Cost of Living in Berlin

I agree with #Annette Autrata. Germany is a fabulous place to live, offering high wages, plenty job opportunities and great benefits. Amongst other, long vacations, even over 7 weeks, sick benefits, maternity etc. Average wages are indeed higher than US, and costs lower. You work much less hours as well.

Education, healthcare and much other is free so you need no loans like many in US have, these can be in 100s of thousands.

Rents are quite cheap, Autobahn is great, and the state makes an effort to invest- in many places in US you are like in third world, all is run down.

It is possible to live high quality life and save. No wonder of top 20 cities to live, 5 are in Germany.

I am in a different field but I suggest you take what you can and perfect the language, then you go up more easily. In my field some language is absolutely needed to start.

Ryan, with your opinion you are so far off base it is not even funny. Just look at the facts, Germany is three times more popular as a country to immigrate into than the States. Germany had over half a million immigrants in 2016, whereas the US hat 150000, this is a 7% share of the population versus 0.5%. Cost of living, average salary, job security, expenses for education, health insurance, poverty indexes are all far superior in Germany in comparison with the States.

Yes there are arrogant folks in posh cities like Munich or Hamburg, but no more so than in New York or San Francisco.

In High-Tech jobs it doesen't matter where you come from, it doesen't even matter much if you speak German, as long as you can at least communicate in English, you'll find a job in no time. The unemployment rate is very low (lower than the States) and regulations wouldn't allow to discriminate against nationality, gender, religion etc.

I have lived and worked in 4 major cities in the States (Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago) and 3 in Germany (Dortmund, Munich, Berlin) and I cannot support your views at all.

Hello guys,

I am an asian software developer(8 yrs experience) looking to work in Berlin.

What is the median salary for senior developers there?

Is 45k euro a year enough to live comfortably?

Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

Hello everybody,

I have a question

I was looking for an internship, and I am accepted by a one right now, in which the company will offer me a 1100 euros per month, my main question is that are they enough to live in berlin? I heard that rental costs are high...

hi ..my name is diptesh sahoo from india i thinking about to study in berlin
so could you please tell me how much would be cost of living at there as a student..
that should be between 400 to 450 euro and also about having any earning source
please do inform

@Roberto Birquet
The rent price is based on Number of bedrooms excluding the living room. This is required by Numbeo on the price contribution form:
> Please note that we expect inputs according to western standards,
> which means one bedroom flat contains separate sleeping room and
> living room (approximate space around 55m2 or 580sq ft).

Having a look through it seems fairly reasonable. I come from Sydney where the cost of living is very high. Salaries do match the cost of living where I'm from to a degree but I'm in the process of interviewing for a job that should nett just shy of 3k a month. Judging from this if I got the job I probably will be able to live well and still save (as I love to travel and see no value in moving to the otherside of the world then stuck not able to go anywhere .....)

Hi all,

I was just wondering what are the different taxes and how are they calculated.

Thanks in advance!

I have experience in working in online marketing industry/star-ups and here if you start as an intern you will get about 500-700€ net monthly, trainee is 800-1000€ net monthly, junior positions 1200-1400€ net monthly, but I know also people who get more, depends on the company and industry (eg Ebay). I am here 2 years and I would say that since I am here the costs of living are growing really quickly, but I also see tendency in growth of the salaries. Rents are growing the quickest, food in supermarkets as well, still entertainment like lunch or party is more less the same. If you are intern you can leave for a month for about 700€, but of course the longer the harder and I would say to have a more less normal life you need about 1000€ monthly is ok.
My basic costs are:
400 - rent in a 2-bedroom WG in the center ( I have a contract since a year, now I would pay probably aroun 450-500)
60 - monthly ticket for Sbahn and Ubahn (I have yearly contract, that is why it is cheaper)
18,5 - gym in Alexa
2,5 - bank account
200-350 - food/shopping
100-200 - entertainment

I may move to Germany to work, and I'll be earning about 2000€ netto. In Berlin would you say that that's a medium salary? With a 500-600€ rent, how much would you would you spend of public transportation and house expenses? From what I see here, it would be about 300 euros. So I'd be left with about 1000 for personal expenses, is that right?? Thank you very much!

The Average salary presented here is for sure based on Expats income... if u expect to get a 1800€ (netto per month) and just work 40H/W in a regular job (let's imagine you arn't a creative director of an AD Agency), u kan still send some poscard to Santa Claus...

it's much more around 1,3 or 1,4 if your manage it!

anyway, expat are not "soooooooo" welcome as long as they don't speak some (just a 'll bit is cool buddy) German. On the other side, you can find a job in a Bar, speaking english all the day long, with your Foreigners friends and u will be hated from the Locals because your just play like a parasite...

Peace,
D.

What will be the total living cost while live in berlin if share the apartment. as a new student how much euro may i earn without knowing germany language. is available part time job in berlin for international student?. please someone help me

Salary:
according to http://www.bz-berlin.de/aktuell/berlin/so-viel-verdienen-die-berliner-monatlich-article1585671.html,
the mean salary around 1600 EUR is for a household, *not* for a single person.

Is it possible to live there with a 650€ salary?
Sharing apartment, using buses and taking care of your money?

Thank you!

(That's what they offer in a scholarship in which you work 40h a week)

thank you for all the information
i think it give a a big picture on the living costs in Germany
if it is a bit less or high in some areas it is changing every day
but it is very helpfull and again thank you for this

Actually cost of living has ben rising enormously the last few years. The government taxes citizens indirectly on energy costs and health insurance. Energy costs are among the highest in the world, and not reasonable by any standards. Electricity is taxed around 80% and consumer prices are huge. Heating costs are crazy, with some families in 90Sq/m apartments paying more than €200 / month the whole year (they bill you every month for average monthly costs and send you the bill for the difference once a year).

Health insurance is expensive and discriminatory. If you are employed somewhere it's OK, if you are self employed expect a minimum of about €300/month for public insurance, or 15% of income, whichever is higher. But not everybody is allowed in public insurance. If you are over 55 years old and were not public in the past 5 years you won't get in. Then you have private or nothing. Many people are not insured at all in Germany.

Finally, the economy is partly growing thanks to social dumping. People that get €3/hour, people with €400 mini jobs that can't get health insurance or pension, people that work all day and still need government help to get by.

Taxes are high, the bureaucracy kills, and the tax authorities are very aggressive.

Life in Berlin is not always rosy and easy. Unless you do nothing and live on welfare.

Average Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) is completly wrong it is 1.600,-€ in 2012 (gov. statistic)