What are the typical starting salaries for graduates in engineering, IT, data science, business, and healthcare in Germany, and how do they vary by location and company size?

Germany's graduate salary spread is shaped less by field alone than the combination of field, city and employer size together, and looking at only one of those three variables gives a misleading picture of what you should actually expect to earn.

Starting Salary by Field

Why the Same Degree Pays Differently by City

Location alone can shift a graduate salary by several thousand euros; market data shows averages around 52,100 euros in Stuttgart against roughly 47,000 euros in Hamburg or Dusseldorf, with Munich and Frankfurt generally sitting near the top of the range as well, largely reflecting each city's cost of living and concentration of major employers.

Company Size Moves the Number Almost as Much as Location

Graduate salaries rise fairly consistently with employer size, from roughly 35,100 to 41,700 euros at companies with 100 or fewer employees, up to 40,600 to 45,200 euros at companies with 1,000-plus employees, so a large multinational in a mid-cost city can outpay a small Mittelstand firm in an expensive one.

My Advice

In my experience, Indian graduates in Germany underweight the value of German language ability when negotiating starting salary, even in technical fields where English is the working language for day-to-day tasks. B2-level German consistently opens both a wider set of employers and stronger negotiating position, so treat it as part of your salary strategy, not just a visa or integration requirement.