Payroll Specialist

Salary band

Base salary, gross annual

25th percentile

€38,000

Median

€48,000

75th percentile

€62,000

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 Lohnbuchhalter:in (Payroll Specialist) with 3 to 8 years of experience at a German SMB. Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart sit at the top of the range; rural regions and eastern Germany trend lower. Profiles with deep DATEV-LODAS, SAP HCM or Sage HR skills, plus experience running Tarifvertrag (collective-agreement) payroll, trend toward the top. A geprüfte Fachkraft für Lohn- und Gehaltsbuchhaltung (certified payroll specialist) or an IHK Personalfachkaufleute (chamber-of-commerce HR specialist) qualification lifts the range by about 5 to 8 k€. No structural variable component; some SMBs offer a 13th-month salary.

Sources: Destatis Verdiensterhebung (April 2025, Berufsgruppe 7232 Lohn- und Gehaltsabrechnung); Stepstone Gehaltsreport 2026 (Personalwesen und Lohnbuchhaltung); Hays Studie Lohn und Gehalt 2025 (Payroll und Entgeltabrechnung)