According to a recent assessment released by the Institute of German Economics (IW), the city of Heilbronn possesses the highest purchasing power in Germany. The IW announced on Sunday that it had adjusted official income data by regional price differences. Heilbronn topped the ranking, despite having been only in the middle of the pack the previous year. This top position is attributed to revised income figures, which indicated that profits derived from commercial businesses in Heilbronn played a significant role. In good years, these profits account for almost 50 percent of the gross revenue, compared to nearly eleven percent on average in Baden-Württemberg; however, the IW noted that only a small portion of the city’s residents are likely to benefit from this.
The district of Starnberg follows Heilbronn in second place. According to the IW, the nominal income per resident is highest here, exceeding 44,500 euros. However, because the cost of living is nearly 14 percent higher than the national average, the actual purchasing power, when adjusted to German average prices, amounts to only 39,200 euros. Another notable trend is that many tourist-attractive regions near economically strong metropolitan areas are showing high purchasing power figures. For instance, the area around Munich, specifically the district of Miesbach, ranks fifth, while the High Taunus district, near Frankfurt, achieves eighth place.
At the bottom of the rankings are “structurally weaker cities” such as Herne, Bremerhaven, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, and Offenbach. Many large cities also perform poorly due to high housing costs. Stuttgart ranks around 249th, followed by Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Berlin in significantly lower positions. Only Munich and Düsseldorf score relatively well. Furthermore, the largest cities in eastern Germany, Dresden and Leipzig, also achieve only lower ranks.