Full-Stack Engineer Salary in Munich 2026: React, TypeScript, Node.js & Java Roles
What Munich Full-Stack Engineers Actually Earn at BMW, Celonis, Check24 and Beyond
Munich is Germany's highest-paying tech city in 2026, and full-stack engineers sit at the top of the demand curve. The city's unique mix of industrial giants undergoing digital transformation and a fast-maturing SaaS ecosystem has created fierce competition for engineers who can own features across the full product stack — from database schema to pixel-perfect UI.
Whether you are evaluating a Munich offer, benchmarking your current package, or planning to relocate, this guide covers exactly what the Munich full-stack market pays in 2026.
See live salary benchmarks on the Munich full-stack engineer salary page.
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Munich Full-Stack Market Overview
Munich's tech scene has transformed dramatically over the past five years. What was once a market dominated by automotive IT and large-enterprise consulting has become a genuine hub for product-led technology companies. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) consistently ranks among Europe's top engineering schools, supplying a steady pipeline of graduates; but demand has outpaced local supply, driving up salaries and creating an active market for EU relocation candidates.
Top Munich employers hiring full-stack engineers in 2026:---
Full-Stack Engineer Salary by Level in Munich
All figures are gross annual salary in euros, including typical cash bonuses. Equity is excluded unless noted.
Junior Full-Stack Engineer (0–2 years)
€50,000 – €68,000Entry-level full-stack engineers in Munich enter a market more competitive than any other German city. BMW and Siemens onboard graduates at €52K–€62K through structured trainee schemes with clear salary progression paths. Tech-native employers like Celonis and Check24 offer €60K–€68K to attract strong junior talent, often with stock options that vest over four years. For candidates with a TUM or LMU background and strong internship experience, the upper end of this range is very achievable from day one.
Mid-Level Full-Stack Engineer (2–5 years)
€68,000 – €95,000This is where Munich's full-stack premium becomes clearly visible. Engineers with hands-on experience building and shipping features across both frontend (React, TypeScript) and backend (Node.js, Java/Spring Boot) layers routinely receive multiple competing offers. The €78K–€92K range is standard for strong mid-level candidates at Munich's SaaS employers; corporate employers cluster at €68K–€85K but compensate with stronger pension contributions and bonus structures. Engineers with CI/CD, Docker, and Kubernetes experience can push well above the median.
Senior Full-Stack Engineer (5–10 years)
€90,000 – €125,000Supply is tightest at the senior level. Munich employers actively compete for senior full-stack engineers with a track record of technical leadership — architecting APIs, defining data models, leading code reviews, and mentoring juniors. The €100K–€115K range is realistic for candidates with strong TypeScript, REST/GraphQL API design, and cloud infrastructure experience at AWS or GCP. Celonis and Check24 push senior packages to €115K–€125K for engineers with specialisations in real-time data, performance engineering, or platform tooling.
Staff / Principal Full-Stack Engineer (10+ years)
€118,000 – €150,000+Staff-level engineers who influence architectural decisions across multiple product teams command Munich's highest individual contributor salaries. At this level, compensation packages routinely include significant equity refreshes, performance bonuses of €10K–€25K, and occasionally car allowances at the large OEM employers. BMW Group IT and Siemens both have defined IC career ladders that top out in this band.
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Full-Stack Premium vs Frontend vs Backend in Munich
Munich employers consistently pay full-stack engineers a premium over pure frontend specialists, and broadly similar to or slightly below senior backend engineers in infrastructure-heavy roles.
| Role | Junior | Mid | Senior | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-Stack Engineer | €50K–€68K | €68K–€95K | €90K–€125K | €118K–€150K+ |
| Frontend Engineer | €48K–€65K | €65K–€90K | €85K–€118K | €112K–€140K |
| Backend Engineer | €52K–€70K | €70K–€98K | €92K–€128K | €120K–€155K+ |
The full-stack premium over frontend is most pronounced at mid-level (+€5K–€8K on average) and reflects the broader scope of ownership. Backend engineers edge ahead of full-stack at senior and staff levels in roles involving heavy distributed systems, database performance, or platform engineering — areas where specialisation commands the highest premium.
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React/TypeScript/Node.js vs Java Full-Stack Roles
Munich's full-stack market splits broadly into two technology streams:
React/TypeScript/Node.js full-stack roles — dominant at SaaS scale-ups (Celonis, Flixbus, Stylight), product companies, and digital consultancies. These roles typically involve Next.js or Vite-based frontends, REST or GraphQL APIs in Node.js, and PostgreSQL or MongoDB backends. Engineers in this stack are highly sought after; base salaries are broadly competitive with Java roles at comparable levels, and equity upside is often higher at growth-stage companies. Java-based full-stack roles — common at Munich's enterprise employers (BMW, Siemens, Allianz, MAN, Rohde & Schwarz) and at Check24. These typically involve Spring Boot microservices backends paired with Angular or React frontends. Java full-stack engineers at senior and staff levels often command the highest base salaries in Munich's market — enterprise complexity, compliance requirements, and deep system integration work justify premium compensation.Engineers fluent in both ecosystems have the broadest choice of opportunities and the strongest negotiating position.
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Munich vs Berlin vs Amsterdam: Full-Stack Salary Comparison
| City | Junior | Mid | Senior | Staff | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munich | €50K–€68K | €68K–€95K | €90K–€125K | €118K–€150K+ | Germany's highest-paying city |
| Berlin | €44K–€60K | €60K–€84K | €78K–€108K | €105K–€135K | Lower cost of living offsets gap |
| Amsterdam | €48K–€66K | €68K–€94K | €88K–€122K | €115K–€148K | Dutch 30% ruling improves net for expats |
| London | €55K–€78K | €80K–€110K | €105K–€145K | €138K–€180K | Higher gross, significantly higher costs |
Munich leads Berlin by 10–15% gross at every seniority level. The gap narrows when cost of living is factored in: Munich rent for a 1-bedroom flat averages €1,700–€2,200/month versus €1,100–€1,600/month in Berlin.
Amsterdam is the closest European competitor to Munich for full-stack engineers. For international candidates who qualify for the Dutch 30% ruling (tax-free allowance for eligible expats recruited from abroad), Amsterdam's effective net take-home can exceed Munich's even at similar gross figures.
For the full Munich software engineering picture, see the Software Engineer Salary in Munich 2026 guide. For frontend-specific data, see Frontend Engineer Salary in Munich 2026.
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German Benefits: What Full-Stack Engineers in Munich Actually Receive
German statutory benefits are not optional extras — they are mandatory employer contributions that add roughly 20–22% on top of your gross salary in employer costs. Understanding them is essential for evaluating any Munich offer.
Sozialversicherung (Social Insurance): Germany's four-pillar social insurance system covers health (Krankenversicherung), pension (Rentenversicherung), unemployment (Arbeitslosenversicherung), and nursing care (Pflegeversicherung). Employers contribute approximately 20% of your gross salary across all four; as an employee you match roughly the same amount. For a senior engineer earning €110K, the employer's social insurance contribution is worth approximately €19K–€22K per year on top of your salary — a significant component of total compensation. Betriebliche Altersvorsorge (Company Pension / BAV): Many Munich employers, particularly at the corporate end (BMW, Siemens, Allianz), offer subsidised company pension schemes where employer contributions add €1,500–€5,000+ per year to your retirement savings. Evaluate BAV terms carefully when comparing offers: the employer contribution rate and vesting schedule vary significantly. Urlaubsgeld (Holiday Pay): While not legally mandatory, many Munich employers — particularly large corporates — pay an annual holiday bonus equivalent to 50–100% of one month's salary, typically in June or July. For an engineer earning €90K, this can add €3,750–€7,500 per year. Paid Leave: German law mandates a minimum of 20 days annual leave (based on a 5-day week), but Munich's tech employers typically offer 28–30 days. Combined with approximately 13 Bavarian public holidays per year, you can expect 41–43 days of paid time off annually.---
Salary Negotiation Tips for Munich Full-Stack Engineers
1. Know your stack's market rate before negotiating. Java Spring Boot + React, and TypeScript/Node.js + React, both command strong premiums in Munich. Use CareerCheck's Munich full-stack salary data to benchmark your specific seniority and technology combination. 2. Quantify your full-stack breadth. Munich employers pay the full-stack premium because of ownership — the ability to ship features without handoffs. Demonstrate this with concrete examples: features you built end-to-end, API design decisions you owned, infrastructure you provisioned, or frontend performance improvements tied to business metrics. 3. Don't forget the total package. Base salary is only part of the story. Push for clarity on: BAV employer contribution rate, annual bonus target and actual payout history, Urlaubsgeld, number of vacation days, remote work policy, and — at startups — equity strike price and 409A valuation. These elements can swing total annual compensation by €10K–€20K. 4. Leverage Munich's dual market. If you receive an offer from a corporate employer (BMW, Siemens), use it to negotiate with tech-native companies (Celonis, Check24), and vice versa. Munich's dual market means the two segments are actively competing for the same senior talent — this is negotiating leverage you should use. 5. Specialisation is rewarded. Munich employers pay premiums in 2026 for: TypeScript at scale (monorepo, type-safe API layers), React performance optimisation, Kubernetes and cloud-native infrastructure, Spring Boot microservices architecture, and data streaming (Kafka, Flink). Engineers with demonstrable depth in even one of these areas consistently negotiate above the standard band for their seniority.---
Related Salary Guides
Munich's full-stack engineering market in 2026 rewards engineers who combine technical breadth with a product mindset. Whether you are a React/Node.js engineer at a SaaS scale-up or a Java/Spring Boot specialist at one of Munich's industrial giants, the market is competitive, the employers are world-class, and the total compensation packages — salary plus German benefits — are among the strongest in Europe.
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