector vary according to industry, company size and experience. As such, it is not possible to provide generalized salary information for social workers and social educators working in the public sector.
According to the website gehalt.de, social workers and social educators in corporate social work, such as human resource managers, can earn a gross monthly salary of 3,676 euros. Nevertheless, salaries are highly dependent on the size of the company and location.
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