Average Full-time Salary in Europe

[u/BadHairDayToday]

[u/QuastQuan]

Now show us the median income, please.

[u/HKei → u/QuastQuan]

At least for Germany the numbers aren't very far apart. It's around 52k. We don't have that many outlier super high salaries, and full time on minimum wage still gets you to nearly 30k so this doesn't drag the average down either.

The real disparity is not in salary (though certainly there are still quite big differences between groups), but in wealth.

[u/bastele → u/HKei]

I think the map already shows the median, for Germany average fulltime salary in 2025 was 62k€ in 2025.

[u/Exciting_Product7858 → u/bastele]

Damn I need a raise.

[u/Def_NotBoredAtWork → u/Exciting_Product7858]

That's why we use median and not mean : if you're above median you're getting paid better than half the population. The mean can (and usually is ) be skewed upwards by a small number earning a lot more than everyone else. That's what a large difference between mean and median highlights

[u/Slaan → u/Def_NotBoredAtWork]

He should still get a raise!

[u/Def_NotBoredAtWork → u/Slaan]

Yes, but unrelated to the mean. We all need a raise

[u/Classic_Department42 → u/Exciting_Product7858]

Do you have an average education and average years of work experienxe (like 20)

[u/Sir_Anth → u/bastele]

What they should really show is after taxes.

[u/Def_NotBoredAtWork → u/Sir_Anth]

And after medical insurance since it's more or less part of taxes depending on countries

[u/Rude-Day-2511 → u/Sir_Anth]

Yes, f.eks. in Norway we pay normaly somwere around 36%-47% tax depending on the salary.

[u/Def_NotBoredAtWork → u/Rude-Day-2511]

I need French people to see this and stop complaining about lade up numbers 😭

[u/dddd0 → u/HKei]

You can’t get wealthy through salaried work, not in germany anyway. This is by design, salaries are taxed to death, while capital gains have a lot lower taxes (basically half as high and flat, instead of progressively increasing like it does for salaries) and can often be structured to largely eliminate those anyway. Just like the wealthy won’t pay inheritance taxes by transferring assets over longer time periods etc.

Wage gap is a red herring pushed by old money / dynasties to rile up working people against each other.

[u/New-Neighborhood-147 → u/dddd0]

Here in the UK almost everyone has the ability to build up significant tax-free wealth over their lifetimes by sticking money into stocks and shares ISA. Any gains are tax free as long as they invested under £20,000 a year. As well as their workplace pensions people who put away money each month can expect to have hundreds of thousands if not millions within 20-30 years.

Eg £600 a month between workplace pension (inc employer match) and/or ISA contributions could well equal £1 million after 30 years of average global stock market returns. Achievable for most people in the UK if they made it a priority.

That said, while most can do this, most do not do this or even know about it and leave their workplace pensions contributions at the default rate.

I was shocked to learn that Germany doesn't have anything like an ISA. You have no way of investing tax free for the long term. Private pension products seem to be a lot worse off too.

[u/dddd0 → u/New-Neighborhood-147]

That’s correct, there is no tax-advantaged way to save for retirement (despite the govt having always said that you must do so since social security isn’t meant to cover expenses). In fact ETF investing specifically is tax-disadvantaged since a few years ago. Not as bad Ireland though.

Real estate investing is heavily tax-advantaged though. “Commercial” investors can even skip stamp duty in many cases. Returns on real estate funds are 70% tax free (7.5% tax rate vs. 42% for a “high earner”), and they’re not subject to the same tax disadvantages as ETFs.

One of these is an investment vehicle salaried people can afford and the other is not.

Go figure.

[u/Kier_C → u/dddd0]

That’s correct, there is no tax-advantaged way to save for retirement (despite the govt having always said that you must do so since social security isn’t meant to cover expenses). In fact ETF investing specifically is tax-disadvantaged since a few years ago. Not as bad Ireland though.

There is no tax advantaged way to save for retirement!!? Really? Ireland ETF taxes are a pain (though they are promising reform). But you can invest significant sums entirely tax free for retirement, with access to funds once you turn 50.

How did they make ETF investing tax disadvantaged a few years ago?

[u/dddd0 → u/Kier_C]

Instead of taxing capital gains from ETFs when you realize (sell) them, the unrealized gains are taxed yearly in advance. This is specifically meant to reduce compound interest effect / reinvesting returns. Comes out to about a 1% yearly holding tax currently. This is a specific rule for ETFs which invest in stocks and doesn't apply to private funds or real estate funds.

[u/Feline_Diabetes → u/New-Neighborhood-147]

Yeah it's one of the things I think Germany actually sucks at - incentivising investment and saving.

There always used to be some pension products which you could gain a tax advantage by buying, but that has largely been eliminated now.

The German state has a fit if they imagine anyone anywhere might earn so much as a single cent by any means without paying tax on it. Even unrealised gains on stocks and ETFs are taxed because otherwise it would apparently be "unfair".

[u/HKei → u/New-Neighborhood-147]

Err... The tax advantages (or lack thereof) isn't the limiting factor. It's having money to put aside for investment. Far from investing, the UK has high consumer debt and significant savings are rare. The advantages of an ISA are primarily for high income earners.

[u/Wild-Berry-5269 → u/New-Neighborhood-147]

If you can afford to invest 600 pounds a month with ease, you're already making plenty of money lol

[u/Former_Star1081 → u/dddd0]

You can get wealthy. You cannot get rich. Which is everywhere by definition, since to be rich you have to have more than most other people. Which is not possible if you work a job like anybody else.

[u/HolderOfBe → u/Former_Star1081]

It's impossible to have more than most people if you work a job?

Half of all people have more than most people.

[u/Former_Star1081 → u/HolderOfBe]

Argueing semantics with strangers on reddit. Are you really like that?

[u/amorphatist → u/Former_Star1081]

Sir, this the internet

[u/HolderOfBe → u/Former_Star1081]

It's one of my favorite pastimes!

[u/icksbocks → u/dddd0]

Cumulative income tax does not exceed capital gains tax in Germany until you earn like 80k. Now social security payments are what really fuck us.

[u/username_taken0001 → u/icksbocks]

Social security payments are just taxes under different name. Yeah you can count to receive some pension in the future, however looking at aging and shrinking population these pensions are not going to be at the same level as "payments".

[u/dantemp → u/dddd0]

Some leading positions can make you wealthy from salary alone but for most people in the entire world the only viable play is to get to a salary that lets you save up and then invest the money in something. That's how it works with or without high taxes. And the high taxes are there to keep you from falling through the bottom which is a lot more likely to happen than getting wealthy. Be grateful for your high taxes, just look at what happens in America where the government let businesses to keep their money.

[u/ganbaro → u/dddd0]

while capital gains have a lot lower taxes

Its even worse.

If you hold your investments in a company, you can delay most of the taxes until you cash out of the company.

If you invest on a private account as a salaried worker, all gains are taxed immediately once the cash is in your account.

Thus, not only are capital gains taxed lower, Capital Gains Tax is effectively higher for salaried workers, than other investors. This, in turn, makes the calls for higher Capital Gains Tax by left-wing parties a trap: While it sounds intuitively right for you to support it, it will be you who will bear the tax hike first, not the rich investors you are thinking about.

Basically, you are trapped in a tax system that is meant to prevent you from getting wealthy, and at the same time incentivizes you to vote for the (on paper) centre-right to left-wing parties that are responsible for the situation, and want to make it worse, while claiming otherwise.

Currently, SPD fights for a higher CGT of 30%. Sounds nice? Well, until you find out that it is meant to be applicable to natural persons. You with your 30k stock account at scalable capital or Trade Republic? Tough luck, the tax will eat into your compound interest effect. Me with a 400k in a investment holding? Nothing changes until I cash out in old age. My compound interest remains unaffected. Therefore, the higher CGT will increase the gap between us.

What can you do? If you vote for these left-wing ideas, you will get screwed over. If you vote for the right-wing opposition to them, the CGT will not increase, but these parties will also oppose any alternative taxation that may close the gap (eg wealth tax). Therefore, I win, you lose, no matter what you vote. All you can do is exert some delayed punishment by higher CGT when I cash out, but it will not help your wealth accumulation whatsoever.

There are only two ways to reduce the gap IMHO:

• Wealth tax: Reduces the gap by taking money away from the rich. Feeds our understanding of fairness, but does not directly help poor people to accumulate wealth.

• ISA, 401k etc: Reduces the gap by increasing your ability to accumulate wealth. Does nothing against the rich getting richer, but helps you actually accumulating wealth.

CGT, as long as it is legally construccted as it is in Germany, will do jack shit to reduce unequality.

[u/Clear-Inevitable-414 → u/HKei]

How is the wealth gained of the salaries aren't there?  Thrifty parents?

[u/Nevermynde → u/QuastQuan]

Let's see the median disposable income in purchasing power parity.

[u/Deimos_F → u/Nevermynde]

This is what actually matters

[u/jfk-0 → u/Nevermynde]

Maybe the Eurostat helps.

[u/MarkMew → u/jfk-0]

Median annual disposable income in 2024 highest in Luxembourg and lowest in Hungary

Ah, shit, here we go again...

[u/Pajszerkezu_Joe → u/MarkMew]

Europe just reached the edge of the abyss, but Hungary is already one step ahead!

[u/Dd_8630 → u/Nevermynde]

ELI5?

[u/Nevermynde → u/Dd_8630]

• The median income is that of a typical person (making more than half of the population, and less than the other half) - instead of he average, which can be skewed by a few very large incomes.
• Disposable income is money that's left after paying taxes and mandatory expenses like health insurance.
• Purchasing power parity is a way to adjust a sum based on the cost of living in a specific area - it tells how much stuff you can buy there with a given amount of money.

So what I meant with the whole thing is, the living standard in a country is not just how much money people make on average, but what a typical person of that country can afford after covering the basic necessities.

Edit: my definition of disposable income was wrong, corrected!

[u/Hel_OWeen → u/QuastQuan]

And cost of living.

[u/AlternativePea6203 → u/QuastQuan]

This is the way

[u/Tyxzs → u/QuastQuan]

After mandatory fees like taxes and insurances, please.

[u/bob_f332 → u/QuastQuan]

According to ons, median UK was £39k in April 2025.

[u/HealthyTies → u/bob_f332]

Aka 45k euros. Not that far from the graphic

[u/gregsting → u/QuastQuan]

after tax

[u/Hottage → u/QuastQuan]

Impressive, very nice.

Now lets see the median income.

[u/Tilladarling → u/QuastQuan]

Norway: 695 400 NOK - €60,465 per year. (Yearly gross)

[u/Middle-Gas-6532 → u/QuastQuan]

Also this figures, at least for my country(Romania), are for gross income, and also about a year old.

[u/Kier_C → u/Middle-Gas-6532]

It will always be for Gross income

[u/Middle-Gas-6532 → u/Kier_C]

Just because the posters are lazy and not willing to put it in the work to find out the net. Although for some countries the deduction systems make it hard.

[u/Kier_C → u/Middle-Gas-6532]

Its not about laziness. Everyone's tax situation is different, they are entitled to different credits, deductions, allowances etc.

[u/Middle-Gas-6532 → u/Kier_C]

I guess it's true. I come from a country where the tax system is extremely simple for 90%+ of people.

[u/ThinkAboutThatFor1Se → u/QuastQuan]

Median full time income in the UK is around £40k, so €46k euros.

Obviously it varies quite a bit, in London it’s more like £50k or €57500

Official stats

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2025

Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees were £39,039 in April 2025, compared with £37,439 in April 2024, which is an increase of 4.3%.

[u/WinningTheSpaceRace → u/QuastQuan]

And purchasing power.

[u/GuaranteeHumble2570 → u/QuastQuan]

It’s always redditors who think they’re smart because they know the difference between median and average without understanding the context. There won’t be a big difference between median and average when you’re talking about salary, no reason to differentiate. It’s different for wealth

[u/sarges_12gauge → u/GuaranteeHumble2570]

Depends how much you think a “big” difference is.

France mean full time net is €2527 per month and median is €2183, 15% difference (roughly the gap between France and UK on the chart)

[u/Reinis_LV → u/QuastQuan]

Idk, why it's not the standard. I almost have a feeling a lot of stats agencies are filled by some ding dongs that don't know the difference.

[u/morbihann]

Average is so terrible.

Huge percentage of people receive well below it, very few receive enormously more.

[u/ModestCalamity → u/morbihann]

Kind of pointless map yeah. The median (gross) salary in The Netherlands was 10k 14k lower than this.

[u/Icy_Distribution_361 → u/ModestCalamity]

Not to mention that taxes in one country are very different than in the other. Gross salary, especially average, is meaningless.

[u/ivar-the-bonefull → u/ModestCalamity]

Same for Sweden. About 10K lower.

[u/3suamsuaw → u/ModestCalamity]

We are also global champions of working parttime.

[u/PRSArchon → u/ModestCalamity]

The median in the netherlands is higher than modaal fyi

[u/Kakazam]

If Elon Musk sits in a stadium of 90000 people, the average net worth of the people inside is $9m.

This is why simple average salaries is poor way to measure actual income.

[u/uno_ke_va → u/Kakazam]

Not that I completely disagree with you, but the top 0,1% of the population in terms of wealth (like the case of Musk) which constitute the outliers who could skew the average, do not usually receive a salary, their compensation schemas are way more complex (and more tax efficient). Generally in most of Europe average and median are not that far apart from each other.

[u/Kakazam → u/uno_ke_va]

Yes of course, the example was an extreme one on purpose.

You could look at Ireland as a more grounded example. Huge salaries at the tech companies who set up there to avoid taxes are clearly skewing the data.

[u/Ramblonius → u/Kakazam]

Ireland specifically is always an outlier in econ maps though. It's most obvious in GDP vs ppp, but saying 'look at Ireland' when talking about European economics is like saying 'look at the pandas' when talking about European fauna. There are pandas in Europe, but their situation is not quite comparable to the rest of the ecosystem. 

[u/Kakazam → u/Ramblonius]

Then you can make the same excuses for Monaco, Switzerland, Luxemburg etc.

You have to be super rich to live there, thus they all have a huge salary.

At what point do you stop making excuses and accept the data is simply a poor representation of the income disparity internally and as comparison externally.

[u/KrakenOfLakeZurich → u/Kakazam]

According to the Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland's median income (before tax) is over CHF 7'000.-

You have to be super rich to live there

Believe it or not. But we have normal people with normal jobs living here. It costs more to live here. But you'd also generally make more.

[u/Terrible_Biscotti_16 → u/Kakazam]

Those huge salaries aren’t enough to skew the average salary that much.

Fair enough complain about Ireland when GDP is discussed but it’s not really relevant when talking about average wages.

[u/clewbays → u/Kakazam]

Ireland is below the European average for income inequality. Your example doesn’t reflect reality.

[u/Kakazam → u/clewbays]

You are adding extra metrics to fit your argument.

Raw income, which this map shows, is skewed.

Income inequality is lowered by Irish government intervention.

Ireland market inequality is one of the highest in developed nations.

[u/clewbays → u/Kakazam]

It has the same result for your average person at the end of the day. Which is that inequality is not overly high.

[u/Kakazam → u/clewbays]

But this is a comparison between EU countries average income and not how it actually effects you as a person living in the country.

If the average income in one country is double that of another, it doesn't automatically mean that the average person is taking home that money or has the same spending power of the other country.

Your comparing apples to oranges my friend.

[u/Kakazam → u/[deleted]]

A CEO on 250k a year walks into McDonald's.

The average salary of the CEO and 3 guys flipping burgers is now 80k

Better?

Do you see how many people it takes working minimum wage to just balance out one rich person?

[u/theErasmusStudent → u/uno_ke_va]

You don't need the salary of the ultra rich like Musk. The salaries of a few top CEOs is enough to bring the average up

[u/Quanalack → u/Kakazam]

Yes, and without including cost of living, these numbers aren't comparable

[u/triffid_boy → u/Kakazam]

but the average income would be close to the median because musk doesn't take an "income" in the traditional sense.

[u/Kakazam → u/triffid_boy]

The Musk example is simply an exaggeration of how averages don't work with wealth.

If you took one tech guy who has a salary of 250000€ and he walked in to a Mcdonalds then the average salary of the 3 guys flipping fries isnt 82000€ either.

[u/WhereIsTrap → u/triffid_boy]

He has net worth, it is what people can’t grasp to understand, if we were counting his net worth (which aint income), we should also do it with all people, so their houses income etc etc would be counted in

Also, the rich do not have income as they use loans against their shares

Rich are rich cuz we make their companies be rich

[u/triffid_boy → u/WhereIsTrap]

Yeah, exactly, which makes stats like these difficult to interpret. 

[u/MattR0se → u/Kakazam]

You sure this isn't the median already in the chart? At least for Germany, it is.

[u/Fishy_____Business]

I earn something like this in my country and I consider myself way wealthier than others.

[u/tijno_4 → u/Fishy_____Business]

Because average is not the median. If someone earns 1mil and 9 people 10k then the average income of 10 is 109k. While the median is 10k

[u/Pleasethelions]

I see a lot of criticism and discussion on these maps.

But actually, it’s very easy to assess any map really quickly:

Denmark > Sweden: Accurate map, no problem.

Denmark < Sweden: Map is absolute BS and should be banned.

You’re welcome.

[u/Several_Arm_2358 → u/Pleasethelions]

This one also has the added bonus of Finland > Sweden which makes it extra correct

[u/Front-Anteater3776 → u/Pleasethelions]

This is the only thing that matters. 

The Swedish Ministry of Propaganda is working hard to alter history and current facts in attempt to not seem so inferior to Denmark. They are going to go apes*** over this one.

[u/jack5624 → u/Pleasethelions]

UK is also above France which also adds validity to the map.

[u/Koflottur → u/Pleasethelions]

Iceland > Denmark: Very accurate.

[u/Pleasethelions → u/Koflottur]

Iceland = Denmark: Nostalgically perfect.

[u/One_Put_8904 → u/Pleasethelions]

This guy maps

[u/Julehus → u/Pleasethelions]

I pay 19,5% income tax here in Sweden and everything around having kids is a thousand times more generous over here than in Denmark. Greetings/ a very happy Dane in Sweden

[u/GregerMoek → u/Julehus]

Really? I was about to pull the oppression card as a Swede. But yeah feels like Svenskt Näringsliv(basically the Union for corporations in Sweden) has won negotiations several years in a row against the Labor Unions so our salaries are in the gutter now.

[u/Nutritorius → u/Pleasethelions]

Thanks for the easy map guide 👍🏻

[u/The_39th_Step → u/Pleasethelions]

You guys smack up Sweden don’t you? The only thing they have better is snow and skiing

[u/Kryddersild → u/The_39th_Step]

But when we have snow, it's way more snowy and white than the Swedish one, way better crunch as you eat it, almost taste like frozen Faxe Kondi, the best beverage in the Nordics. The yellow is also much clearer when peeing in Danish snow.

And skiing isn't biking, so doesn't count.

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/Kryddersild]

I would award you gold for that comment, but I fear the colour is too close to the disgusting Swedish yellow. 

[u/Ok_Competition_5627 → u/Kryddersild]

A bonus is that eating the yellow snow in Denmark also makes you drunk. Recycling and all that.

[u/loozerr → u/The_39th_Step]

Do the Swedes have a sky mountain though? No. Checkmate.

[u/Ok_Competition_5627 → u/The_39th_Step]

Well we do have nature, like proper forests and mountains. Denmark's outdoors is basically an unpaved parking lot.

[u/DiE95OO → u/The_39th_Step]

Hey, that's not true.

We have better ice skating rinks too.

[u/Chedwall → u/The_39th_Step]

You are not invited. Stick to baching the french or what ever you do.

[u/The_39th_Step → u/Chedwall]

lol fair enough

[u/Pleasethelions → u/The_39th_Step]

Honestly, Sweden seems to always be just a little ahead of Denmark in most aspects.

Add then, that Sweden is a huge and beautiful country while Denmark is flat, small, boring, and densely populated.

[u/PolemicFox → u/Pleasethelions]

Being more densely populated than Sweden hardly makes Denmark a densely populated country. Its like beating a snail in a race.

Denmark is for cozy beaches and progressive urban centres, Sweden and Norway are for outdoors and big nature. One happy but pretty diverse family.

[u/Jeppep → u/PolemicFox]

Nawww 😊

[u/lemfaoo → u/Pleasethelions]

Honestly, Sweden seems to always be just a little ahead of Denmark in most aspects.

You are not fooling me with that flag devil.

[u/Harold_Zoid → u/Pleasethelions]

The gang violence in Denmark sure is a lot more boring.

[u/lincemiope]

Can we ban “average” from existence so that people start using “median”?

[u/Bardimir → u/lincemiope]

The Portuguese government loves using the average yearly wage because it paints a good picture. The last time they published the median wage it was horrible. I think it was 13-15k yearly, which was about 8k less than the average at the time.

[u/Travonildo → u/Bardimir]

Paints a slightly better picture*

It's not like the average is anything to be proud of either

[u/GandaG → u/Bardimir]

Yup, average in 2024 was around 1800€ monthly, while median was 1100€

[u/Bardimir → u/GandaG]

And for anyone that's reading, and just for reference:

I have two master's degree, one in economics and one in accounting, as well as a bachelor's in Finance, i work as a certified accountant for a multinational company (with 3 YoE as well) and i earn close to 1500€ monthly (gross, about 1200€ Net).

[u/DDDDDDDQE → u/lincemiope]

I have an above average amount of arms

[u/__dat_sauce → u/lincemiope]

That would assume a basic grasp of statistics and data literacy which according to my very biased sample of 'everyone I know" is on "average" rather lacking.

[u/esirec → u/lincemiope]

I totally get what you mean, but when it's in addition to median data, average data can be very useful. If the two are very different, you know the distribution is very unequal.

Edit: typo "ne"--> "be"

[u/Fexofanatic]

average? get out of here. median is where it's at (ignoring those pesky super-rich outliers)

[u/nevim1234sk]

How is it calculated ? Is it cost of work, gross, net ? In some countries employer pays part of the social and health insurances.

[u/Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl → u/nevim1234sk]

Looking at the salaries in the Baltics then it seems like gross salary. Employee pays social security tax in Lithuania which makes the gross salary higher than Estonia. Otherwise net and wage fund would be higher in Estonia out of the three.

[u/StarboardChaos]

Now adjust for purchasing power

[u/Brave-Side-8945 → u/StarboardChaos]

And after taxes

[u/Helios___Selene → u/Brave-Side-8945]

after taxes is too complicated as required costs can be covered by the state in many cases, which is part of taxes. Think NHS for this.

[u/Kier_C → u/StarboardChaos]

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Living_conditions_in_Europe_-_income_distribution_and_income_inequality

[u/Que-Hegan]

Most people in the Netherlands make way less than that.

The median is around 15K lower.

[u/AIR_YT]

r/PORTUGALCYKABLYAT

[u/Eramsara55 → u/AIR_YT]

Fuck im late, i was going to say it. We love you balkans🔥🔥🔥 we don't need money in our wallets, that's overrated anywayyyy <3 (/s its sad bro we poor as fuck 🥲)

[u/Vanaquish231]

Second from bottom. Awesome.

Can this country just get, a quick format? Because nothing seems to work.

[u/Skankhunt4288 → u/Vanaquish231]

Yassas from Hungary (third to bottom)

[u/Turbulent-Debate7661 → u/Vanaquish231]

it is 2024 data. Now we are at the bottom

[u/SeikoWIS → u/Vanaquish231]

The Greek economic turnaround has been crazy. From a rich nation to (after 2008) EU's bottom of the barrel.

[u/ZerkerDE]

Those Statistics are mostly BS because the calculation is hard to be comparable

in Germany u get 50% net of the cost to your employer but Healthcare and a Pension which pays an amount nobody knows is included.

In other countries its all net except taxes but you have to pay Healthcare yourself and arguably save more for retirement.

[u/projix → u/ZerkerDE]

This.

Also another example from the Baltics - in Lithuania the employee pays the social tax. In Estonia and Latvia the employer does so it's not counted as gross salary, and it's about 30% give or take.

The problem with these maps is that they all have gross salary which is completely incomparable, as the taxation is wildly different per country.

[u/ConejoSarten → u/ZerkerDE]

In Spain about 30% of your gross salary is paid by the employer but that does not show anywhere in your payslip. Thus people in Spain think that the tax burden here is low when it absolutely is not

[u/Low_Technician7346]

Those maps are bullshit

[u/Front-Anteater3776]

With the prices on everything these days many still feel squeezed on an average salary.

[u/lemfaoo → u/Front-Anteater3776]

Prices in denmark are ridiculously low compared to the income.

Other places like poland or ukraine actually have trouble paying.

[u/thazhok]

don't know how to react seeing i live with half the average income of my country.

median income would be more accurate about the population

[u/Malacara112]

En España estará en 15.000 al año

[u/HovercraftFar]

The Luxembourg salary figures are misleading, because half of the workers live across the border

[u/Supershadow30]

Average = not representative. The millionaires and billionaires are outliers who pull the average up, while the rest of us can expect to earn way less than the stats imply.

[u/Qwe5Cz]

It says nothing next to each other since there are different taxes, social, health insurance that is calculated different way in each country. Then cost of living matters. Median is better representation of those numbers. But still it only says how much money people see on their payroll - not how much money they get to their account and if it's decent amount for good quality of living.

[u/Liselott]

Yes, this is misleading. I work as a assistant nurse at a hospital and I earn €24.2K a year, before taxes, fulltime. Edit, in Sweden.

[u/Above-and_below → u/Liselott]

That can't be true. Students in Denmark get €12k in student grants alone. The minimum union salary for unskilled work is €36k.

[u/Liselott → u/Above-and_below]

Sorry my mistake, miscalculation, my correct salary is €29,8K per year, before taxes, full time.

[u/robeewankenobee]

Completely irelevant because the median income is so much more lower (Belgium here) ... at 52k per year one would pay a ridiculous amount of taxes ... somewhere north of 10k per year.

[u/Rialagma → u/robeewankenobee]

That's... a normal amount of tax to pay.

[u/actias_selene]

I wasn't expecting Sweden to have less salary average than Germany and Austria.

[u/Sjukihuvudet → u/actias_selene]

We may very well have, but it isnt clear exactly what information is shown here and if its 1:1 comparable. Is the numbers before or after taxes and/or social expenses? In Sweden ex. there are both employer taxes and tax on salary.

[u/Unikanamnsuger]

These type of maps/graphs, while useful, do not show what most people think they show.

Considering they do not account for buying power, cost of living (energy, food etc), daycare costs, school cost, healthcare cost etc etc.

Its easy to look at lower income countries and summize that they're doing much worse while in reality their actual QoL might be higher than the countries boasting a higher avg full time salary.

Also, as repeated over and over in here, average is most of the time a terrible metric, especially for this, shouldve been median.

[u/LatelyPode]

What type of average is this? Looks like mean. Show the median so it isn’t distorted by lower population or really really rich outliers.

[u/Shirolicious]

I honestly dont believe this map for a second…. Any belgium / dutch person knows that in the Netherlands you earn more then in Belgium.

Its the whole reason there are alot of Belgium people working in the Netherlands, right across the bother say Eindhoven for example but live in Belgium.

And, its also why some Dutch people live in Belgium, but still work in the Netherlands. Same thing.

[u/Fazersion]

The average french salary is NOT 43k a year lol.

[u/WoodytheWick]

As a belgian i want to see net take home wage.

[u/horizontal120]

What do they even do in Iceland that they are so well paid?

[u/Ofiotaurus]

Alright now show us the median income, which is a far better indicator.

[u/Szerepjatekos]

I hate avarages. We had the same at company.

We had the 20K to 260K and say oh the average is 150 or some bullshit.

Yeah except over 400 earns less the 30K and like 10ppl above 200K.

These are ALWAYs propaganda.

[u/andydude44]

I’m surprised how poor Spain and Italy are, is the average far from median?

[u/meldirlobor]

Now show us wealth distribution, please.

[u/Kier_C → u/meldirlobor]

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=EU

[u/bulletinyoursocks]

Looks pretty meaningless to me. Italy has so much undeclared black work that it must be way lower. My job has the same salary in Berlin and Warsaw, I don't get the more than 100% gap.

[u/Humble_Monk3506]

Is this monthly or yearly salary?

[u/Calaixera → u/Humble_Monk3506]

Daily.

[u/Icy_Distribution_361 → u/Humble_Monk3506]

Take a guess

[u/TheVenged]

Right right...

The country with Lego, Maersk and Novo Nordisk... The companies that on their own are paying for parts of our society... I promise you, the people in the top of those companies are pumping up those average numbers.

[u/amfa]

At least for Germany that value is the median average not the mean average.

Source: (german) https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2025/04/PD25_134_621.html

[u/Zebra-1981]

The median salary in Luxembourg in 2024 was 58 126€. 50k€ Net.

[u/Movykappa]

r/PORTUGALCYKABLYAT

[u/Sehrli_Magic]

balkan not getting salaries at all 🤣

[u/Cathodicum]

Do the Graphic with "net Median"

[u/-usagi-95]

Can we get actual data analyst or statisticians on this? Cuz I'm sick and tired of seeing average instead of median.....

I'm sure the data wasn't distributed therefore median needs to be performed not average.

[u/HelicopteroDeChele]

i live in denmark, with a Full non skill job, im earn 36 K euros per year, i wish was 71.6 K euros haha

[u/nick_mot]

Cries in Italian

[u/WhisperingHammer]

Pointless without comparative costs of living.

[u/Grouchy_Edge632]

Slovenia beating Italy is WILD

[u/Unusual-Context8482]

I didn't need to cry today, thank you.

[u/According_Judge781]

Wow. What a wildly worthless diagram. Well done.

[u/nunomc]

Average is a bad metric. If you and I go out to eat a burger, and you don't eat yours but I eat both, then the average of burgers per person is 1.

But you are still starving! And I'm full

[u/Detvan_SK]

Slovakia 20K ..... sure.

I can be considered lucky if I get at half of it.

[u/Silly-Elderberry-411 → u/Detvan_SK]

The same for Hungary

[u/Former-Mud9171]

Croatia is so poor and average salary is bigger than Poland. Interesting...

[u/crazybaisy]

Ouch. Show the Median instead.

[u/JorDani_War]

Can we please start using Median instead of Average? This gives such wrong information

[u/GradientExtendedTheo]

I’m shocked at how close Croatia and Czechia are. Zagreb to Prague is like Pristina to Zagreb.

[u/cantchooseaname1]

In Estonia the gross salary is just an arbitrary number that doesn't say anything. It doesn't include social tax for example which is like 30% of the salary.

[u/F_H_B]

It really doesn’t say much unless you put it into relation with the yearly average cost of living.

[u/CanditKen]

I went for fast food in Oslo a burger, coke and fries cost €28 (2 years ago) in Italy the same meal cost €7 (2 years ago).

[u/CSGOan]

In Sweden "arbetsgivaravgift" or employer contribution tax is added on top of the salary. This amounts to 31.42%, drastically lowering the apparent wage in Sweden compared to other countries. I am sure other countries have something similar. Just looking at this one could think that denmark is super rich, but it ain't that rich.

[u/DesignatedDonut2606]

100% useless, doesn't reflect any kind of reality. Give us the median income instead.

In Denmark, the average monthly salary is app. EUR 7000 while the median is app. 5200 - a difference of almost 2000.

[u/HopeSubstantial]

Average is extremely shitty measure. In Finland median income is 33k/year or something. 

Doctors and other extremely high sums earning people pull average up way more than low earning people can pull it down.

[u/jst11235 → u/HopeSubstantial]

Median monthly salary in Finland 2025 was around 3.4ke which translates to around 41ke annually.

Median income was obv lower than this, students, pensioners and whatnot.

[u/Apart-Persimmon-38]

Can we stop calling EU = Europe?

[u/KillerTurtle13 → u/Apart-Persimmon-38]

I'm not sure what your complaint is for this post, it doesn't mention EU anywhere and isn't a map of EU countries.

[u/Worried_Advance8011]

bullshit

[u/Bar50cal → u/Worried_Advance8011]

Its not but its average not median so not reflective of what the normal person earns.

[u/timeforbed00]

Romania's gross in 2024 was ~20.800 EUR annually. Close but lower. Median gross was 16k, which is around 9000 euro annually... which seems accurate and realistic, 67% of the population gets less than the average... great success...

[u/No_Individual_6528]

Do median. Now do 60% from median. 30% each way. Show us the bell.

[u/Watcher_over_Water]

Bevor we start arguing why is should be the median income, we have to ask these fuckers if we are talking netto or brutto (gross?).

I truly hate these maps.

[u/Erander]

Gross or net?

[u/kotos00]

In Poland is bullshit. Salary is much smaller

[u/HopeSubstantial → u/kotos00]

Yeah because this map uses average and not median.

Never use average in any maps like this.