Germany vs Austria: take-home pay comparison
German §32a EStG + Sozialversicherung vs Austrian Lohnsteuer + SV — the most common DACH internal move outside Switzerland.
Germany → Austria (especially Vienna) is the third leg of the DACH triangle and a frequent move for German professionals attracted to lower rent + Vienna’s quality-of-life metrics. Both use continuous-curve income-tax structures rather than the discrete bands UK/US use. Germany’s §32a EStG runs 14% → 42% (Spitzensteuersatz around €68,481) and reaches 45% above €277,825. Austria’s Lohnsteuer schedule for 2025 has six brackets: 0% / 20% / 30% / 40% / 48% / 50% / 55%. The top rate (55%) hits at €1M, but the 48% bracket starts at €99k and the 50% at €1M.
Austrian Sozialversicherung (employee side) is ~18% of gross against Germany’s ~20%. At common middle-income levels (€50-80k) the net retention is broadly comparable, with Austria slightly ahead due to a lower SV burden. At €100k+ Austria is materially heavier because the 48-50% brackets bite earlier than Germany’s 42% Spitzensteuersatz. Vienna rent is roughly 30-40% below Munich or Frankfurt for equivalent space, which usually swings the net-of-rent comparison in Austria’s favour at those salary levels.
Side-by-side at common gross levels
Frequently asked questions
- How much more take-home does €80,000 yield in Austria vs Germany?
- At €80,000 gross on each side using 2026 rates: Germany retains €47,868 (40.2% effective), Austria retains €48,045 (39.9% effective). Net delta: €177 more in Austria.
- What is the marginal-rate difference between Germany and Austria at €80,000?
- At €80,000 gross, the next 100 of gross retains €52 in Germany (marginal rate 47.6%) and €60 in Austria (marginal rate 40.0%). This matters for bonus, overtime, or salary-sacrifice decisions — the marginal rate applies to the next unit earned, not the average.
- At what salary level is the take-home gap biggest between Germany and Austria?
- Across the 40k–250k single-filer sweep, the largest net delta is at €250,000 gross: Germany net is higher by €6,268 per year. Above and below this point the gap is smaller, driven by the interaction of each side's band thresholds + social-contribution caps.
- What does this Germany vs Austria comparison include?
- Both sides use each tax authority's published 2025/26 rates: income tax, social-insurance contributions, and any statutory levies routed through payroll. The numbers are the same ones the full /de and /at calculators produce — open either page for the full per-line breakdown.
- What does this comparison NOT model?
- Pension contributions, salary-sacrifice schemes, benefits-in-kind, region-specific surcharges (Scotland for UK, Comunidad Autónoma for ES, Bundesland for DE), and cost-of-living differences are not modeled here. The comparison is a tax-stack-only view.