I am working as an Embedded Engineer in Europe. In this article, I am writing the results of the research I did about embedded engineering jobs and salaries in various countries in Europe.
Instead of giving you a misleading gross salary number, I have calculated the taxes and living expenses and I have given you the approximate savings you can expect to make each month.
If you are a student wanting to learn Embedded Engineering or a student already learning it or if you are an experienced embedded engineer planning to move to Europe then this article is for you!
Data collection methods used
I have collected all this data based on some surveys, statistics and the advertised salaries that you can find on job networks like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Monster, etc. I have also tried to rank the countries based on the results I have obtained and have listed some pros and cons of moving there.
If you are not getting enough statistics about the number of jobs a particular country has on a given field, then the data on
- the number of universities teaching that particular subject and
- the number of major manufacturers producing products in that particular field
can be used to give us some insight into how good a country is in the field of interest.
I will be covering the following countries in Europe
- Germany
- Netherlands
- France
- Italy
- UK
- Austria
- Poland
- Switzerland
- Finland
- Norway and
- Sweden
Analysis Method
Since the salary, taxes and living expenses go together, I believe it’s not what you have in your packet on the beginning of the month that counts, but its the amount of money you have left at the end that really counts. In Europe taxes are high. This is because governments usually provide free education and free healthcare to its citizens.
I will make some quick calculations to give you an approximate number of what you can actually expect to be left in your bank accounts as savings by the end of the month so that you get to make proper decisions and not get misleaded by just the gross salary. The living expenses are taken from the website Numbeo.
I have also made a table for your quick reference with all the data at the end of the article. If you are interested in a particular country, feel free to skip to it using the content links below.
So let’s begin!
Germany
Approximate Gross Salary: 56k Euros per year (the exact number depends on your experience and the company) or 4660 Euros/month
Approximate net salary: 33.5k Euros per year or 2792 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: In Berlin, if you are living alone, you can expect to spend around 1400 Euros/month.
Approximate savings per month: 1392 Euros/month
Industry: Germany is also called the Land of Engineers. It is the country that produces BMW, Audi and Volkswagen cars. As you know the automobile industry involves a lot of embedded systems. So industry is present.
Education: It has about 3000 programs in engineering taught at the country’s universities, hence the country gives a lot of importance to engineering sciences.
Some interesting facts about Germany
- always carry cash, credit and debit card are not accepted in most of the places
- learn German if you are planning to move to Germany because even if you join a German company with just your English, other than official meetings, almost all the conversation among the employees will be in German, this includes lunches, parties and everything unofficial..!!
Netherlands
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 45k per year according to payscale.com for embedded software engineers, which comes to 3750 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 45k becomes 32.1k per year, which comes to about 2675 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com, the cost of living in Amsterdam is around 863 and rent can be around 1000 euros, so you can expect to spend about 1800 per month.
Approximate savings per month: This leaves around 875 Euros on our bank accounts by the end of the month.
Industry: Airbus the big aerospace company has its headquarters in the Netherlands, other notable companies from the Netherlands that involve a lot of electronics include Phillips and NXP Semiconductors that produce microcontrollers and microprocessors.
Education: Some world-renowned top-ranked engineering universities like Delft University and the University of Twente are present here, so it is safe to assume that there is a lot of focus on education and research in the engineering field in the Netherlands.
Some interesting facts about the Netherlands
- About 90% of Netherland people can speak in English
- The Netherlands has the highest population density in Europe
France
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 36k per year according to payscale.com for embedded software engineers, which comes to 3000 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 36k becomes 31k per year, which comes to about 2583 Euros per month
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com, the cost of living in Paris is around 700 and rent can be around 700 euros, so you can expect to spend about 1400 per month.
Approximate savings per month: This leaves around 1183 Euros on our bank accounts by the end of the month
Industry: The famous companies from France includes automobile manufacturers like Peugeot and Renault. Though it seems like less, France is one of those countries which is actively investing in research and it has a lot of branches
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 184 engineering master courses available and 18 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems.
Some interesting facts about France
- France has the second-highest population in Europe after Germany.
- The lunchtime break in France is around 2 hours
Italy
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 36k per year according to payscale.com for embedded software engineers, which comes to 3000 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 36k becomes 24k, which comes to about 2000 Euros.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com Turin, the cost of living in Turin Italy is around 720 and rent can be around 400 euros, so you can expect to spend about 1120 per month.
Approximate savings per month: This leaves around 880 Euros on our bank accounts by the end of the month.
Industry: Italy is another automobile manufacturer with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alpha Romeo and Massereti. Its is also the birthplace of Arduinos!
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 128 engineering master courses available and 16 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems.
United Kingdom
Approximate gross salary: The average salary is about 43k per year according to glassdoor.com for embedded software engineers in London, which comes to 3583 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 43k becomes 32.8k per year, which comes to about 2733 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to Numbeo london, the cost of living in London UK is around 880 and rent can be around 1170 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 2050 per month.
Approximate savings per month: This leaves around 683 Euros on our bank accounts by the end of the month
Industry: Even the UK has a lot of famous car brands like Mclaren, Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover etc. Other than that ARM the famous microcontroller designer is from this country!
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 1645 engineering master courses available and 153 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems. The numbers are significantly higher than the above countries simply because more data is available on the masters portal website.
Austria
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 50k per year according to payscale.com for embedded software engineers in London, which comes to 4167 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: 42% tax for this bracket (source academics.com) so the net salary is 29k per year or 2417 euros per month
Approximate living expenses per month: According to Numbeo.com Vienna, the cost of living in Vienna Austria is around 800 and rent can be around 700 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 1500 euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 1500 we will be left with 917euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Austria has a lot of automobiles parts manufacturers, hence has a lot of companies that need embedded software developers to write the firmware for their products.
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 59 engineering master courses available and 5 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems.
Poland
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 22k per year according to payscale.com embedded software engineers in London, which comes to 3583 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 22k becomes 15.5k per year, which comes to about 1291 Euros per month
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com for the city Warsaw, the cost of living is around 500 and rent can be around 600 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 1100 euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 1100 we will be left with just 191 euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Poland is an industrial country and many of the world’s leading companies like Intel, Nokia, and ABB all have their branches here and they all hire embedded software developers
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 72 engineering master courses available and 6 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems.
Switzerland
Approximate gross salary: The median salary is about 84k per year according to payscale.com embedded software engineers in London, which comes to 3583 euros per month.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 84k becomes 72k/year, which comes to about 6000 Euros/month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com for the city Zurich the cost of living is around 1400 and rent can be around 1200 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 2600 euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 2600 we will be left with 3400 euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Companies like Logitech, Tissot, Rolex, Omega, and Swatch are from Switzerland.
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 49 engineering master courses available and 2 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems
Finland
Approximate gross salary: Based on ads in glassdoor, 90k/year seems to be the average salary for embedded developers in Finland.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 90k becomes 51k per year, which comes to about 4250 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com for the city Helsinki, the cost of living is around 800 and rent can be around 900 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 1700 Euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 1700 we will be left with 2550 Euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Smartphone giants Nokia is from this country. Other companies that have a good base on Finland include Google, Huawei, and Rolls-Royce.
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 105 engineering master courses available and 5 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems
Norway
Approximate gross salary: Based on ads in glassdoor, 70k/year seems to be the average salary for embedded developers in Finland.
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 70k becomes 50.5k per year, which comes to about 4208 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com for the city Oslo, the cost of living is around 1050 and rent can be around 950 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 2000 euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 2000 we will be left with 2208 euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Nordic semiconductors come to mind when we think about Norway. Other famous brands like Cisco, ARM, and Siliconlabs have a good base here
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 70 engineering master courses available and 9 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems
Sweden
Approximate gross salary: Based on information from glassdoor 45k/year seems to be the salary for embedded developers in Sweden
Approximate net salary: Taking taxes out, the 45k becomes 28k per year, which comes to about 2333 Euros per month.
Approximate living expenses per month: According to numbeo.com for the city Stockholm, the cost of living is around 840 and rent can be around 800 euros for a 1 bedroom flat outside the city center, so you can expect to spend about 1640 euros per month.
Approximate savings per month: So after spending 1640 we will be left with 693 Euros in our bank account by the end of the month!
Industry: Electrolux, Ericsson and Volvo are some of the famous brands from Sweden.
Education: A quick search in mastersportal.eu revealed 181 engineering master courses available and 23 of those are particular to our field of Embedded Systems
Table
I have summarised all the above information into this table.
| Country | Gross/year | Net/year | Net/month | Living expenses/month | Savings per month |
| Germany | €56,000 | €33,500 | €2,792 | €1,400 | €1,392 |
| Netherlands | €45,000 | €32,100 | €2,675 | €1,800 | €875 |
| France | €36,000 | €31,000 | €2,583 | €1,400 | €1,183 |
| Italy | €36,000 | €24,000 | €2,000 | €880 | €1,120 |
| United Kingdom | €43,000 | €32,800 | €2,733 | €2,050 | €683 |
| Austria | €50,000 | €29,000 | €2,417 | €1,500 | €917 |
| Poland | €22,000 | €15,500 | €1,292 | €1,100 | €192 |
| Switzerland | €84,000 | €72,000 | €6,000 | €2,600 | €3,400 |
| Finland | €90,000 | €51,000 | €4,250 | €1,600 | €2,650 |
| Norway | €70,000 | €50,500 | €4,208 | €2,000 | €2,208 |
| Sweden | €45,000 | €28,000 | €2,333 | €1,640 | €693 |
As you can see Switzerland wins in our competition with an expected monthly savings of 2650 Euros! Finland comes second and Norway is 3rd!
Some of you may disagree with the figures, but the point of this article is to see the average salaries and average expenses. Hence I would ask you to take this data with a grain of salt as you can earn a bit more and spend a bit less and save more at the end of the month.
You can, of course, use this method next time when you apply for a job anywhere to be sure if you are actually taking a step up in your career!
Alright, I will stop here. I hope you got some value out of this article.
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If you have any questions or sugessions you can also email us or contact us through this link!
