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What does a managing director earn in Austria? Salary, bonus and benefits in 2026

Managing director pay in Austria: what Statistics Austria, the Court of Audit and AK data show, what the package includes and where reliable data ends.

By David Ertler · 10 November 2026 · 6 min read

The question comes up at the start of almost every managing director appointment, from owners and candidates alike. There is no single right figure. There are, however, public sources that together mark out a range, provided you know what each of them measures. This article brings them together, with a source and a year for every number. Where no reliable figure exists, we say so.

The short answer

There is no publicly available, representative statistic for managing directors alone in Austria. Three public sources, however, set the range:

  • Managers in the private sector: According to Statistics Austria's Structure of Earnings Survey 2022, full-time managers earned a median of EUR 91,840 gross per year. A quarter earned more than EUR 133,008, and the average was EUR 114,539.
  • Federally owned companies: The Austrian Court of Audit (Rechnungshof) reports average pay of EUR 245,100 in 2024 for board members and managing directors of these companies.
  • Listed groups: According to the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK Wien), board members of the 20 ATX companies received around EUR 2.3 million on average for 2024.

Where a particular managing director sits depends mainly on company size, sector and scope of responsibility. There is no published figure specifically for managing directors of owner-led mid-sized companies.

What the figures measure, and what they do not

Statistics Austria: The Structure of Earnings Survey is a mandatory survey of around 11,000 companies covering more than 200,000 employees. It includes employees in the private sector in companies with ten or more staff. Annual earnings include special payments, severance, overtime and allowances. Under the ÖISCO-08 classification, the occupational group "managers" covers all management levels, including divisional and department heads and managers of small businesses. Managing directors are included but not shown separately. The survey runs every four years; the figures relate to 2022.

Court of Audit: It covers only federal companies under its supervision, 712 board members and managing directors in 2024. The companies report their own data. The figure is an average and includes salary, special payments, performance-related pay and voluntary benefits, converted to a full-time equivalent.

Chamber of Labour: The AK figure relates to listed groups. For an owner-led business with 300 employees it says little.

Salary portals: Portals publish figures for "managing director", usually based on self-reported data or job advertisements. They rarely distinguish between running a small business and running an industrial company, and often state neither sample nor reference date. We therefore do not use them here.

Median and average are not the same. The median is the middle value; the average is pulled up by a few high salaries.

Fixed and variable pay

At managing director level, pay usually consists of a fixed salary and a variable element. How large that element typically is in Austrian mid-sized companies cannot be established from publicly available, representative data. The Court of Audit reports only the total including performance-related pay for federal companies, and AK does the same for ATX boards.

When drafting a contract, the basis of the bonus often matters more than its size. Is it tied to company results, personal objectives or both? Who sets the targets: the owner, the advisory board or the supervisory board? Is there a cap? Family businesses without listed shares also face the question of how to create a long-term incentive without giving away equity, for example through multi-year profit targets or phantom equity.

Size, sector, region: where public data runs out

Company size: There is no publicly available breakdown of managing director pay in Austria by revenue or headcount. It stands to reason that larger companies pay more. Freely available data does not allow it to be quantified.

Sector: For 2024, the Court of Audit reports the highest averages in agriculture and forestry (EUR 457,700) and in transport and storage (EUR 387,000). These cover a handful of federal companies and do not transfer to the private sector. We are not aware of a reliable, publicly available sector breakdown for managing directors.

Region: There is no reliable, publicly available breakdown of managing director pay by Austrian federal state. Anyone quoting figures for Vienna, Styria or Upper Austria should be able to name the source and the sample.

Gender: According to the Court of Audit, women on management boards of federal companies earned EUR 218,715 on average in 2024, their male colleagues EUR 254,743, or 85.9 per cent. In the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey, the gender gap in gross hourly earnings among managers, at 24.9 per cent, is wider than in any other major occupational group.

Company car, pension, D&O insurance

Company cars, occupational pensions and D&O insurance are often part of the package at this level. There are no reliable public figures on how widespread they are among managing directors in Austria.

The taxation of company cars changes in 2027. According to the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the benefit-in-kind exemption for electric company cars ends at the close of 2026. From 2027 the monthly taxable benefit is 0.375 per cent of the purchase price, capped at EUR 180, and from 2028 0.625 per cent, capped at EUR 300. For combustion-engine cars it remains 1.5 per cent (up to 126 g CO2/km, capped at EUR 720) or 2 per cent (capped at EUR 960). Anyone negotiating a contract now should factor this in.

Managing directors of an Austrian GmbH are liable to the company for damage caused by breach of duty (section 25 GmbHG). D&O insurance covers this risk. The contract should cover the sum insured, the deductible and run-off cover after the managing director leaves.

Employee or shareholder: social insurance and collective agreements

Employed managing director without a stake: usually on an employment contract and insured under the general social insurance act (ASVG). Whether a collective agreement applies depends on the agreement. The one for salaried employees in the metal technology industry, for example, excludes GmbH managing directors unless they pay Chamber of Labour contributions. This has a practical consequence: in Austria, the 13th and 14th monthly salaries are based on collective agreements, not on statute. Without a collective agreement, special payments must be written into the contract. The Working Hours Act does not apply to senior executives with substantial independent decision-making authority (section 1(2)(8) AZG).

Shareholder-managing director with up to 25 per cent: according to the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO), insured under ASVG if employed on a payroll basis, regardless of any blocking minority.

Shareholder-managing director with more than 25 per cent: according to WKO, this income does not count as employment income. A stake of 50 per cent or a blocking minority generally rules out an ASVG employment relationship, according to the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK). Insurance then falls under the self-employed scheme (GSVG), provided the company is a member of the Economic Chamber. Employer payroll levies and municipal tax still apply.

For pay, this means the same gross figure produces different net income and different costs for the company depending on status. The details belong with a tax adviser.

What this means for an appointment

Public figures set a range, not an answer. They show how wide the spread is, but not where a particular role sits. A candidate from a corporate group compares the whole package: salary, bonus, multi-year elements, pension, company car. An owner who compares only base salary can easily underestimate what a move means for the candidate.

That is why the pay framework belongs before the search, not at its end. What else needs settling beforehand is covered in our article The first managing director from outside the family. How a search works is explained in How does a managing director search work.

My point: most negotiations do not fail on the level of pay. They fail because the structure of the package is discussed only at the end.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a managing director earn in Austria?

There is no representative public statistic for managing directors alone. According to Statistics Austria, full-time managers in the private sector earned a median of EUR 91,840 gross in 2022, with a quarter earning more than EUR 133,008. Board members and managing directors of federally owned companies averaged EUR 245,100 in 2024, according to the Court of Audit.

How much of a managing director's pay is variable?

There is no publicly available, representative figure for Austria. In any case, the basis matters more than the amount: company results, personal objectives, a cap, and who sets the targets.

Do collective agreements apply to managing directors in Austria?

It depends on the individual agreement. Many exclude GmbH managing directors unless they pay Chamber of Labour contributions. Where no collective agreement applies, special payments such as the 13th and 14th salaries must be set out explicitly in the contract.

Is a shareholder-managing director insured under ASVG or GSVG?

With a stake of up to 25 per cent and payroll employment, ASVG applies. With 50 per cent or a blocking minority, an ASVG employment relationship is generally ruled out and GSVG applies. In between, it depends on the individual case.

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