DEWhat does an employee on €5,500 gross cost? Employer costs 2026
Employee net (tax class 1): €3,386.19
An employee on €5,500 gross costs the employer a total of €6,805.43 per month in 2026 – an overhead of 23.7 % on the gross salary, or €81,665.16 per year. The largest items are the employer share of pension and health insurance, followed by unemployment and nursing care insurance, the U1/U2 levies and the insolvency levy.
In the previous year (2025) the employer cost was €6,815.33 – a change of −€9.90 per month.
Employer cost breakdown
How the non-wage labour costs at €5,500 gross break down:
| Item | Rate | Amount/month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | – | €5,500.00 |
| Health insurance (employer share) | 8.6 % | €475.48 |
| Nursing care insurance (employer share) | 1.8 % | €99.00 |
| Pension insurance (employer share) | 9.3 % | €511.50 |
| Unemployment insurance (employer share) | 1.3 % | €71.50 |
| U1 levy (sickness) | 2.1 % | €115.50 |
| U2 levy (maternity) | 0.4 % | €24.20 |
| Insolvency levy | 0.2 % | €8.25 |
| Total employer cost | +23.7 % | €6,805.43 |
Reference assumptions: statutory health insurance (Techniker Krankenkasse), tax class 1, no children, no church tax, as of January 2026. Employer costs themselves do not depend on the tax class; U1/U2 vary by health insurer and chosen reimbursement rate.
Calculate labour costs via API
Gross to labour cost, net to gross or budget to salary: the engine behind this page is available as an API – with U1/U2 per health insurer, company pension and company car.
What does a pay rise cost?
Key for salary planning: a raise always costs the employer more than the raise itself – and only part of it reaches the employee net. Starting from €5,500 gross:
| Raise | New employer cost | Extra cost | Net gain for employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| +€100.00 | €6,929.16 | +€123.73 | +€49.78 |
| +€250.00 | €7,114.77 | +€309.34 | +€123.89 |
| +€500.00 | €7,404.52 | +€599.09 | +€259.15 |
Above the contribution assessment ceilings the marginal cost drops: salary components above the ceiling are free of social insurance contributions.
Labour cost calculator: from budget to salary
The reverse calculation: set your staffing budget and the calculator works out the resulting gross and net salary. Pre-filled with the cost from this page, every parameter adjustable.
Salary Calculator
Frequently asked questions
A total of €6,805.43: the gross salary of €5,500 plus €1,305.43 in employer contributions – social insurance, the U1/U2 levies and the insolvency levy. That is an overhead of 23.7 % on gross.