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PHP developer: salary 2026 at a glance

Salary at a glance: this is what PHP developer earn in Germany – from 58 job ads with a stated salary and 66 salary data sets.

Median, gross

€45,770

€33,529 lower 10 % €64,882 upper 10 %

How salaries are distributed

Each column = number of salary figures per €5,000 band · basis 124

  • Between lower and upper 10 % (€33,529 – €64,882)
  • Edges

Salary rises with experience

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

€38,500

Junior

34,000 – 43,000

22 values

€45,000

Mid-level

42,500 – 49,000

+17 % · 54 values

€49,000

Senior

45,500 – 52,500

+27 % · 31 values

€53,000

Lead/Principal

47,500 – 55,000

+38 % · 16 values

Salary by federal state

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

  1. Bavaria €51,500 n = 6
  2. Baden-Württemberg €49,000 n = 5
  3. North Rhine-Westphalia €48,000 n = 6
  4. Hamburg €46,500 n = 6
  5. Berlin €46,000 n = 6
  6. Hesse €44,500 n = 7
  7. Schleswig-Holstein €43,500 n = 4
  8. Rhineland-Palatinate €43,500 n = 5
  9. Saarland €40,000 n = 4
  10. Brandenburg €40,000 n = 4
  11. Thuringia €39,500 n = 4
  12. Saxony €39,000 n = 4
  13. Lower Saxony €38,000 n = 5

Remote, hybrid or on site?

Median from job ads for PHP developer per work model

Hybrid

€47,500

€44,000 – €50,000

22 jobs

View jobs

On site

€47,000

€43,500 – €51,000

27 jobs

View jobs

What a skill is worth

Median of jobs with the technology compared with jobs without – both groups at least 20 jobs

Centre = same salary as jobs without the technology · bars up to ±9 %

Open positions as PHP developer

All in the job search
PHP-Entwickler (m/w/d) Freiburg im Breisgau · Hybrid €41,000 – €57,000 above median
PHP-Entwickler (m/w/d) Freiburg im Breisgau · On site €50,000 – €69,000 above median
PHP Entwickler (w/m/d) Trier · Hybrid €37,000 – €51,000 below median
PHP Developer (m/w/d) – Digitale Plattformen & Innovation Regensburg · On site €39,000 – €55,000 above median
Fullstack Developer - Laravel & React/Vue (m/w/d) Münster · Hybrid €35,000 – €51,000 below median
Senior Full Stack Developer Laravel & Vue.js (m/w/d) Stuttgart · Remote €43,000 – €61,000 above median

PHP developer: job profile and outlook

PHP developers are specialists in server-side web development and are responsible for the majority of websites and web applications operated worldwide. PHP powers content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal and TYPO3 as well as e-commerce platforms such as Magento and Shopware. Individual web applications and APIs are also frequently realised with PHP. Modern PHP development is very different from its beginnings. Current PHP versions offer strict typing, high-performance JIT compilation and a mature ecosystem. Knowledge of frameworks such as Laravel, Symfony or CakePHP, experience with Composer, PHPUnit and PSR standards as well as a solid understanding of database design, caching and security concepts are in demand. Salaries for PHP developers vary greatly depending on specialisation and framework expertise. Developers with experience in Laravel or Symfony and modern PHP earn significantly higher salaries than pure WordPress developers. Positions in e-commerce companies and agencies that develop complex customised solutions are particularly lucrative. Career paths lead from Junior PHP Developer to Senior Developer to Software Architect or Technical Lead. Specialisations in areas such as API design, headless CMS or e-commerce architecture offer additional opportunities for advancement. Despite competition from Node.js and other technologies, PHP remains a relevant and stable career path due to its enormous spread and continuous modernisation.

Similarly paid roles

Same axis – directly comparable

€20,000 – €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 PHP developer – with salary at a glance.

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