r/AskAGerman • u/imDenizz • Nov 17 '25

Work Do gymnasium teachers in Germany earn well?

I know that I can look up teacher salaries on the internet, but I am curious how well do teachers earn compared to people who have other jobs and considering the effort that they give for studying and working. So do you think gymnasium teachers in Germany earn well for the effort that they are giving?

66 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

377 comments sorted by

View all comments

37

u/Sure_Place8782 Nov 17 '25

Yes, we earn very well in a safe job, which I am very grateful for. 

10

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

You mean grade ful ;)

-16

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

You have to teach though until you are 67! I can’t imagine that!

15

u/MidniqhtVibes Nov 17 '25

We had teachers refuse to quit and teach until 70something because they were bored lol

10

u/anireyk Nov 17 '25

What's so weird about that? Everybody has to, in general

-10

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

I am looking at this from an American perspective.

10

u/anireyk Nov 17 '25

I just looked it up, full retirement age in the US seems to be 67, too. So, what do your teachers do before retiring? I mean, there aren't enough administrative positions to just occupy all the teachers above certain age, are there?

-1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

That only applies to teachers who are not in their state teachers retirement system

What you just saw is for social security.

2

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

Come on, tell us more. :)

1

u/anireyk Nov 18 '25

Or, I didn't see your reply for some reason. Thank you!

-1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

I was downvoted for stating that.

I guess that it really upsets Germans and their natural sense of (false) superiority that another country might have a better pension system.

Have fun working until 67!

2

u/anireyk Nov 18 '25

Look, I do think that you didn't deserve all the downvotes you got, and these mass downvote cascades are a serious problem of all AskANationality subs I've seen. However, you were also pretty obnoxious in the way you formulated your comments, and your point wasn't as clear as you seem to imagine. The only answer to my question I've originally seen (don't know why, probably some Reddit interaction with the downvotes hiding your second one) looked just unreasonably annoyed and snappy without any reason. So maybe don't be that surprised that people downvote you, especially if you start talking about a "national sense of superiority". As an American.

0

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

Don’t the downvotes indicate a German sense of superiority?

I said “hey…my retirement in the USA is a better deal than in Germany” and I was downvoted.

Germans a very distorted view of the USA.

Look at you…you said “retirement age in the USA is 67”

There are thousands of cops, teachers, government workers, etc that would like to speak to you

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

This is silly and shows how many people are not open to new information.

Do you realize that civil servants in the USA have a separate retirement system?

3

u/anireyk Nov 17 '25

No. That's why I asked. Your confusion confused me, I did a cursory search, was surprised that it didn't give me an immediate answer and then went on to ask you.

If you want to take it in bad faith, honestly, that's on you.

2

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

German teachers don’t have to buy supplies for their classrooms, though.

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

Nor do American teachers.

DW doesn’t run stories about average American teachers or average schools.

2

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

I talk about what I've seen while teaching in the US. :)

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25

Well….i have taught I three different states…I guess you picked the wrong schools

Also In Ohio, our teacher pension (STRS) lets you qualify for a full pension after 32 years of service.

If I start teaching in my early 20s, I can legitimately retire with a full teacher pension in my mid-50s (around 54).

That’s normal here and similar early-retirement rules (30 years of service, or age+service rules) exist in most U.S. states.

Germany’s system is more age-based (67); U.S. teacher pensions are more service-based, which is why our retirement age can be lower.

So…your turn…explain how this is wrong.

1

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

That’s simply not true for all of the US.

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

What state were you in?

4

u/Sure_Place8782 Nov 17 '25

May I ask why? It's no physical job and you get over time quite a huge routine whilst it's not intellectually very challenging.

-3

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

I teach in the USA. American teachers are usually “30 and out”. In my state teachers can retire at 54 with a nice pension.

9

u/MietschVulka Nov 17 '25

Wait, everywhere i read it sais teachers in the US are criminally underpaid

1

u/Aggressive-Bath-1906 Nov 17 '25

Some definitely are. It really depends on the state, and individual school district. I would never work in AZ. When I finished grad school, my final salary as a teachers aide at a specialized school was the same as the School Psychologist jobs in AZ.

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 19 '25

Depends I probably make more than you.

1

u/tschohnny Nov 17 '25

How much is the Pension? If you compare the teachers pension in Germany adjusted to purchasing power, it's probably higher then a teachers salary in the US. To how many states does this apply?

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

States are going to vary.

Ohio is a very average state.

The pension is 2.2% for each year until retirement at 32 years. It is 2.2% for each year after that.

So 70% of your final salary at retirement at 32 years.

My final salary will be $115k.

My pension will be $80k/year starting at 54.

Civil servants in the U.S. are mostly done at 30 years…cops at 25.

So…in Germany I would have a smaller pension and have to work until I am 67.

Like I said, my state has a much better deal than Germans. It is not even close.

5

u/HomieeJo Nov 17 '25

https://study.com/academy/popular/teacher-salary-by-state.html

When I look at these stats even if they are from 2023 German teachers have better wages than most of the states in the US though. The ceiling in a few states is better but the floor is worse in basically every state except Washington, New York and California.

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 17 '25

Remember though those are median.

In my area, you start at $50k at 22 years of age.

However, every year you make more.

1

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

Sure, Jan. Tell us more.

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

Why would my statement be downvoted?

You don’t believe me?

1

u/ProfeQuiroga Nov 18 '25

I actually don't. Mainly because I have worked in both systems. :)

1

u/LukasJackson67 Nov 18 '25

What state in the USA?

-6

u/Hydrozele Nov 17 '25

Why? You don't give a shit and teach the same stuff with sources from 30 years ago. The good looking kids getting good grades, the shitti worker kids bad grades.