Senior Specialist Salary Index
Updated August 2026
What people in the Netherlands actually earn, per sector, per specialism, per job title and per region. Two layers, printed side by side and never averaged together: the salaries candidates named in recruitment conversations over the last two years, and the national median Statistics Netherlands publishes for every occupation in the country.
- Observations
- 1,013
- 10th percentile
- €4,100
- 25th percentile
- €5,000
- Median
- €6,000
- 75th percentile
- €7,500
- 90th percentile
- €9,000
Gross monthly, full time, holiday allowance and bonus excluded. Recruitment layer, September 2024 to August 2026.
Two kinds of number
A salary figure is only as good as the sentence that produced it. These two layers were produced by different sentences, so they are kept apart.
The recruitment layer
1,013 salary figures named by candidates during real conversations with recruiters, one figure per person, the most recent one in the window. It is small, it skews towards the specialisms a technical search firm works in, and it is the only layer here that reflects what someone is paid today rather than what a payroll file said last year. Treat it as a market signal, not as a population statistic.
The national layer
Statistics Netherlands surveys the payroll of the whole country and publishes an hourly wage per occupation. Every national figure on this page is that hourly wage multiplied by 165 hours, which is the convention we use throughout. It covers every sector of the economy, it is authoritative, and it is roughly a year behind the market.
Why the median, not the average
A handful of very large salaries pulls an average away from anything a reader recognises. The median is the middle person: half earn less, half earn more. The 25th and 75th percentiles bound the middle half of each group, which is the number to quote in a negotiation.
Where the recruitment observations sit
1,013 observations by gross monthly band
By sector, recruitment layer
The sectors a technical search firm carries a book in. The bar shows the middle half of each group, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, with a tick at the median. Sectors with fewer than eight observations are left out rather than printed thin.
| Group | Observations | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT | 800 | €5,000 | €6,000 | €7,500 | |
| Sales | 119 | €4,500 | €5,800 | €8,000 | |
| Engineering | 94 | €4,500 | €5,225 | €6,000 |
By specialism
The same observations cut by the specialism a candidate works in rather than the sector they sit in. This is the cut that moves most: architecture clears the field, and the gap between the top and the bottom of this table is wider than the gap between any two sectors.
| Group | Observations | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | 169 | €7,000 | €7,800 | €9,000 | |
| Security | 14 | €6,025 | €7,050 | €8,000 | |
| Data analysis | 12 | €5,000 | €6,300 | €6,625 | |
| Infrastructure engineering | 15 | €5,400 | €6,250 | €7,000 | |
| Network engineering | 9 | €6,000 | €6,250 | €6,500 | |
| Business consulting | 13 | €4,300 | €6,120 | €7,200 | |
| Front end | 9 | €4,800 | €6,000 | €6,500 | |
| Business development | 64 | €4,950 | €6,000 | €8,038 | |
| Linux | 13 | €5,500 | €6,000 | €6,700 | |
| PHP | 14 | €5,025 | €5,950 | €6,375 | |
| DevOps | 228 | €5,000 | €5,825 | €6,500 | |
| Java | 57 | €5,000 | €5,800 | €7,000 | |
| Cloud | 152 | €5,000 | €5,550 | €6,525 | |
| .NET | 25 | €4,900 | €5,520 | €6,600 | |
| Mechanical engineering | 15 | €5,000 | €5,500 | €6,500 | |
| Python | 12 | €4,750 | €5,400 | €6,000 | |
| Data engineering | 28 | €4,900 | €5,400 | €6,500 | |
| Account management | 55 | €4,500 | €5,300 | €7,300 | |
| Electrical engineering | 66 | €4,500 | €5,275 | €6,625 | |
| Building and construction | 21 | €4,500 | €5,250 | €6,500 | |
| Civil and hydraulic works | 12 | €4,388 | €5,100 | €5,450 | |
| Civil engineering | 12 | €4,000 | €5,000 | €5,625 | |
| System administration | 9 | €4,500 | €5,000 | €5,800 | |
| Testing | 53 | €4,500 | €5,000 | €6,000 | |
| C++ | 9 | €4,500 | €4,500 | €6,000 | |
| Embedded | 8 | €4,500 | €4,500 | €6,625 |
By job title, recruitment layer
Job titles as recorded on the candidate, so these are the titles people actually carry rather than a tidied taxonomy. The threshold drops to five observations here, because titles fragment: read the smaller rows as an indication and the national table below as the firmer number.
| Group | Observations | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Architect | 11 | €7,508 | €8,650 | €9,900 | |
| Business development | 12 | €7,000 | €8,000 | €8,875 | |
| Senior Software Engineer | 5 | €6,000 | €7,500 | €8,500 | |
| Software Architect | 10 | €6,250 | €7,140 | €8,250 | |
| Hardware Engineer | 6 | €5,567 | €7,084 | €7,813 | |
| Senior DevOps Engineer | 6 | €6,100 | €6,700 | €7,300 | |
| Solution Architect | 24 | €6,200 | €6,600 | €8,025 | |
| DevOps Engineer | 28 | €5,350 | €6,000 | €6,600 | |
| Site manager | 14 | €5,025 | €5,673 | €6,000 | |
| Data engineering | 10 | €5,038 | €5,650 | €6,500 | |
| Cloud Engineer | 13 | €4,500 | €5,200 | €5,800 | |
| Test Engineer | 6 | €4,550 | €5,192 | €5,471 | |
| Software Engineer | 7 | €4,750 | €5,000 | €5,550 | |
| Work planner | 10 | €4,000 | €4,600 | €5,100 |
By region
By province of residence, not of the employer. The spread is narrow, which is the finding: for the profiles in this dataset, where someone lives moves their salary far less than what they do.
| Group | Observations | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friesland | 9 | €4,250 | €6,500 | €7,000 | |
| North Holland | 254 | €5,000 | €6,000 | €7,500 | |
| South Holland | 237 | €5,000 | €6,000 | €7,800 | |
| Utrecht | 130 | €5,000 | €6,000 | €7,500 | |
| Limburg | 26 | €5,200 | €6,000 | €7,050 | |
| Overijssel | 41 | €5,000 | €6,000 | €6,950 | |
| North Brabant | 143 | €5,000 | €5,900 | €7,225 | |
| Groningen | 10 | €5,000 | €5,650 | €6,000 | |
| Gelderland | 109 | €4,836 | €5,600 | €7,000 | |
| Flevoland | 22 | €4,575 | €5,500 | €6,805 |
Every sector of the economy, national layer
The twelve occupation classes Statistics Netherlands divides Dutch employment into, reporting year 2025. Counts are employees in thousands. The final column is the change in the median since 2019, which is the honest way to look at six years in which prices moved as much as pay did.
| Occupation class | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Since 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management | 430 | €5,313 | €7,227 | €9,471 | +26% |
| ICT | 479 | €4,455 | €5,742 | €7,194 | +29% |
| Public administration, safety and legal | 318 | €4,142 | €5,346 | €6,782 | +35% |
| Care and welfare | 1,247 | €4,059 | €4,851 | €5,891 | +32% |
| Education2024 figure, 2025 withheld | 638 | €3,762 | €4,785 | €6,286 | +18% |
| Creative and language | 110 | €3,548 | €4,752 | €6,188 | +32% |
| Business and administrative | 1,655 | €3,696 | €4,670 | €6,154 | +35% |
| Technical | 1,107 | €3,465 | €4,472 | €5,709 | +36% |
| Commercial | 910 | €2,772 | €3,366 | €5,148 | +41% |
| Agricultural | 83 | €2,706 | €3,036 | €3,861 | +36% |
| Transport and logistics | 581 | €1,700 | €2,987 | €3,746 | +31% |
| Service | 679 | €2,458 | €2,953 | €3,416 | +40% |
Source: CBS table 86355NED, hourly wage times 165 hours. Licence CC BY 4.0.
Every job title, national layer
The same national data one level down: 78 occupation groups, gathered under the class each belongs to and ranked by median inside it. This is the full public list, from government executives at the top to shelf stackers at the bottom.
Management
7 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing managers | 57 | €6,254 | €8,250 | €10,461 | |
| ICT managers | 30 | €6,386 | €7,986 | €10,048 | |
| Specialist services managers | 30 | €5,676 | €7,854 | €10,098 | |
| Business and administrative services managers | 78 | €5,792 | €7,706 | €10,230 | |
| Production managers | 56 | €5,659 | €7,062 | €9,092 | |
| Healthcare managers | 33 | €5,478 | €6,551 | €7,788 | |
| Retail and wholesale managers | 42 | €3,795 | €4,851 | €7,309 |
ICT
4 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systems analysts and IT consultants | 155 | €5,016 | €6,484 | €7,969 | |
| System administrators and network specialists | 93 | €4,802 | €5,758 | €6,782 | |
| Software and application developers | 176 | €4,422 | €5,692 | €7,046 | |
| IT user support | 44 | €3,399 | €4,240 | €5,396 |
Public administration, safety and legal
5 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government executives | 34 | €6,649 | €8,613 | €10,131 | |
| Lawyers | 71 | €4,554 | €6,303 | €8,448 | |
| Civil servants | 91 | €4,356 | €5,230 | €6,056 | |
| Police and fire service | 32 | €3,927 | €4,917 | €6,022 | |
| Security staff | 53 | €3,416 | €4,010 | €4,868 |
Care and welfare
10 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctors | 100 | €5,478 | €6,979 | €10,412 | |
| Psychologists and sociologists | 83 | €5,115 | €6,237 | €7,359 | |
| Specialist nurses | 150 | €5,098 | €5,726 | €6,501 | |
| Physiotherapists | 67 | €4,274 | €5,346 | €6,286 | |
| Health and safety inspectors and medical specialists | 52 | €3,960 | €5,247 | €6,699 | |
| Social workers | 89 | €4,472 | €5,115 | €5,924 | |
| Nurses (vocational) | 74 | €4,290 | €5,016 | €5,709 | |
| Social and residential support workers | 256 | €3,894 | €4,488 | €5,098 | |
| Doctor and dental assistants | 84 | €3,514 | €4,208 | €4,686 | |
| Care assistants | 242 | €3,580 | €4,208 | €4,868 |
Education
8 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education lecturers and professors2024 figure | 73 | €4,488 | €6,616 | €7,871 | |
| General secondary teachers2024 figure | 104 | €4,538 | €5,841 | €6,848 | |
| Education advisers and other teaching staff2024 figure | 87 | €4,372 | €5,610 | €6,881 | |
| Vocational secondary teachers2024 figure | 30 | €4,554 | €5,594 | €6,386 | |
| Primary school teachers2024 figure | 142 | €4,290 | €5,445 | €6,138 | |
| Childcare workers2024 figure | 114 | €3,218 | €3,613 | €4,108 | |
| Teaching assistants2024 figure | 52 | €2,920 | €3,399 | €3,844 | |
| Sports instructors2024 figure | 35 | €2,524 | €2,920 | €3,943 |
Creative and language
1 occupation
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic and product designers | 44 | €3,482 | €4,488 | €5,940 |
Business and administrative
13 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Policy advisers | 113 | €5,742 | €6,798 | €7,969 | |
| Management and organisation consultants | 160 | €4,917 | €6,386 | €8,036 | |
| Accountants | 106 | €4,834 | €6,270 | €7,821 | |
| Finance specialists and economists | 86 | €4,702 | €6,171 | €8,200 | |
| HR and career development specialists | 108 | €4,306 | €5,412 | €6,616 | |
| Business service providers | 70 | €3,812 | €4,934 | €6,369 | |
| Bookkeepers | 120 | €3,729 | €4,719 | €6,006 | |
| Office managers and executive assistants | 138 | €3,960 | €4,604 | €5,329 | |
| Finance administration staff | 118 | €3,548 | €4,257 | €4,950 | |
| Secretarial staff | 35 | €3,647 | €4,224 | €4,719 | |
| Work planners and logistics staff | 227 | €3,399 | €4,191 | €5,115 | |
| Administrative staff | 203 | €3,086 | €3,844 | €4,604 | |
| Customer service and reception staff | 171 | €3,052 | €3,630 | €4,389 |
Technical
13 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architects and planners | 53 | €4,587 | €5,858 | €7,491 | |
| Biologists, mathematicians and natural scientists | 73 | €4,389 | €5,726 | €7,227 | |
| Engineers (non electrical) | 163 | €4,340 | €5,692 | €7,309 | |
| Electrical engineers | 33 | €4,306 | €5,511 | €7,244 | |
| Production supervisors, industry and construction | 79 | €4,372 | €5,181 | €6,435 | |
| Building and science technicians | 119 | €3,910 | €4,917 | €6,022 | |
| Machine fitters | 48 | €3,448 | €4,257 | €5,066 | |
| Electricians and electrical fitters | 78 | €3,399 | €4,142 | €4,834 | |
| Carpenters | 43 | €3,300 | €4,108 | €4,851 | |
| Structural construction workers | 32 | €3,184 | €4,026 | €4,785 | |
| Car mechanics | 45 | €3,102 | €3,812 | €4,488 | |
| Machine operators | 66 | €3,069 | €3,778 | €4,834 | |
| Industry and construction labourers | 45 | €2,657 | €2,838 | €3,432 |
Commercial
6 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing, PR and sales advisers | 220 | €4,092 | €5,445 | €7,128 | |
| Retail account managers and buyers | 156 | €4,076 | €5,264 | €6,848 | |
| Shopkeepers and retail team leaders | 68 | €2,838 | €3,234 | €3,696 | |
| Outbound call centre and other sales staff | 106 | €2,706 | €3,184 | €4,010 | |
| Retail sales assistants | 272 | €2,376 | €2,854 | €3,168 | |
| Checkout staff | 87 | €1,402 | €2,211 | €2,920 |
Agricultural
1 occupation
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardeners, growers and nursery workers | 48 | €2,788 | €3,168 | €3,993 |
Transport and logistics
5 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile machine operators | 50 | €3,300 | €3,927 | €4,768 | |
| Lorry drivers | 80 | €3,514 | €3,712 | €4,042 | |
| Car, taxi and van drivers | 82 | €2,788 | €3,020 | €3,317 | |
| Refuse collectors and newspaper deliverers | 64 | €1,535 | €2,409 | €3,020 | |
| Loaders, unloaders and shelf stackers | 259 | €1,138 | €1,881 | €3,052 |
Service
5 occupations
| Group | Employees (000) | 25th | Median | 75th | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caretakers and cleaning team leaders | 49 | €3,135 | €3,580 | €4,323 | |
| Cooks | 50 | €2,706 | €3,135 | €3,844 | |
| Cleaners | 211 | €2,854 | €3,102 | €3,399 | |
| Hospitality and bar staff | 222 | €1,898 | €2,706 | €2,987 | |
| Kitchen assistants | 81 | €1,320 | €1,898 | €2,756 |
What the 2026 salary guides ask for
Published guide ranges for the same roles, quoted as the guide states them. A guide range is an asking price rather than a measurement: useful as the ceiling of a conversation, not as evidence of what a role pays. Set against the tables above they read high, which is what you would expect of a number written to win a mandate.
Method and sources
Everything needed to check the figures, and the reasons not to trust them further than they go.
What is counted
Gross monthly salary at a full time working week, holiday allowance, bonus, lease car and pension excluded. The recruitment layer takes one figure per candidate, the most recent recorded in the window September 2024 to August 2026. Figures below €1,500 or above €20,000 a month are dropped as entry errors. A group needs at least eight observations to appear, five for job titles.
Known limits
The recruitment layer is a sample of people who were in a conversation with a recruiter, so it over-represents people open to moving and the specialisms this network works in. It says nothing about people who never pick up. The national layer converts an hourly wage to a monthly one at 165 hours, so it understates anyone paid for a longer week and overstates part-time roles read as full-time. Neither layer is corrected for age, seniority or years of experience.
Sources
Recruitment layer: the Pearson & Partners recruitment database, extracted August 2026. National layer: Statistics Netherlands, table 86355NED, Werknemers, uurloon en beroep, reporting year 2025, licensed CC BY 4.0. Guide ranges: De ICT Recruiter Salarisgids IT 2026 and Finance Recruitment Partners marktupdate 2026, each linked in the table above.
Reuse
The figures on this page may be quoted and republished with attribution to IPMERC and a link back to this page. The national layer carries CBS attribution as well.