What does wealth mean in today’s Germany? Some think of luxury villas, expensive watches and long-distance business class travel, while others think of financial security and a life without money worries. But at what point are you actually statistically considered rich? An evaluation shows: The limit is significantly lower than many people assume.
When are you considered “rich”?
If you ask people how much money someone is considered rich, the answers are usually different. However, it is necessary to differentiate between income and asset wealth. Anyone who owns material assets (e.g. real estate, stocks, cash, company investments) is considered wealthy, regardless of their regular income. According to a study by the Bundesbank, the median net worth of private households in Germany is 76,000 euros. Anyone who has twice this average is considered wealthier. However, since wealth is distributed much more unequally than income in Germany, the latter dimension is more interesting to consider.
Anyone who has an exceptionally high current income (e.g. salary, pension, investment income) is considered high-income. According to Kununu, wealth is still a matter of definition and not necessarily a question of numbers. Anyone who has to get by on 3,000 euros a month considers 8,000 euros to be excessive. However, those who work in industries with six-figure annual salaries set the bar completely differently.
Scientific definitions
Economic institutes such as the IW Cologne or the German Institute for Economic Research use objective criteria to make prosperity and wealth measurable. The basis is usually the so-called net equivalent income, which adjusts the income to the size of the household and the cost of living. According to a study by IW Cologne, the top tenth of the income distribution for single people starts with a monthly net income of 3,529 euros. Couples without children reach this threshold at around 5,294 euros.
According to information on karrierebibel.de, couples with two children are already considered high-income with a net income of 7,412 euros. In addition to looking at the top ten percent, the median income is often used as a reference. Many studies classify anyone who has double or triple this amount as wealthy or even rich.
Wealth is distributed differently regionally
Depending on where you live, however, not only purchasing power changes, but also the threshold above which income is considered high. While high rents and costs of living are normal in large cities like Munich or Hamburg, in rural regions there is significantly less money for a comparable standard of living. According to an evaluation of the 2023 microcensus, which merkur.de refers to, the proportion of high-income people in Hamburg is 10.4 percent. In Saxony-Anhalt, on the other hand, only 3.5 percent make it into this group. Berlin (8.6 percent) and Hesse (8.9 percent) are also well above the national average.
Gap between rich and poor
What is striking is how widely the assessments differ. While studies show that one can speak of wealth in the statistical sense starting from around 3,500 euros net, for many people the perceived limit is significantly higher. According to the information service of the German Economic Institute (iwd.de), this gap is primarily related to the increased standard of living, increasing social inequality and the growing visibility of wealth. Social media in particular often gives the impression that wealth only begins with a five-figure monthly income. The reality is different – and it shows: Those who belong to the top ten percent in Germany have more than the majority, but do not necessarily live in luxury.
Editorial team finanzen.net