Managers at banks and financial institutions have the best salary prospects in Germany. Getty Images; Collage: flourish; Business Insider
- According to the “Public Pay Study 2024”, the average compensation of managers in public companies is 167,000 euros in the median.
- Savings bank managers earn the most in municipalities, with a median annual salary of 390,000 euros. Salaries are lowest in the education, science and research sectors (100,000 euros).
- At federal and state level, banks and financial institutions lead the ranking – with a median of 434,000 euros per year.
Those who work in upper management earn top salaries in the six-figure range. But high remuneration is not only possible in corporations – managers in the public sector can also earn very good money. The „Public Pay Studie 2024“ of the Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen and the personnel consultancy LAB & Company Düsseldorf.
In the study, the authors examined the compensation data of a total of 2,046 managers from 1,157 public companies for the 2022 financial year. They included companies from all districts as well as the federal and state governments in Germany. The data from a total of 372 savings banks and the 11 broadcasting companies were also included.
The results: The median average remuneration per head is 167,000 euros – but there are large differences between industries. A total of 42.6 percent of top managers receive an annual salary of less than 150,000 euros, while 43.7 percent earn between 150,000 and 300,000 euros.
In the municipalities, savings bank managers are at the top. At the federal and state level, banks and financial institutions lead the rankings – similar to the municipalities.
Savings bank managers earn the most
Public companies include public companies or private companies that are wholly or partially owned by the federal government, states or municipalities. They carry out public tasks such as local public transport, city cleaning, water supply, the organization of ports and airports or the administration of hospitals, museums and educational institutions.
With the study, the authors wanted to uncover specific patterns in management salaries and examine the extent to which public companies have already introduced uniform rules for remuneration. The study shows that in municipalities, savings bank managers earn the most, with a median salary of 390,000 euros. Of this, 38,000 euros is variable remuneration – that corresponds to 9.8 percent of total remuneration.
The more employees a savings bank has, the higher the salaries at management level. Companies with fewer than 223 employees pay a median of 293,000 euros per year, while those with more than 711 employees pay 530,000 euros.
What is a median salary?
Because extremely high or low salaries can easily distort the average, analysts often refer to the median, which is the number that is exactly in the middle of all values. This means that there are exactly the same number of salaries that are lower than and higher than the median salary.
Airports and seaports in second place – far ahead of healthcare managers
Airports and seaports follow at a considerable distance in a municipal comparison. Top managers at these public companies receive a median of 278,000 euros per year. Third and fourth place go to public broadcasters (median of 250,000 euros per year) and municipal utilities and energy and water supply companies (median of 231,000 euros per year).
Management salaries at the municipal level are lowest in the areas of education, science and research – the annual median salary here is around 100,000 euros.
An overview of the salaries of top managers of public companies at the municipal level can be found here:
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Banks and financial institutions lead the ranking at federal level
At the federal and state level, salaries are significantly higher than in the municipalities: banks and financial institutions pay their top managers a median of 434,000 euros per year. In the area of traffic (public transport) and transport, the annual median salary is 417,000 euros. In hospitals, members of management receive a median of 316,000 euros, while in municipal utilities and in energy and water supply, the median salary is 282,000 euros.
Far behind in last place are public companies in the health and social sector (excluding hospitals) with an annual median salary of around 123,000 euros.
Here is an overview of manager salaries in public companies of the federal and state governments:
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