Salaries in the Netherlands in 2026: What Expats Can Expect to Earn

Is a job offer in the Netherlands a good offer? To answer that, you need to know what people in your field, at your age and in your region typically earn, and how much of it you will actually take home. This guide brings together the latest official figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the government and the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). It will help you judge an offer, negotiate with confidence and check your first payslip, whether you are still deciding or you have just moved.

Key Salary Figures for 2026

These are the reference points you will hear about most often, in job offers, permit rules and the news.

The modal income is the income the government uses as the "typical" salary when it calculates the effect of its policies on purchasing power. You will often see it in the news, and sometimes in rental and mortgage criteria.

How Dutch Salaries Work

Before you compare numbers, it helps to know how Dutch employers talk about pay. Salaries here are usually quoted gross per month, not per year, and a few extras come on top.

• Holiday allowance (vakantiegeld): almost every employee gets an extra 8% of their gross salary, usually paid in May. A salary of €4,000 a month is therefore €51,840 a year (€4,000 × 12 × 1.08).
• 13th month or year-end bonus (dertiende maand, eindejaarsuitkering): many collective agreements and employers add one. Always ask whether an annual figure includes it.
• Collective labour agreements (cao): most employees fall under a cao for their sector or company. It sets salary scales, yearly pay rises, working hours and extras. If your employer has a cao, your salary scale and step are usually set in it, so you negotiate on the scale and step, not a free number.
• Pension: most employers arrange a pension, and you usually pay part of the contribution yourself through your salary. This lowers your net pay but builds your retirement savings.
• Hours: a full-time job is usually 36 to 40 hours a week, and part-time work is very common. That is why averages across all jobs look low: they include many part-time workers.
• Average versus median: the average (mean) is pulled up by a small number of very high earners. The median, the middle salary, is a better guide to what a "normal" employee earns. This guide shows both where it can.

Salaries by Sector

The sector you work in makes the biggest difference to your pay. The table shows average pay per sector in 2025, ordered by full-time monthly salary.

Source: CBS, employee jobs in 2025 (provisional figures). Hourly wage: all jobs, excluding holiday allowance, bonuses and overtime. Monthly salary: full-time jobs, excluding holiday allowance, bonuses and overtime. Yearly pay: full-time jobs, including holiday allowance, 13th month, bonuses and profit sharing. These are averages; the median is lower.

Two things stand out. Finance, energy, IT and specialist services pay well above average, partly because of large bonuses: in financial services, bonuses and other special payments add over €21,000 a year to the average full-time salary. And sectors with many young or part-time workers, such as hospitality, retail and agriculture, pay the least.

Salaries by Occupation

Within a sector, your actual job matters just as much. The table shows median hourly wages in 2025 for common occupations, converted to a monthly salary for a full-time job. The last column shows the range that the middle half of employees earn: a quarter earn less, a quarter earn more.

Source: CBS, hourly wages of employees by occupation, 2025 (provisional). Monthly figures are our estimate: the hourly wage multiplied by the paid hours of an average full-time job (about 1,780 a year, about 39 hours a week, excluding holidays), divided by 12 and rounded to €50. They exclude holiday allowance, bonuses and overtime. The figures include young workers on the youth minimum wage, which is why some lower ranges fall below the adult minimum wage. CBS does not publish 2025 figures for teachers.

Use these figures as a starting point, not a price tag. Experience, seniority, the size of the employer and specialist skills can move you well outside the range, and international companies in the Randstad often pay above the Dutch median for in-demand roles such as software development and data.

Salaries by Age

Dutch salaries rise steeply in your twenties and thirties, level off in your forties and peak between 50 and 55. Much of this reflects experience: many cao salary scales have yearly steps (periodieken) that add a pay rise for each year in the job until you reach the top of your scale.

Source: CBS, employee jobs in 2025 (provisional). Hourly wage excludes holiday allowance, bonuses and overtime. The full-time monthly salary is our estimate, calculated in the same way as in the occupation table. Yearly pay includes holiday allowance and bonuses, and is lower than a full-time salary because it includes part-time jobs.

Minimum wage for young workers

Workers under 21 have a lower, age-based minimum wage. This matters if you move with teenagers who want a part-time job, or if you are young yourself.

Since 2024 the minimum wage is set per hour, so your monthly minimum depends on how many hours you work. Holiday allowance of 8% comes on top. The amounts are updated every 1 January and 1 July.

Salaries by Education and Job Level

Jobs that need a higher level of education pay considerably more. CBS groups occupations into four skill levels, based on the international ISCO classification.

Source: CBS, hourly wages of employees by occupation level, 2025 (provisional). Monthly salary estimated as in the occupation table.

If your degree is from outside the Netherlands, some employers and permit applications ask for a credential evaluation. Nuffic and IDW can tell you what your diploma is worth in the Dutch system, which can help in salary negotiations too.

Salaries by Region

Incomes are highest in the Randstad, especially in and around Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Haarlem and Utrecht, and lowest in the north and parts of the east and south. The table shows the yearly gross income of employees, by the city they live in.

By province

Source: CBS, personal income of people whose main income is from employment, by place of residence, 2024 (latest available). Gross yearly income, including part-time workers, holiday allowance and bonuses. Because many people commute, a city's figures reflect who lives there, not only the jobs in that city. Click a city to see its cost of living in our calculator.

Higher pay in the Randstad comes with higher housing costs. A one-bedroom home for a new tenant costs around €1,700 a month in Amsterdam against around €1,200 in Eindhoven, while median incomes differ by only about €3,000 a year. Before you choose where to live, compare your salary with local costs in the Cost of Living Calculator: a slightly lower salary in a cheaper city can leave you with more money each month.

Other Things That Affect Your Pay

• Employer size: in 2025, companies with 100 or more people paid an average of €31.81 an hour, against €29.10 at companies with fewer than 10.
• Government jobs paid an average of €36.20 an hour, compared with €29.46 at private companies. Government salary scales are public, so you can see exactly what a job pays.
• Gender: women earned on average about 10% less per hour than men in 2025 (€28.71 against €31.79). Over a year the gap is much bigger, about 31%, because women in the Netherlands far more often work part-time.
• A tight labour market: unemployment is expected to be just 3.9% in 2026. In sectors with shortages, such as IT, engineering, healthcare and technical trades, you are in a stronger position to negotiate.

From Gross to Net: Your Take-Home Pay

Dutch income tax in 2026 is 35.75% on income up to €38,883, 37.56% up to €78,426 and 49.50% above that. Tax credits, which most employees get automatically through payroll, reduce the tax considerably, especially on lower and middle incomes. This is roughly what you take home:

Estimates for a Dutch resident taxpayer in 2026 with no pension contribution, calculated with the same rules as our Cost of Living Calculator. The holiday allowance is spread over 12 months here, so your regular monthly payslip will be a little lower and May's will be higher. Most employers deduct a pension contribution, which lowers your net pay. The 30% ruling column assumes you qualify and receive the full 30% allowance.

Want to see the numbers for your own salary? Our Gross to Net Salary Calculator shows your regular payslip and your May holiday pay separately. Try it with €3,700 a month, €5,000 a month or €7,000 a month with the 30% ruling, then change the amount to match your offer. Not sure how you are taxed? Read Resident or Non-Resident Taxpayer?

Is Your Salary Enough? Salary vs. Cost of Living

Our Cost of Living guide shows sample monthly budgets for different households. Here is the gross salary you would need to just cover those costs, before saving anything:

Gross salary per year including holiday allowance, Dutch resident, no 30% ruling and no pension contribution. Budgets assume renting from a private landlord as a new tenant; see the Cost of Living guide for what they include.

Breaking even is not the same as living comfortably. Aim for a buffer for savings, holidays and yearly bills such as local taxes and your health insurance deductible. And keep in mind a second hurdle: many landlords ask for a gross monthly income of 3 to 4 times the rent. For a €1,700 apartment, that can mean €5,100 to €6,800 gross a month, alone or together with a partner. Some landlords accept a guarantor or a larger deposit (within the legal maximum of 2 months' rent) if your income is lower.

Salary Requirements for Permits and the 30% Ruling

If you come from outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland, or you want the 30% ruling, minimum salary rules apply. For 2026:

• Highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant): at least €5,942 gross a month if you are 30 or older, or €4,357 if you are under 30. A reduced amount of €3,122 applies to recent graduates: if you apply during the orientation year for highly educated persons (zoekjaar), within 3 years of graduating after having had one, or if you meet the conditions for that permit (for example, a degree from a Dutch university or a top-ranked foreign university).
• EU Blue Card: at least €5,942 gross a month, or €4,754 if your employer applies within 3 years of your graduation from a higher education programme.
• 30% ruling: your taxable salary, after deducting the tax-free allowance, must be more than €48,013 a year, or €36,497 if you are under 30 and have a master's degree. To receive the full 30%, you need a gross salary of about €68,600 a year (about €52,100 if you are under 30 with a master's).

How Fast Are Salaries Rising?

• 2025: collective agreement wages rose by 5.0% on average, the highest in information and communication at 7.4%.
• 2026 so far: cao wages were 4.0% higher in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier, after 4.3% in the second quarter. After inflation, that is a real increase of 0.8%. Specialist business services and construction rose the most (5.0%), hospitality the least (2.9%).
• Forecast: the CPB expects cao wages in businesses to rise by 4.2% in 2026 and 3.8% in 2027, with inflation of 3.3% and 2.7%. Wages should therefore keep rising slightly faster than prices.
• Minimum wage: indexed every 1 January and 1 July, in line with average cao wage growth.

If you are not covered by a cao, your pay rise depends on your employer. It is reasonable to raise the topic at your yearly review, using cao increases in your sector as a reference.

Tips for Negotiating Your Salary

• Talk in gross monthly terms, and ask whether a yearly figure includes holiday allowance, a 13th month and bonuses. €60,000 including everything is a very different offer from €60,000 plus 8% plus a 13th month.
• Check the cao. If the employer has one, look up the salary scale for your job. You can often negotiate a higher step on the scale, especially if you have relevant experience.
• Look at the whole package: pension (and how much you pay towards it), commuting allowance, a relocation budget, temporary housing, a training budget, working from home allowance, and extra holiday days.
• Ask about the 30% ruling before you sign. It can add a lot to your net pay, but your employer must apply for it with you, and your salary must meet the threshold.
• Compare like with like. Dutch employers pay holiday allowance and arrange pension and part of your social security, so a lower gross salary than in some countries can still be a good offer. Compare take-home pay and living costs, not just the gross figure.
• Use the data. The occupation and sector tables above, salary ranges in job adverts and the government's public salary scales give you a realistic range to aim for.

Just Started a Job? Check These on Your Payslip

1. Your gross salary and hours match your contract.
2. The payroll tax credit (loonheffingskorting) is applied by only one employer if you have more than one job.
3. The 30% ruling is applied if you have it. If you and your employer applied within 4 months of your first working day, it applies from that first day, so ask for a correction if early payslips were taxed in full.
4. Your pension contribution is deducted at the rate in your pension scheme.
5. Holiday allowance is being saved up, usually shown as a reserve on your payslip, and paid in May or spread monthly.
6. Your holiday hours are being built up: at least 4 times your weekly working hours a year by law.

Your payslip (loonstrook) should arrive every month. If something looks wrong, ask your HR or payroll department first. Mistakes are easier to fix early in the year. To see what your payslip should look like, with every Dutch term explained, enter your salary in our Gross to Net Salary Calculator.

What Changes in 2027?

• Modal income is expected to rise to €50,000 a year, according to the CPB's September 2026 forecast.
• 30% ruling: the maximum tax-free allowance falls from 30% to 27% for most people from 1 January 2027.
• Pay transparency: a bill that implements the EU Pay Transparency Directive is planned to take effect on 1 January 2027, if parliament approves it. Employers would have to tell applicants the starting salary or pay range, could no longer ask about your current salary, and larger employers would have to report on their gender pay gap.
• Minimum wage and permit thresholds will be indexed again on 1 January 2027.

Official Sources

• CBS: jobs, wages and working hours by sector, age and type of contract, 2025
• CBS: hourly wages of employees by occupation, 2025
• CBS: income of persons by region, 2024
• CBS: collective agreement wages rose by 5.0% in 2025
• CBS: collective agreement wages up 4.0% in the third quarter of 2026
• CPB: September projection 2026 (MEV 2027)
• CPB: key figures MEV 2027, including modal income
• Rijksoverheid: minimum wage 2026
• IND: required amounts and income requirements
• Belastingdienst: 2026 income tax rates and tax credits
• Belastingdienst: the 30% facility (Expat Scheme)
• Rijksoverheid: pay transparency bill

Figures were checked on 4 October 2026. CBS figures for 2025 are provisional and may be revised slightly. Monthly salary estimates and take-home pay are our own calculations based on the official data and the 2026 tax rules; your own salary depends on your employer, experience and contract. This is general information, not personal financial or tax advice.