German Net Salary Calculator (Brutto Netto)
Your take-home pay in Germany in 2026, after tax and social insurance.
Good to know. In Germany the tax class changes what is withheld each month, not the tax you owe for the year.
Not financial advice. Uses only the numbers and rates you enter — no live data.
How it works
In plain words
Social insurance is a share of gross pay, up to a ceiling: health 7.3 % plus half the insurer’s extra contribution, care 1.8 % (more without children), pension 9.3 % and unemployment 1.3 %. Wage tax follows the official flowchart: gross less allowances and the insurance allowance (Vorsorgepauschale), taxed on the income tax scale, with the tax class deciding the allowances. Solidarity surcharge (5.5 %) only applies to high tax, and church tax is 8 or 9 % of the wage tax.
The formula
Net = gross − wage tax − solidarity surcharge − church tax − social insurance Taxable = gross − 1,230 − 36 − Vorsorgepauschale (− 4,260 in class II) Tax on taxable income by § 32a EStG (class III: twice the tax on half)
Worked example
A single person earning 4,500 a month in North Rhine-Westphalia, no children, no church: 650.16 wage tax, 393.75 health, 108.00 care, 418.50 pension and 58.50 unemployment insurance, leaving 2,871.09 a month.
Sources
- Einkommensteuergesetz § 32a (tariff 2026) Basic allowance 12,348 € and the tax zones.
- BMF, Programmablaufpläne zur Lohnsteuer 2026 (12 November 2025) The official wage tax calculation, including classes V and VI and the Vorsorgepauschale.
- Bundesregierung, Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen 2026 Contribution ceilings 69,750 € and 101,400 € a year.
Sources checked September 29, 2026. 5 automated tests check its answers on every change.
About the german net salary calculator (brutto netto)
In Germany your employer withholds tax and social insurance from every payslip, so the gross salary in a job offer and the money that arrives are far apart. For most people, about a third of gross pay goes: roughly a fifth to social insurance and the rest to wage tax.
Social insurance is split with your employer, who pays about the same again on top. Your share is 7.3 % for health insurance plus half of your insurer’s extra contribution, 1.8 % for long-term care (2.4 % without children from age 23, less with two or more children), 9.3 % for the state pension and 1.3 % for unemployment insurance, each up to a yearly ceiling.
Wage tax depends on your tax class. Single people are in class I, single parents in II. Married couples choose between IV/IV, which suits similar salaries, and III/V, which lowers the tax of the higher earner and raises the other’s. The class only changes what is withheld each month: the tax return settles the real tax for the year. A second job is taxed in class VI.
The solidarity surcharge only applies once your wage tax is over about 20,000 € a year, and church tax (8 % in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, 9 % elsewhere) only if you are a registered member of a church that levies it.
Questions people ask
How much is 4,500 € gross in net pay?
For a single person in tax class I with no children and no church tax, about 2,871 € a month in 2026.
Which tax class should married couples choose?
IV/IV if you earn about the same. III/V if one earns much more, which lowers the monthly tax overall; the tax return evens it out.
Do I have to pay church tax?
Only if you are registered as a member of a church that levies it. Leaving the church at the registry office ends it.
Why does care insurance cost more without children?
From age 23, people without children pay an extra 0.6 %. Parents with two or more children under 25 pay less.