Countries

THE UK WAS THE MOST WELL-REPRESENTED EUROPEAN COUNTRY, with about a quarter of the sample, followed by Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. By far, the highest salaries were in Switzerland, with a median salary of €117K, followed by Norway with €96K, although the latter figure is only based on five respondents. Among countries represented by more than just a handful of respondents, the UK had the second-highest median salary: €63k (£53).

Even within Western Europe, there was significant variation in salary. While UK, Swiss, and Scandinavian salaries were significantly higher than the Western European median of €54K, Spanish and Italian respondents tended to have much lower salaries (€35K). Portugal was somewhat of an outlier in Western Europe, with a median of €22K. The median salaries of Germany, the Netherlands, and France were close to the regional median (about €53K).

Salaries drop dramatically as we move south and east. The median salary of respondents from Central and Eastern Europe was €17K. Russia and Poland, the two most well-represented countries in this half of the continent, also had median salaries of €17K: unlike in the west, Eastern European salaries appeared to be fairly consistent, even across national borders.