Backend developer: salary 2026
This is what Backend developer earn in Germany – from 410 job ads with a stated salary and 66 salary data sets.
Median, gross
€54,515
€38,861 lower 10 %
€80,336 upper 10 %
How salaries are distributed
Each column = number of salary figures per €5,000 band · basis 476
You
- Between lower and upper 10 % (€38,861 – €80,336)
- Edges
Salary rises with experience
Median and middle 50 % per level · jobs + data sets
€45,500
Junior
41,500 – 46,500
26 values
€54,000
Mid-level
49,500 – 61,000
+19 % · 238 values
€56,500
Senior
52,000 – 63,000
+24 % · 192 values
€61,000
Lead/Principal
55,500 – 65,500
+34 % · 17 values
Salary by federal state
Median of the salary data sets for Backend developer per federal state. The samples are small here – read the figures as a trend, not a guarantee.
- North Rhine-Westphalia €59,500 n = 7
- Hesse €59,500 n = 5
- Hamburg €57,500 n = 5
- Bavaria €57,000 n = 7
- Schleswig-Holstein €55,000 n = 5
- Baden-Württemberg €54,500 n = 5
- Berlin €52,000 n = 5
- Rhineland-Palatinate €50,000 n = 5
- Lower Saxony €48,000 n = 4
- Brandenburg €47,000 n = 4
- Thuringia €45,500 n = 4
- Saarland €44,500 n = 5
- Saxony €41,500 n = 5
What a skill is worth
Median of jobs with the technology compared with jobs without – both groups at least 20 jobs
- GCP +9.2 % €59,500 n = 21
- Microservices +8.3 % €59,000 n = 31
- Kafka +7.3 % €58,500 n = 24
- Angular +6.4 % €58,000 n = 26
- PostgreSQL +4.6 % €57,000 n = 80
- Terraform +4.5 % €57,500 n = 33
- Java +3.7 % €56,500 n = 145
- Kubernetes +3.7 % €56,500 n = 101
- Node.js +3.7 % €56,500 n = 47
- Kotlin +2.7 % €56,500 n = 44
Centre = same salary as jobs without the technology · bars up to ±9 %
Open positions as Backend developer
All in the job search
Softwareentwickler Online-Banking-Backend (m/w/d)
€59,417 – €63,000
above median
Senior Software Engineer (m/w/d) Backend & Datenplattformen
Salary not stated
Senior Backend Developer (m/w/d)
€43,000 – €61,000
below median
Backend Developer (m/w/d)
€47,000 – €69,000
above median
Senior Java Backend Entwickler (m/w/d)
€48,000 – €66,000
above median
Senior Backend Developer (m/w/d) – SaaS-Produkt für die Immobilienbranche
€55,000 – €70,000
above median
Backend developer: job profile and outlook
Backend developers form the technical backbone of modern software applications. They develop server-side logic, design APIs, manage databases and ensure the secure and efficient processing of data. Their work is invisible to the end user, but is crucial for the functionality, scalability and security of any application. The core skills of a backend developer include sound knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Python, Node.js, C# or Go. In addition, experience with relational and NoSQL databases, RESTful APIs, microservice architectures and messaging systems such as RabbitMQ or Kafka are of great importance. An understanding of topics such as caching, authentication and database optimisation rounds off the profile. The salary prospects for backend developers are consistently positive. Due to the high complexity of the tasks and the high demand, salaries are often above the average for the IT sector. Developers with experience in distributed systems, cloud-native development and event-driven architecture in particular can expect above-average salaries. The typical career path leads from Junior Backend Developer to Senior Developer to Software Architect or Tech Lead. Specialisations in DevOps, cloud engineering or data engineering are also common development opportunities. The increasing shift of business processes to the cloud and the growing need for robust API ecosystems guarantee excellent future prospects for backend developers.
Similarly paid roles
Same axis – directly comparable
- Backend developer this role €54,515
- Test automator €54,483 Compare
- Fullstack Developer €54,330 Compare
- Python developer €54,286 Compare
- QA Engineer €54,952 Compare
- ERP Consultant €53,992 Compare
- Business Intelligence Analyst €53,941 Compare
€30,000 – €90,000 · bar = lower to upper 10 %, line = median
How we calculate
- Sources: job ads with a stated salary that are assigned to a role, plus recorded salary data sets. Currently 6,381 active IT jobs state their salary.
- Range: lower 10 % to upper 10 % (P10–P90), so that individual outliers do not shift the limits. The median splits the values into two equal halves.
- Plausible: only gross annual salaries between €15,000 and €250,000; placeholders and monthly values are excluded.
- Calculator: role median × experience factor × federal state factor. The factors come from 4,290 salary data sets – each as a ratio to the median of its role, so the mix of roles does not distort them.
- Minimum size: breakdowns by skill, city and work model only appear from 20 values; every figure states its basis.
Earning more starts with the right job.
Open positions as Backend developer – with salary at a glance.