Average Salary in Austria 2026: Gross, Net and What You Actually Keep

Last updated: 7 September 2026

Austria’s average gross annual salary was €43,416 in 2024, while the median was €38,043, according to the latest available official annual earnings data. Both figures include part-time employees and people who worked for only part of the year. For employees working full time throughout the year, average gross earnings were €65,961, and the median was €55,678. These are 2024 earnings, published in Statistics Austria’s December 2025 tables—not measured 2026 salaries. See the official tables for all employees and full-time, full-year employees.

For someone evaluating a full-time job offer, the second set is usually the more useful starting point. But even then, an Austrian salary needs a little explanation: holiday and Christmas payments can make a monthly offer look smaller than an equivalent annual package elsewhere.

The practical questions are how much the job pays over a complete year, what arrives in an ordinary month, and how much remains after housing and other expenses.

How to Read Austria’s Salary Statistics

This article uses several official datasets, each answering a different question:

Dataset	Reference period and release	What it measures
Monthly income	2024; tables dated 11 December 2025	Main-job earnings, including a proportional share of holiday and Christmas payments; full-time and part-time employees
Annual personal income	2024; tables dated 12 December 2025	Actual annual employee income; separate results for all employees and full-time, full-year employees; apprentices excluded
Wage-tax statistics used for the industry comparison	2024; publication listed for February 2026	Mean annual gross receipts of full-time, full-year employees, using the wage-tax publication’s broader employee population
Tax and contribution rules	2026	Current payroll rules, rather than the historical rules underlying 2024 take-home income

The monthly income statistics combine administrative records with Labour Force Survey information. They cover employees in private households, with specified exclusions including people on parental leave and freie Dienstnehmer. They include regular overtime and other remuneration, so they are not a measure of base salary alone.

The annual personal income statistics use wage-tax and social-insurance records and cover public and private employment. Actual annual receipts include relevant special payments. Partial-year earnings are not increased to a hypothetical full-year salary.

Consequently, multiplying a monthly median by 12 will not reproduce the annual median. The populations and measurement methods differ. Self-employed business income is outside the employee salary figures presented here.

Average Salary in Austria: Key Numbers

Annual gross and net earnings

The following figures are annual amounts for 2024, including special payments recorded in annual earnings. “Average” means arithmetic mean.

Employee population	Average gross	Median gross	Average net	Median net
All employees, including part-time and partial-year employment	€43,416	€38,043	€30,737	€28,506
Full-time employees working throughout the year	€65,961	€55,678	€45,336	€39,504

Sources: Statistics Austria’s annual gross and net earnings table and full-time, full-year earnings table, both dated 12 December 2025. Apprentices are excluded. Net income is after withheld employee contributions and wage tax, before the annual employee tax assessment.

These net figures are published statistics, not Finorum estimates or predictions of what the same gross salary would produce under 2026 rules.

Monthly medians

Statistics Austria’s separate 2024 monthly income release reports:

Metric	Monthly amount	Important qualification
Median gross income	€3,713	Includes proportional holiday and Christmas pay
Median net income	€2,711	Includes proportional holiday and Christmas pay

Both include full-time and part-time employees. Neither should be read as the amount on a typical ordinary-month payslip.

The next releases for these monthly and annual personal-income series are scheduled for 18 December 2026, covering 2025. Until then, the latest figures in these series retain their 2024 reference year.

Compare earnings across Europe with Finorum’s Average Salary Comparison. Match the reference period and gross/net definition before comparing the figures.

Average vs Median: Which Figure Should You Use?

The average adds everyone’s earnings together and divides by the number of employees. The median identifies the middle of the distribution: half earn less and half earn more.

High earners can pull the average upward. The median therefore often gives a more useful first impression of typical earnings, although neither measure tells you what a particular occupation should pay.

The choice of employee population matters just as much. Someone who worked a short seasonal contract and someone employed full time all year can both appear in an all-employee annual dataset. Their annual earnings reflect different amounts of work.

For a full-time offer, begin with full-time, full-year earnings, then consider the role, experience requirements, working hours and applicable collective agreement. For a part-time offer, compare the hourly rate or the equivalent salary at the same weekly hours.

Why Austria’s 13th and 14th Salaries Matter

Holiday pay, often called Urlaubszuschuss or Urlaubsbeihilfe, and Christmas pay, often called Weihnachtsremuneration, are familiar parts of Austrian remuneration.

However, there is no universal statutory entitlement to two extra salaries for every private-sector employee. Entitlement depends principally on the applicable collective agreement or employment contract. The Chamber of Labour’s guidance on holiday pay explains why the relevant agreement must be checked.

The amount and payment dates follow the applicable arrangements. Where an entitlement exists, joining or leaving during the year affects the proportional amount payable. The government’s explanation of special payments describes these separately from regular monthly remuneration.

Comparing offers on the same basis

Consider a hypothetical offer of €4,000 gross per month with two additional payments of €4,000:

Component	Gross amount
Twelve regular monthly salaries	€48,000
Holiday payment	€4,000
Christmas payment	€4,000
Total annual salary	€56,000
Annual salary divided across 12 calendar months	€4,666.67

This is an illustrative calculation, not an official salary statistic. It assumes a complete year, equal special payments and no additional bonuses.

The distinction is substantial: €4,000 paid 12 times is €48,000 annually; €4,000 paid 14 times is €56,000.

Similarly, the 2024 full-time, full-year gross median of €55,678 corresponds mathematically to €3,977 across 14 equal payments, or €4,639.83 averaged across 12 calendar months. These are Finorum conversions of an annual benchmark—not observations of regular monthly base pay.

Before accepting an offer, establish whether the quoted annual amount already includes holiday and Christmas payments. Adding them twice would overstate the package.

Gross vs Net: What Actually Reaches Your Account?

For an ordinary cash salary, the basic relationship is:

Gross salary
− Employee social-insurance contributions and statutory employee levies
− Wage tax and any other applicable payroll deductions
= Take-home pay

The Chamber of Labour’s payslip guide explains how these components appear on an Austrian payroll statement.

An important statistical caution applies to the monthly medians above. Subtracting €2,711 from €3,713 gives €1,002, but it does not establish the deductions paid by a representative employee. Gross and net medians are calculated separately; they need not describe the same person.

For that reason, their difference should not be presented as an official effective tax rate or as a personalised gross-to-net calculation.

Your actual take-home pay depends on the contribution category, taxable benefits, deductions, credits and treatment of special payments. Annual net income divided by 12 is useful for budgeting, but it can differ considerably from the cash received in an ordinary month.

Calculate your take-home pay using our Net Salary Calculator, entering the tax year and payment structure that match your offer.

Income Tax and Social Contributions in 2026

Income-tax bands

Austria applies a progressive national income-tax tariff. The following 2026 bands published by the Ministry of Finance apply to taxable annual income, not directly to the headline gross salary.

Portion of taxable annual income	Marginal rate
Up to €13,539	0%
Above €13,539 to €21,992	20%
Above €21,992 to €36,458	30%
Above €36,458 to €70,365	40%
Above €70,365 to €104,859	48%
Above €104,859 to €1,000,000	50%
Above €1,000,000	55%

The 55% rate is legislated through 2029. Each rate applies only to the income within its band.

Employee contributions and eligible deductions reduce the taxable amount. Tax credits then reduce the calculated tax. The zero-rate threshold therefore should not be presented as a universal gross-salary threshold.

Two basic employee provisions are the €132 annual work-expense allowance, already incorporated into payroll calculations, and the €496 annual transport tax credit for 2026. See the Ministry’s explanations of work-related expenses and employee tax credits.

Additional relief can apply to lower earners, eligible commuters and families. For qualifying commuters, the annual Pendlereuro increased to €6 per kilometre of one-way commuting distance in 2026, as explained in the Ministry’s 2026 payroll-calculator announcement.

Employee contributions

For a standard private-sector employee subject to the full unemployment-insurance rate, ordinary-pay deductions comprise:

Component	Employee share
Pension insurance	10.25%
Health insurance	3.87%
Unemployment insurance	2.95%
Chamber of Labour levy	0.50%
Housing-promotion contribution outside Vienna	0.50%
Combined ordinary-pay rate outside Vienna	18.07%

Source: the Austrian Health Insurance Fund’s contribution breakdown.

Vienna differs in 2026. Its employee housing-promotion contribution is 0.75%, bringing the corresponding combined rate to 18.32%. The relevant employment allocation matters; merely living in Vienna is not the test. See the City of Vienna’s contribution rules.

These percentages are not universal. Under the ÖGK’s 2026 payroll guidance, the employee unemployment-insurance rate is:

Monthly contribution base	Employee unemployment-insurance rate
Up to €2,225	0%
€2,225.01–€2,427	1%
€2,427.01–€2,630	2%
Above €2,630	2.95%

The ordinary monthly contribution ceiling is €6,930 in 2026, with a separate €13,860 annual ceiling for special payments. Special payments do not attract the standard Chamber of Labour and housing-promotion levies, so their contribution treatment differs from ordinary pay. Apprentices, marginal employment and some occupational groups have different rules.

How holiday and Christmas pay are taxed

Eligible special payments receive preferential treatment within the Jahressechstel: broadly, one-sixth of annualised regular remuneration.

Under section 67 of the Income Tax Act, applicable in 2026, the special-payment tax schedule, after the applicable contribution deductions, starts at:

• 0% on the first €620;
• 6% on the next €24,380;
• higher rates for larger qualifying amounts.

A separate exemption applies where the Jahressechstel does not exceed €2,615 in 2026. Amounts exceeding the qualifying limits can fall under ordinary taxation.

The €620 allowance is annual, not a fresh allowance for every bonus. Additional performance bonuses can also use the available preferential allowance.

Thus, “the 13th and 14th salaries are taxed at 6%” is an incomplete explanation. Contributions, allowances and limits still matter. Payment frequency alone does not guarantee a better net outcome than an overseas offer.

Overtime and employer costs

Overtime base pay remains taxable. In 2026, qualifying premiums for the first 15 overtime hours per month, limited to 50% of the base hourly wage, can be exempt from wage tax up to €170 monthly. This exemption concerns the premium, not all overtime earnings; social contributions can still apply. See the 2026 legislative update and payslip explanation.

Employers also pay contributions on top of gross salary. The standard employer-side components shown by ÖGK total 20.98% outside Vienna, before the separate 1.53% occupational severance-fund contribution where applicable. Vienna’s higher housing contribution adds 0.25 percentage points. Contribution bases and exemptions differ, so these percentages should not simply be applied to every euro of every package.

Other employer payroll charges include the 3.7% family-burden equalisation contribution, its regionally varying supplement, and 3% municipal payroll tax, with applicable exemptions. Vienna also has a separate employer levy. The government’s payroll obligations guide distinguishes these charges.

These employer costs are not deductions from an employee’s agreed gross salary. In particular, municipal payroll tax should not be mistaken for a municipal personal-income-tax surcharge.

For the fuller explanation, see our Austria Tax Guide.

Minimum Wage and Collective Agreements

Austria has no universal national statutory minimum wage. Binding wage floors are principally set through collective agreements, with other legal instruments covering some situations. The Ministry of Labour’s minimum-wage guidance explains how an employee’s classification determines the applicable minimum.

There is therefore no single national hourly or monthly amount that can accurately represent Austria’s minimum wage. Nor should a frequently quoted negotiated floor be labelled a national legal minimum.

The relevant amount can depend on the sector, duties, employment group, credited experience and applicable regional agreement. Apprentices have separate remuneration arrangements.

For a concrete example, the 2026 collective agreement for commercial employees in wholesale and retail sets these monthly minimum gross salaries for step 1, covering the first three years in the salary scale:

Employment group	Monthly minimum gross salary
A	€2,090
B	€2,156
C	€2,251
D	€2,362

These are classification-specific floors for a 38.5-hour normal working week, with holiday and Christmas payments governed separately by the agreement. They are neither a national minimum nor a statement that every retail employee belongs in group A.

When reviewing an offer, ask which collective agreement applies, which group and step you have been assigned, and how previous experience has been credited. A salary above the contractual floor can still be negotiated.

Salaries by Industry

The following updated comparison uses 2024 mean annual gross earnings of full-time, full-year employees, from Statistics Austria’s Lohnsteuer 2024, industry table, published in February 2026.

Industry, using ÖNACE 2008	Mean annual gross earnings
Finance and insurance — K	€90,844
Energy supply — D	€88,534
Information and communication — J	€83,350
Professional, scientific and technical activities — M	€79,589
Public administration, education, health and social work — O+P+Q	€68,314
Manufacturing — C	€65,124
Water supply and waste management — E	€57,115
Wholesale and retail trade; vehicle repair — G	€56,589
Construction — F	€55,950
Accommodation and food services — I	€37,135

These are actual annual receipts, including special payments, rather than base salaries or annualised seasonal pay. The wage-tax population includes apprentices and differs from the apprentice-excluding headline series. Public administration, education and health are combined because the underlying employer records do not reliably separate them.

Sector averages are not occupation-specific quotations. “Information and communication,” for example, does not mean software developers alone. A role’s seniority and responsibilities remain essential to interpreting an offer.

Public and private employment

Employment status provides another perspective. Statistics Austria’s 2024 full-time, full-year median figures show:

Employment status	Median annual gross earnings
Blue-collar workers	€44,076
White-collar employees	€65,771
Public-service contractual employees	€57,514
Civil servants	€75,729

These differences do not establish a pay premium for doing identical work in the public sector. The groups contain different occupations, qualifications and career profiles. Employment status also does not provide a complete classification of every publicly or privately owned employer.

Salaries by Region

The latest regional annual-income table from Statistics Austria, dated 12 December 2025, gives the following 2024 median gross annual earnings:

Province of residence	Median gross annual earnings
Burgenland	€42,626
Lower Austria	€41,943
Upper Austria	€40,845
Styria	€39,557
Vorarlberg	€39,436
Carinthia	€39,210
Salzburg	€37,351
Tyrol	€36,463
Vienna	€36,022
Austria, matching resident population	€39,121

The figures include part-time and partial-year employees and exclude apprentices. They are actual annual earnings, including relevant special payments.

Crucially, this comparison assigns income by residence, not workplace. People living abroad are excluded from the regional allocation, as explained in Statistics Austria’s income methodology. That is why the matching national median here is €39,121 rather than the broader headline figure of €38,043.

Vienna’s position therefore does not mean its jobs pay the least. A person who lives in Lower Austria and works in Vienna contributes to Lower Austria’s resident-income figure. Statistics Austria documents the scale of this commuting relationship in its 2025/26 statistical overview.

Different mixes of working hours, employment duration and occupations also affect the rankings. Use them to understand residents’ earnings, rather than to price the same job in different locations.

Salary Growth, Inflation and Purchasing Power

What happened in 2024?

The annual personal-income release reports that median gross annual earnings increased by:

• 7.7% for all employees;
• 8.1% for full-time, full-year employees.

National CPI inflation averaged 2.9% in 2024, according to Statistics Austria’s consumer-price statistics.

Using the formula:

Real change = (1 + nominal growth) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1

the corresponding Finorum calculations are approximately 4.7% and 5.1%.

These calculations describe changes in inflation-adjusted gross medians. They do not mean every worker received that increase, and they are not measures of individual net purchasing power. Workforce composition can change between years.

What do newer figures show?

Statistics Austria’s 2025 agreed-wage index release, published on 15 January 2026, reports 3.9% annual growth in collectively or legally determined minimum pay. National CPI inflation averaged 3.6% in 2025, published on 19 January 2026.

Comparing those matching annual periods produces a Finorum-calculated real increase of about 0.3% in the agreed-wage index. This index tracks negotiated wage floors, not average or median actual earnings.

The latest CPI release available on this article’s update date was the 1 September 2026 flash estimate, putting August inflation at 3.2% year on year. It is provisional and is not a full-year 2026 inflation rate.

Austria’s Gender Pay Gap

Austria’s unadjusted gender pay gap was 17.6% in 2024, compared with 11.1% across the EU, according to Statistics Austria’s gender-income statistics, released on 3 March 2026. The 2024 figures are provisional.

This indicator compares women’s and men’s mean gross hourly earnings, expressing the difference relative to men’s earnings. It covers the specified private-sector population in enterprises with at least ten employees and includes full-time and part-time workers.

It is not the gap between annual median salaries, and it does not measure unequal pay for identical work. Using hourly earnings removes the direct effect of different numbers of paid hours, but the unadjusted indicator still reflects differences in occupations, industries, seniority and other characteristics.

What Your Salary Can Buy

Housing deserves particular attention when assessing a relocation budget.

In the first quarter of 2026, average rent including operating costs was €695.10 per dwelling, or €10.50 per square metre, according to Statistics Austria’s housing release of 18 June 2026. In the private main-rental segment, the corresponding averages were €816.70 and €12.50 per square metre.

These are averages across existing main tenancies, including different locations and contract durations. They are not quotations for a newly advertised apartment. Electricity, heating and other household expenses also need separate attention.

For a useful budget, obtain actual housing quotations in the area where you intend to live. Then add transport, food, utilities, insurance, childcare where relevant, and a realistic savings allowance.

For a broader breakdown, see our Cost of Living in Austria guide.

Compare salaries and purchasing power across all 27 EU countries using our interactive EU Country Comparison Map. Make sure comparisons use the same earnings definition, employment coverage and treatment of extra salary payments.

Compare the budget needed in another European destination with the Cost of Living Comparison Tool. Enter your own rent where possible.

If you are comparing job offers across borders, read Average Salary in Czech Republic and Average Salary in Germany. Compare guaranteed annual pay, employee deductions and your expected housing costs on the same basis.

What Is Considered a Good Salary in Austria?

There is no official threshold for a “good salary.” It depends on both the job and the household it supports.

As a historical reference, €4,000 gross paid 14 times produces €56,000 annually, close to the 2024 full-time, full-year median of €55,678. It should not automatically be described as a high salary, particularly when evaluating a specialised role in 2026.

An offer of €5,000 paid 14 times produces €70,000 annually. That is above the 2024 full-time median, but the industry comparison shows why it could still be an ordinary offer for some experienced professionals.

These are arithmetic comparisons, not suggested market rates.

A useful assessment has three parts:

1. The job: Does the salary fit the duties, experience, hours and collective-agreement classification?
2. The monthly budget: Can ordinary-month net pay cover recurring expenses comfortably?
3. The annual position: After special payments, irregular costs and taxes, is there enough room for savings and longer-term goals?

A household with two earners and modest housing costs can have a very different experience from a family relying on one salary.

For longer-term planning, see our Investing in Austria Guide.

Practical Guidance for Expats, Remote Workers and Job Seekers

Get the complete offer in writing

Ask for the annual gross amount, regular monthly pay, special-payment entitlement, bonus conditions and normal weekly hours. Separate guaranteed remuneration from discretionary bonuses and benefits.

Austria’s normal statutory working week is 40 hours, with shorter hours under many collective agreements. The government’s working-time guide explains the framework. Equal annual salaries can represent different hourly compensation when the working weeks differ.

If the offer includes an all-in arrangement, clarify the base salary and which additional work the package is intended to cover. Ask for an ordinary-month payroll illustration and a separate illustration of holiday and Christmas pay.

Check cross-border arrangements before relocating

EU citizens can work in another EU country without a work permit, subject to the applicable residence conditions. Non-EU citizens need to check the relevant immigration route. The EU’s working-abroad guidance provides the starting framework.

For remote workers, an employer’s foreign address does not by itself determine where salary is taxed or social contributions are due. Residence, where work is physically performed, tax treaties and social-security coordination can all matter. Tax and social-insurance rules are separate, as explained in the EU’s guidance on cross-border taxation and social-security coverage.

Confirm the arrangement with the employer before assuming that an existing foreign payroll can continue unchanged.

Freelancers should also avoid comparing invoiced revenue directly with employee gross salary. Business expenses, unpaid time off, insurance and tax must be accounted for separately.

Review your annual tax assessment

Payroll withholding is not always the final result. A job change, an incomplete working year or eligible expenses can affect the annual assessment. The government’s employee-assessment guidance explains the process.

Voluntary employee assessments have a five-year filing window. For example, an assessment for 2025 can be requested until the end of 2030. Mandatory filing follows separate rules and deadlines; the voluntary window should not be used where a filing obligation exists. See the official assessment rules.

Common Salary-Comparison Mistakes

The most misleading comparisons usually involve a change of definition:

• Calling a median an average.
• Treating a monthly statistic that includes special payments as ordinary-month cash pay.
• Comparing 12 salary payments with 14 without checking annual totals.
• Using all-employee annual earnings to judge a full-time, full-year offer.
• Treating an industry average as the salary for a particular occupation.
• Interpreting residents’ earnings as the pay offered by workplaces in that province.
• Applying 2026 payroll rules to historical net figures and presenting the result as published data.
• Describing aggregate income growth or negotiated wage increases as the raise received by every employee.

A sound comparison keeps the reference year, hours, payment structure and earnings definition visible throughout.

Official Resources

For an offer-specific check, start with:

• Statistics Austria’s annual earnings data for national benchmarks.
• The Ministry of Finance’s income-tax tariff for current tax bands.
• ÖGK’s 2026 payroll handbook for contributions and payroll categories.
• The Labour Ministry’s minimum-pay guidance for understanding binding wage floors.
• The Chamber of Labour’s payslip guide for checking individual payroll items.

The most useful Austrian salary benchmark is the one that matches the work you will actually do. Compare annual guaranteed pay first, check ordinary-month take-home income, and assess the result against a realistic household budget.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information using official data and rules available on 7 September 2026. Historical salary statistics are not guarantees of current market pay. Actual remuneration, tax and contributions depend on the employment arrangement and individual circumstances. Finorum conversions and real-growth calculations are identified separately and are not official statistics. For advice on a specific contract, payroll calculation or cross-border situation, consult the relevant authority or a qualified professional.

Sources & References

EU regulations & taxation

• Bmf.gv.at — employee tax credits
• The Ministry of Finance’s income-tax tariff
• European Commission / Taxation & Customs — cross-border taxation
• social-security coverage
• working-abroad guidance
• Ris.bka.gv.at — section 67 of the Income Tax Act, applicable in 2026

Additional educational resources

• Arbeiterkammer.at — Chamber of Labour’s guidance on holiday pay
• Bmf.gv.at — 2026 bands published by the Ministry of Finance
• 2026 payroll-calculator announcement
• work-related expenses
• Gesundheitskasse.at — ÖGK’s 2026 payroll handbook
• Lohnzettel.arbeiterkammer.at — The Chamber of Labour’s payslip guide
• Migration.gv.at — working-time guide
• Oesterreich.gv.at — 2026 legislative update
• employee-assessment guidance
• explanation of special payments
• official assessment rules
• Sozialministerium.gv.at — The Labour Ministry’s minimum-pay guidance
• Sozialversicherung.gv.at — ÖGK
• Statistik.at — 2024 monthly income release
• 2025 agreed-wage index release
• 2025/26 statistical overview
• annual gross and net earnings table
• annual personal-income release
• consumer-price statistics
• CPI release available on this article’s update date
• full-time, full-year earnings table
• income methodology
• Lohnsteuer 2024, industry table
• monthly income statistics
• regional annual-income table from Statistics Austria
• Statistics Austria’s annual earnings data
• Statistics Austria’s gender-income statistics
• Statistics Austria’s housing release of 18 June 2026
• Usp.gv.at — payroll obligations guide
• Wien.gv.at — City of Vienna’s contribution rules
• Wko.at — 2026 collective agreement for commercial employees in wholesale and retail