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Linux Engineer: salary 2026

This is what Linux Engineer earn in Germany – from 6 job ads with a stated salary and 64 salary data sets.

Median, gross

€52,929

€38,400 lower 10 % €71,700 upper 10 %

How salaries are distributed

Each column = number of salary figures per €5,000 band · basis 70

  • Between lower and upper 10 % (€38,400 – €71,700)
  • Edges

Salary rises with experience

Median and middle 50 % per level · jobs + data sets

€40,500

Junior

39,000 – 46,000

14 values

€52,000

Mid-level

46,000 – 58,500

+28 % · 23 values

€57,500

Senior

51,500 – 59,500

+42 % · 19 values

€61,500

Lead/Principal

56,500 – 65,000

+52 % · 14 values

Salary by federal state

Median of the salary data sets for Linux Engineer per federal state. The samples are small here – read the figures as a trend, not a guarantee.

  1. Hesse €61,000 n = 8
  2. North Rhine-Westphalia €59,500 n = 5
  3. Baden-Württemberg €59,500 n = 5
  4. Hamburg €57,500 n = 5
  5. Schleswig-Holstein €56,000 n = 5
  6. Bavaria €51,500 n = 5
  7. Lower Saxony €49,000 n = 4
  8. Rhineland-Palatinate €48,500 n = 4
  9. Saarland €48,500 n = 4
  10. Berlin €48,000 n = 7
  11. Thuringia €47,000 n = 4
  12. Brandenburg €46,500 n = 4
  13. Saxony €46,000 n = 4

Open positions as Linux Engineer

All in the job search
Embedded Linux Engineer (m/w/d) – Yocto München · Hybrid €54,000 – €74,000 above median Professional Platform & Linux Engineer (m/w/d) Dortmund · On site €46,000 – €69,000 above median Linux Engineer (m/w/d) Hamburg · On site €57,000 – €79,000 above median Professional Platform & Linux Engineer (m/w/d) Dortmund · On site €50,000 – €69,000 above median Linux Engineer (m/w/d) Stuttgart · On site €80,000 – €90,000 above median Embedded Linux Engineer (m/w/d) Frankfurt am Main · On site €46,000 – €64,000 above median

Linux Engineer: job profile and outlook

Linux engineers are specialists in the world's most widely used server operating system and are responsible for setting up, configuring and operating Linux-based infrastructures. They administer servers, optimise system performance and automate operating processes. Linux is the foundation of most cloud infrastructures, container platforms and web servers worldwide. Core competences include in-depth knowledge of Linux distributions such as RHEL, Ubuntu, Debian and SUSE as well as experience in shell scripting, systemd, kernel tuning and package management. Knowledge of containerisation with Docker, automation with Ansible or Puppet and monitoring with Nagios, Zabbix or Prometheus are also part of the repertoire. Certifications such as RHCSA, RHCE or LPIC are valuable qualifications. Salaries for Linux engineers are above average, especially at companies that rely on open source technologies. Cloud providers, hosting companies, technology groups and the public sector offer attractive salaries. Specialists with experience in Kubernetes administration and cloud infrastructure earn the highest salaries. Career paths lead from Junior Linux Administrator to Senior Linux Engineer to Linux Architect or IT Infrastructure Manager. Further development opportunities exist in the direction of DevOps Engineering, Cloud Engineering or Site Reliability Engineering. The central role of Linux in modern IT guarantees excellent long-term career prospects.

Similarly paid roles

Same axis – directly comparable

€30,000 – €80,000 · 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 6,380 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 Linux Engineer – with salary at a glance.

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