Key Takeaways

• North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria are the top two states by the number of income millionaires, with 7,871 and 7,707, respectively.
• Regions such as Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein rank among the highest when measured by the number of millionaires per €100 billion of GRDP,
• Eastern states report fewer income millionaires, reflecting differences, including the concentration of large firms, high-paying industries, and dense urban economic activity.

Millionaire taxpayers in Germany by federal state

Stay tuned!

Learn something new about Germany every week and make informed decisions with confidence.

Stay tuned!

Learn something new about Germany every week and make informed decisions with confidence.

In Germany, income millionaires are taxpayers with an annual income of €1 million or more. In 2021, there were 34,509 such taxpayers nationwide, with a combined adjusted gross income of about €98.26 billion.

Germany’s income millionaires cluster in the largest economies

Income millionaires in Germany are concentrated in states with the largest and most developed economies.

This becomes clearer when comparing the number of high-income taxpayers with regional economic output (GRDP):

• North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest state economy (€760.1 billion), also has the highest number of income millionaires (7,871)
• Bavaria, with a slightly smaller economy (€674.5 billion), follows closely (7,707)

This suggests a strong link between economic scale and the concentration of top incomes.

Which Federal States Drive Germany’s Economy? ->

However, the differences between states become clearer once economic size is taken into account. Some regions generate more income millionaires relative to their economic output than others. This suggests that the type of economic activity matters as much as the size of the economy.

When measured by the number of millionaires per €100 billion of GRDP, several states stand out, including:

• Hamburg → ~1,140
• Bavaria → ~1,110
• Schleswig-Holstein →~1,110
• North Rhine-Westphalia →~1,040

Millionaires per €100 billion = (Number of millionaire taxpayers / GRDP in € billions) × 100

Hamburg is especially notable because it ranks among the highest despite having a relatively small economy. That reflects its role as a dense economic hub, where finance, trade, and corporate activity are concentrated, and high incomes are more likely to cluster.

By contrast, Lower Saxony shows the opposite pattern. Despite its relatively large economy, it has fewer income millionaires (~840 per €100B) than might be expected.

East–West Divide in Germany’s Income Millionaires

At the lower end of the distribution, eastern states combine smaller economies with fewer income millionaires. This include:

• Mecklenburg-Vorpommern → 297
• Saxony-Anhalt → 283
• Thuringia → 239

This likely reflects deeper structural differences, such as the concentration of large corporations, high-paying sectors, and capital-intensive activity.

More broadly, the distribution of income millionaires in Germany reflects the country’s economic geography. Larger and more economically dense regions tend to produce more high-income taxpayers, but economic structure and urban concentration also play a major role.

Economic size provides the foundation, but the type of economy still shapes how many top earners a region produces.