German salary calculator 2026 (gross to net)
What's left of a German salary? Wage tax from the official BMF programme, every 2026 social contribution, and what 100 € more gross is really worth.
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From €4,000.00 gross you take home €2,605.50 a month.
Taxes take €524.50 and social insurance €870.00: 34.9% of your gross. Your employer pays €846.00 on top.
- Net a month
- €2,605.50
- Net a year
- €31,266
- Of the next 100 € gross you keep
- €53.67
- Employer's total cost a month
- €4,846.00
12 equal months
marginal: taxes and contributions on extra pay
without levies and accident insurance
- Income tax€524.50
- Pension insurance€372.00
- Unemployment insurance€52.00
- Health insurance€350.00
- Care insurance€96.00
- Net pay€2,605.50
What if… net a month
See the figures
| Month | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €4,000.00 | €48,000.00 |
| Income tax (Lohnsteuer) | €524.50 | €6,294.00 |
| Solidarity surcharge | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| Church tax | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| Pension insurance | €372.00 | €4,464.00 |
| Unemployment insurance | €52.00 | €624.00 |
| Health insurance | €350.00 | €4,200.00 |
| Care insurance | €96.00 | €1,152.00 |
| Net pay | €2,605.50 | €31,266.00 |
| Employer contributions | €846.00 | €10,152.00 |
| Employer's total cost | €4,846.00 | €58,152.00 |
Next step
How it calculates
Net pay is gross minus taxes minus social insurance, and the calculator works out both the way a German employer must.
Wage tax (Lohnsteuer), solidarity surcharge and church tax come from the official 2026 programme of the Federal Ministry of Finance (the Programmablaufplan), ported line by line with the same rounding to the cent. We checked it against the BMF’s own wage-tax calculator in 48 cases: every tax class, with and without church tax, with children, from 1,000 € to 10,000 € gross. All of them match to the cent. In short:
- The monthly gross is scaled up to a year.
- The employee allowance (1,230 €), a 36 € allowance for special expenses and a flat allowance for pension, health, care and unemployment contributions are taken off. Class II also gets the single-parent relief.
- The income-tax schedule applies to the rest; class III uses income splitting, classes V and VI their own formula.
- The yearly tax is divided by twelve and rounded down to the cent.
The solidarity surcharge (5.5 %) only applies once the yearly wage tax passes 20,350 € (40,700 € in class III), phasing in above that. Church tax is 8 % of the wage tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9 % elsewhere. Child allowances only lower the surcharge and church tax.
Social insurance in 2026 is split between you and your employer:
- Pension 9.3 % and unemployment 1.3 %, on pay up to 8,450 € a month.
- Health 7.3 % plus half your insurer’s add-on (2.9 % on average, so 1.45 %), on pay up to 5,812.50 € a month.
- Long-term care 1.8 % (2.3 % in Saxony). Childless people aged 23 or more pay 0.6 points extra; from the second child under 25, 0.25 points less per child, up to the fifth.
Example: €4,000.00 gross in tax class I
A 34-year-old in Berlin earns €4,000.00 gross, isn’t a church member and has no children. She takes home €2,605.50 a month. Wage tax is €524.50 and there is no solidarity surcharge. Pension insurance takes €372.00, unemployment insurance €52.00, health insurance €350.00 and care insurance €96.00: 34.9% of her gross in all.
Her employer pays another €846.00 on top, so the job costs €4,846.00 a month before levies and accident insurance. Of a 100 € raise she would keep €53.67. That marginal rate is higher than her average rate because every extra euro is taxed further up the schedule.
German tax classes explained
- I: single, divorced or permanently separated.
- II: single parent with at least one child in the household; a relief of 4,260 € a year lowers the tax.
- III and V: for married couples or civil partners when one earns clearly more. III gets the splitting benefit, V carries most of the couple’s tax. In the example, class III would leave €2,928.17 net and class V €2,185.09.
- IV: the default for couples; works like class I. With a factor it spreads the tax by the ratio of both salaries.
- VI: every second or further job, with no allowances.
The class only changes how much tax is withheld each month. The tax office settles the real tax for the year in your return; couples on III/V often pay some back and must file. Benefits such as Elterngeld and unemployment pay, however, use the net from your own class, which is why a switch before a birth can pay off. The parental leave calculator shows by how much.
Part-time, Minijobs and Midijobs
Working fewer hours cuts net pay by less than gross, because taxes and contributions fall too. At €4,000.00 gross, 20 % fewer hours cost well under 20 % of net pay, but they also cost pension points. The part-time calculator puts numbers on both.
Up to 603 € a month is a Minijob: no wage tax for you (the employer pays a 2 % flat tax) and only a 3.6 % pension contribution you can opt out of. Between 603.01 € and 2,000 € is the transition zone (Midijob): you pay contributions on a reduced amount that rises from zero at the Minijob limit to your full pay at 2,000 €, while your pension still counts the full pay. Students, apprentices and civil servants follow other rules this calculator leaves out.
What it can’t see
It works out one regular month. Bonuses, Christmas pay and severance are taxed as one-off pay under their own procedure. Allowances registered with the tax office, salary conversion into a company pension or a company car change net pay as well. And wage tax is only a prepayment: work expenses, your partner’s income or a refund only show up in your tax return.
Above all, it sees one month. How your net pay fits with raises, a child, part-time years and the pension at the end is what Zenarios projects for your whole life.
Common questions
What is 4,000 € gross in net pay in Germany?
In tax class I, without church tax and childless at 23 or older, 4,000 € gross leaves 2,605.50 € net a month in 2026: 524.50 € wage tax and 870.00 € social insurance at the average 2.9 % health add-on. In tax class III it would be 2,928.17 €, in class V 2,185.09 €.
What is 50,000 € a year gross in net pay?
Paid in twelve equal months of 4,166.67 €, it leaves 2,694.76 € net a month in tax class I without church tax and children, or about 32,337 € a year. Christmas or holiday pay paid on top is taxed separately, so the real yearly figure can differ.
Which German tax class am I in?
Single people are in class I, single parents with a child at home in II. Married couples and civil partners start in IV/IV and can switch to III/V: III for the higher earner, V for the other. Class VI applies to every second job.
Do I pay church tax?
Only if you are registered as a member of a church that levies it, usually Catholic or Protestant. It is 8 % of your wage tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9 % elsewhere. On 4,000 € gross in class I it is 47.20 € a month in Berlin.
What are a Minijob and a Midijob?
Up to 603 € a month (2026) a job is a Minijob: no wage tax for you and only a 3.6 % pension contribution, which you can opt out of. From 603.01 € to 2,000 € you are in the transition zone (Midijob) and pay social insurance on a reduced amount, while your pension counts the full pay. The calculator handles both.