Savings during Ausbildung is pay minus cost of living, and both sides of that equation vary a lot depending on your trade and where you live. Rather than give you one made-up “you’ll save X per month” number, here is the actual arithmetic, using sourced figures for both sides, so you can see where the range comes from and where you personally would land in it.
Side one: your net pay
Gross training pay ranges from the statutory minimum to the collectively-bargained average, as detailed in our salary breakdown, sourced from BIBB. Before that money reaches your account, roughly 21–22% goes to mandatory social insurance (health, pension, unemployment and long-term care), and possibly a small amount of income tax (Lohnsteuer) if your annual pay exceeds the €12,348 tax-free threshold — full mechanics in our Lohnsteuer article. Here’s what that leaves, for three scenarios:
| Scenario | Gross (Year 1) | After ~21.75% social insurance | Approx. net (Lohnsteuer usually minimal or nil) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory minimum | €724/month | –€157 | ~€567/month |
| Collectively-bargained average | €1,117/month | –€243 | ~€874–894/month |
| Higher-paying trade (e.g. insurance/financial products) | €1,404/month | –€305 | ~€1,080–1,099/month |
At the statutory minimum, annual pay (€8,688) is well under the tax-free threshold, so there’s no Lohnsteuer at all. At the collectively-bargained average and above, annual pay edges past the threshold, so a small amount of Lohnsteuer applies — typically modest at this income level, and further reduced by standard employee allowances, which is why we’ve given a range rather than a single figure.
Side two: cost of living
For a defensible, apples-to-apples cost-of-living figure, we’re using the Bundesagentur für Arbeit’s own standard living-cost assumption for an apprentice living away from their parents — the same benchmark it uses to calculate BAB (state training support, see our BAB article). As of its most recent published Merkblatt (rates effective August 2024), this benchmark is:
| Need category | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Base living cost away from parents’ household (covers rent-equivalent, food, etc.) | €822 |
| Work clothing allowance | €16 |
| Travel costs (season ticket, e.g. Deutschlandticket-equivalent) | €49 |
| Typical total (Gesamtbedarf) | €887–970 |
This is an official government planning benchmark, not your actual rent — your real costs will be higher in expensive cities like Munich or Frankfurt and lower in smaller towns (see our city-wise cost comparison).
Putting the two sides together
| Scenario | Approx. net pay | Benchmark living cost | Approx. monthly balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory minimum | ~€567 | €887–970 | –€320 to –€400 |
| Collectively-bargained average | ~€874–894 | €887–970 | –€75 to +€10 |
| Higher-paying trade | ~€1,080–1,099 | €887–970 | +€110 to +€210 |
What this actually means
At the statutory minimum wage, the arithmetic genuinely doesn’t close — this is precisely the gap that Berufsausbildungsbeihilfe (BAB) exists to fill for eligible trainees, and it’s why checking your Ausbildungsvertrag’s actual pay against these numbers before you commit matters more than any “average salary” headline. At the collectively-bargained average, you’re roughly breaking even, with real savings only appearing if your rent is below the €822 benchmark (realistic in smaller cities) or your pay is above average. In a well-paid trade, meaningful monthly savings — a few hundred euros — become realistic.
None of these figures include one-off costs like your rental deposit, covered in our total cost breakdown, which will eat into savings in your first two to three months regardless of scenario.
To talk through the numbers for a specific trade and city, visit our Ausbildung programmes page or contact us.
Where this comes from
- Training pay figures: BIBB, 2025/2026: bibb.de and bibb.de
- Social insurance rates: Bundesgesundheitsministerium (bundesgesundheitsministerium.de) and Deutsche Rentenversicherung (deutsche-rentenversicherung.de)
- Tax-free threshold: Section 32a EStG: gesetze-im-internet.de
- Living-cost benchmark: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, “Die Berufsausbildungsbeihilfe (BAB)” Merkblatt, October 2024, rates effective 01.08.2024: arbeitsagentur.de
