Research Manager Salary
Also referred to as:
- Forschungsmanager
- Forschungsreferent
- Forschungsreferentin
Full-time gross salary
Based on 187 salaries
Ø 60.800 €
Average salary
39.100 €94.600 €
Ø 54.900 €
84 data points
Ø 71.500 €
79 data points
Last time recalculated on 20. Mai 2026
What is the salary for a Research Manager in Germany? On average, you can earn 60.800 € gross annually, based on 187 collected salary information from kununu users. This equals approximately 5.067 € per month (assuming 12 monthly payments). Salaries typically range between 39.100 € and 94.600 € annually. Did you know: Men earn 71.500 € and women 54.900 € yearly on average. Your actual income as a Research Manager will depend on your industry, work experience, and location.
Use the Gross-to-net calculator to easily calculate your net salary.
Do you earn the same as the rest of Germany?
Find out what the actual pay is in your industry and your city, and whether you are being paid fairly.
Salary for Research Manager based on work experience and gender
The starting salary as a Research Manager with less than 3 years of work experience averages 50.600 € gross per year. Generally, men start at 57.100 €, whereas women start at 45.400 €, corresponding to a salary difference of 20%.
After 10 years of work experience, the average salary for a Research Manager is 77.800 € gross per year. The gender pay gap increases to 23%, with men earning 87.900 € and women earning 67.300 €.
7 out of 10 women are affected by the gender pay gap in this role. , whether you are affected and what you can do about it.
People Management and Salary
At the start of your career as a Research Manager (with less than 3 years of work experience), you can expect an average salary of around 51.500 € gross per year without managerial responsibilities, and 61.200 € with managerial responsibilities.
After 10 years of work experience, your salary increases: An experienced Research Manager without managerial responsibility earns an average of 69.100 €. With managerial responsibility, it is around 88.900 € gross per year.
Possible jobs for your next career step
The next career step as a Research Manager with the highest salary is the position of Leiter:in Forschung und Entwicklung, with an average annual gross salary of 100.100 €. According to kununu statistics, when a Research Manager changes careers, most of them 16.1% choose the position of Marktforscher:in. The job with the most open positions, into which a Research Manager frequently transitions, is the role of Leiter:in Forschung und Entwicklung. Currently, there are 9.884 open positions in this field.
FAQ
- • The average annual salary as a Research Manager is 60.800 € gross.
• With 12 salaries, this corresponds to a monthly gross salary of 5.067 €.
• As a Research Manager, you can earn on average a minimum of 39.100 € and a maximum of 94.600 € per year.
• The majority of the salary data range between 50.200 € and 61.300 € gross per year. - The net salary as a Research Manager in Germany depends on various factors, including
Tax class
•State
• Social security contributions and
• personal circumstances.
On average, about 35-40% is deducted from the gross salary. This means that with a gross salary of 5.067 € per month, the net salary as Research Manager is approximately between 3.040 € and 3.294 €.
For an accurate calculation that takes into account your individual factors, we recommend using the kununu gross-to-net calculator. - According to our kununu salary data, as a Research Manager with less than three years of experience, you can expect an average starting salary of 50.600 € gross per year. This corresponds to a monthly salary of 4.217 € (based on 12 monthly payments).
- According to our kununu salary data, as a Research Manager with 10 years of experience, you can expect an average salary of 77.800 € gross per year – this corresponds to approximately 6.483 € gross per month (based on 12 monthly payments).
- According to our kununu salary data, you will earn the most as a Research Manager in these cities:
These are the states where you can earn the most as a Research Manager:
• Nordrhein-Westfalen: 67.200 €
• Baden-Württemberg: 55.700 € - Yes, in Germany there are salary differences between women and men as a Research Manager. Women earn on average 54.900 € gross, while men earn 71.500 € gross per year. Women earn on average 23% less than men.
- If you take on managerial responsibilities as a Research Manager in Germany, your salary increases on average by 21%. This means an average annual salary of 72.675 € gross, while colleagues without managerial responsibilities earn an average of 60.450 € gross.
Holding a leading position comes with significant benefits from the added responsibility. - Yes, currently you can find on kununu 1 open position as a Research Manager in Germany.
Want to know more about salary?
On our blog, you will find valuable tips and tricks on the topic of salary.
Learn more about the Gender Pay Gap or make sure to confidently be prepared for salary negotiations and have a look into other related topics with our helpful guides.