What Is the Nurse Salary in Germany?

Ask any nurse thinking about moving abroad what they want to know first, and the answer is usually the same: how much will I earn? The nurse salary in Germany is a big reason nurses from India and other countries look at Germany, but there is no single number. Your pay depends on your role, employer, region and experience. This guide breaks down nursing salaries in Germany by role, using data from the Federal Employment Agency, its research institute IAB and the public-sector pay scale. Rupee amounts in brackets use an approximate rate of €1 = ₹110 and will change with the exchange rate.

Average Nurse Salary in Germany

The most reliable benchmark is the Entgeltatlas of the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit), which draws on social insurance records. According to the Entgeltatlas, registered nurses in general nursing care earn a median gross salary of €4,587 per month (about ₹5.05 lakh), or roughly €55,000 a year (about ₹60.5 lakh). That is above the median for all occupations, which stands at €4,217 (about ₹4.64 lakh).

For all nursing staff together, the Federal Employment Agency’s May 2026 report, Arbeitsmarktsituation in Pflegeberufen, shows a median of €4,124 (about ₹4.54 lakh) for full-time staff in 2024, a rise of almost 7% on 2023. A median means half of nurses earn more and half earn less, and these figures cover full-time staff only. About 49% of nursing employees work part-time, so their monthly income is lower.

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Nurse Salary in Germany by Role

For a role-by-role view, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the research arm of the Federal Employment Agency, analysed the agency’s records as of December 2024 in its report Entgelte von Pflegekräften 2024. All figures below are median gross monthly pay for full-time employees, including items such as holiday and Christmas bonuses.

Registered nurse (general nursing): €4,329 per month (about ₹4.76 lakh), or roughly €52,000 a year (about ₹57 lakh). That is about €600 more (about ₹66,000) than the median for skilled workers across all occupations (€3,720, about ₹4.09 lakh).
Geriatric nurse (Altenpflegefachkraft): €4,153 per month (about ₹4.57 lakh), only €176 (about ₹19,000) below general nursing. The IAB reports that pay for this role is up 75% since 2012, or about 35% after inflation.
Paediatric nurse: Training for general, paediatric and geriatric nursing merged into one three-year course in 2020. Paediatric nurses are generally paid on the same scale as other registered nurses.
Nursing assistant: €3,363 per month (about ₹3.70 lakh) in general nursing and €3,098 (about ₹3.41 lakh) in geriatric care, against €2,863 (about ₹3.15 lakh) for helper-level jobs across all occupations, according to the IAB.
Specialist nurse (intensive care, anaesthesia and other further training): Under the municipal TVöD scale published by the VKA, these roles fall into pay group P9, which ranges from €3,992 to €4,662 (about ₹4.39 to ₹5.13 lakh) per month.
Nurse leaders: Group leaders, ward managers and nursing directors are graded from P10 up to P16, where the top step reaches about €6,938 (about ₹7.63 lakh).

TVöD Pay Scale for Nurses

Many hospitals and care homes run by municipalities follow the TVöD, the public-sector collective agreement. Its nursing pay table, the “P-table”, sets pay through fixed pay groups and experience steps. The current table, published by Haufe, is valid from 1 May 2026 to 31 March 2027 and reflects a 3% rise in April 2025 and 2.8% in May 2026. Monthly gross pay is now:

P7 (registered nurses with three-year training): €3,510 to €4,305 (about ₹3.86 to ₹4.74 lakh)
P8 (nurses with more demanding duties): €3,701 to €4,489 (about ₹4.07 to ₹4.94 lakh)
P9 (nurses with specialist further training): €3,992 to €4,662 (about ₹4.39 to ₹5.13 lakh)
P10 (team and group leaders): €4,184 to €4,961 (about ₹4.60 to ₹5.46 lakh)

New hires in P7 and above start in step 2, and pay rises through the experience steps over time. Nursing assistants sit in groups P5 and P6, from about €2,907 (about ₹3.20 lakh) at the start to €4,013 (about ₹4.41 lakh) at the top of P6. On top of table pay, nursing staff receive a monthly nursing allowance of €141.82 (about ₹15,600) from May 2026.

What Affects a Nurse’s Salary in Germany?

Two nurses with the same title can earn quite different amounts. These factors matter most:

Type of facility: The IAB found that registered nurses earn a median of €4,412 (about ₹4.85 lakh) in hospitals, against €4,035 (about ₹4.44 lakh) in residential care and €4,108 (about ₹4.52 lakh) in outpatient care.
Employer and agreement: Municipal employers use TVöD, while church-run and private employers often follow their own agreements. The IAB notes that since September 2022, care facilities contracting with the care insurance funds must pay by collective agreement or at the regional collective level.
Region: In the IAB’s regional data, registered nurses earn a median of €4,520 (about ₹4.97 lakh) in Baden-Württemberg and €4,017 (about ₹4.42 lakh) in Saxony. Pay in eastern Germany is about 6% lower, though living costs are lower too.
Experience and qualifications: Each step and specialist qualification can move you up the scale.
Shift work: The IAB points out that its statistics leave out the tax-free part of shift surcharges, so nurses working nights and weekends can earn more than the medians suggest.

All figures here are gross. Income tax and social contributions reduce take-home pay.

Salary Expectations for Indian and International Nurses

Pay in Germany follows your qualification and role, which makes recognition (Anerkennung) the key step for international nurses. Using the IAB’s medians, the gap between a registered nurse (€4,329) and a nursing assistant (€3,363) is about €966 per month (about ₹1.06 lakh).

The Federal Employment Agency’s May 2026 report shows the effect. Among nurses from the Triple Win countries, which include India, 64% work as qualified nurses, the same share as among German nurses. Among foreign nurses overall, only about half do. For Ukrainian nurses the share is just 27%, which the agency partly attributes to recognition procedures that are still running.

The lesson is simple: complete recognition, meet the language requirements and make sure your contract states your role and pay group.

Nurse Salary in Germany: Key Takeaways

The nurse salary in Germany is competitive and rising. According to the Federal Employment Agency, full-time nurses earn a median of €4,124 (about ₹4.54 lakh) per month overall, and the IAB puts registered nurses in general nursing at €4,329 (about ₹4.76 lakh). The VKA’s TVöD pay groups give specialists and leaders a clear route to higher pay. Before accepting an offer, check which pay scale the employer uses, confirm your pay group in writing, and compare it with current figures on the Federal Employment Agency’s Entgeltatlas (entgeltatlas.arbeitsagentur.de). Convert euro amounts at the day’s exchange rate before you plan your budget.

Earning a competitive nurse salary in Germany starts with the right preparation. Raahi Global supports Indian nurses through its German Healthcare Nursing Program, offering career counselling, German language training up to B2, Anerkennung documentation guidance, interview preparation, visa assistance and job placement support. Since professional recognition and language proficiency influence your nursing role and pay group, a structured plan can help you pursue qualified nursing positions in Germany.

Contact Raahi Global today to take the next step towards your nursing career in Germany.