Junior Backend Engineer

Salary band

Base salary, gross annual

25th percentile

€42,000

Median

€48,000

75th percentile

€55,000

For reference: the statutory minimum wage in Germany has stood at €13.90 gross per hour since January 1, 2026 — roughly €2,410 gross a month for a full-time role at 40 hours/week. (BMAS: Mindestlohn steigt zum 1. Januar 2026 auf 13,90 Euro)

Gross fixed salary per year for a junior Backend Engineer (0 to 2 years of experience, incl. recent graduates and bootcamp leavers) at a German SMB or Mittelstand company. Berlin, Munich and Hamburg in the SaaS and scale-up scene pull upward (52 to 62 k€); classic Mittelstand and regional locations trend downward (40 to 46 k€). A relevant internship or working-student stint and a visible portfolio (GitHub, side projects) pull up; no production exposure at all pulls down. Engineering roles in Germany usually have no variable compensation component.

Sources: Stepstone Gehaltsdaten Backend-Entwickler:in Deutschland 2026; Stepstone Gehaltsreport 2026 (Berufseinsteiger IT); Honeypot State of Software Engineering Germany 2025