According to INS, the average net wage in August 2026 was 5,688 lei, about €1,060. In software and IT: 13,010 lei.
According to Paylab (April 2025), the median for a junior developer in Bucharest is 7,737 lei net including bonuses, about €1,450, above the national average.
According to Paylab, 80% of development team leads in Romania earn between about €2,200 and about €5,300 net a month.
From November 2023 the exemption was capped at 10,000 lei gross, and from January 2025 ordinance OUG 156/2024 abolished it entirely.
According to INS, the average net wage rose from €357 in September 2008 to about €1,060 in August 2026.
Salaries in Romania: the short answer
According to Romania's National Institute of Statistics (INS), the average net wage in August 2026 was 5,688 lei, about €1,060. In September 2008 it was €357. In other words, in euro terms the average wage has almost tripled. In software and IT consulting the average was 13,010 lei net, more than twice the national average.
Behind these numbers, a new working class has grown up in Romania. A junior developer in Bucharest earns a median of about €1,450 net, a development team lead can reach about €5,300, and a ride-hailing driver who works long shifts takes in thousands of euros a month. In 1989, by comparison, pay was set in fixed state grades.
In plain words: today's Romania pays by the market, not by grade. People who work in tech and in Bucharest earn two to three times the average, and the average itself has risen sharply since 2008.
All conversions in this article use about 5.35 lei to the euro, the central bank (BNR) rate in early October 2026. The rate moves, so euro amounts are rounded.
The table: who earns what
| Occupation | Monthly net, per the sources | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| National average wage | 5,688 lei, about €1,060 | INS, August 2026 |
| Software and IT consulting, sector average | 13,010 lei, about €2,430 | INS, August 2026 |
| Junior developer, Bucharest | Median of 7,737 lei, about €1,450, including bonuses | Paylab, 2025 |
| Development team lead | 80% between 11,657 and 28,558 lei, about €2,200 to €5,300 | Paylab, undated |
| Ride-hailing driver, full time | About 5,500 lei at 8 hours a day, about 9,100 lei at 12 hours a day, after commission and costs | Gândul calculation, 2026 |
| Lawyer | Recommended minimum of 220 lei an hour. Business law firm rates are not published | Bar association, 2021 |
| Education worker, average | 5,861 lei, about €1,100 | INS, November 2025 |
| Starting teacher | About 3,700 lei, about €690 | Edupedu, 2026 |
| Starting police officer (Olt county) | From 4,203 lei, about €790, including allowances | Police pay table, August 2026 |
Developers: Bucharest's new class
Tech is the big story of the Romanian labour market. According to INS, the average in the software sector, from juniors to managers, is 13,010 lei net, the highest of any sector.
The most detailed data on beginners is a Paylab report of 1 April 2025 on full-time junior developers in Bucharest, based on 99 respondents. The median basic net wage was 7,026 lei. The median total pay, with bonuses, was 7,737 lei, about €1,450. The top tenth earned more than 12,822 lei, about €2,400. In other words, a developer at the start of their career already earns more than the national average in the first year.
The Paylab figure is based on a voluntary survey, so it is an estimate rather than an official measurement. But it fits the INS data: a junior earns roughly half the sector average, and from there the ladder climbs fast.
Team lead: up to about €5,300 net
At the senior level the gaps widen. According to Paylab, 80% of developers in a lead developer role in Romania earn between 11,657 and 28,558 lei net a month, about €2,200 to €5,300. The figure is based on 50 respondents and the page gives no date, so it is an indication.
At the top of the range, mainly in international companies in Bucharest, a team lead approaches €5,000 net and more. That is a salary that did not exist in Romania a generation ago.
The end of the tech tax exemption
Until three years ago, a programmer in Romania paid no income tax on their salary. The exemption was one of the industry's symbols, and according to KPMG it applied to income from "creating computer programs".
It ended in two stages:
- November 2023: according to a tax authority (ANAF) guide published by StartupCafe, the exemption was capped at gross income of up to 10,000 lei a month, at the main place of work. Above that, the tax is 10%. The law at the time spoke of ending the exemption in 2028.
- January 2025: emergency ordinance OUG 156/2024, published on 31 December 2024, abolished the exemption entirely, according to a summary by KPMG Romania. The same ordinance also abolished similar benefits in construction, agriculture and the food industry.
What this means: programmers now pay income tax like any other employee, and the same gross salary brings in less net than in 2023. Even after the change, software remained the best-paying sector in Romania.
In 1989, pay in Romania was set by grade. Today it is set by the market, and that has created a new class.
Ride-hailing drivers: how many hours, how much money
There is no official data on the earnings of ride-hailing drivers in Romania. INS does not count them as a category, and the platforms do not publish averages. What exists are media calculations.
According to a calculation by the news site Gândul from May 2026, a driver in Bucharest takes in between 55 and 75 lei gross an hour. On that range, a full-time driver working 10 to 13 hours a day, 22 days a month, reaches gross takings of about 16,000 lei, about €3,000.
Commission, fuel and tax come out of the takings. Bolt told Digi24 in March 2026 that it charges "a uniform commission of 25% across the country", and most drivers work through a fleet that takes about another 10%. After costs, according to Gândul, about 5,514 lei a month remain at 8 hours a day, and about 9,096 lei, about €1,700, at 12 hours a day. The calculation does not make clear whether income tax has already been deducted. In other words: someone willing to work very long hours can reach takings of about €3,000, and a net income above the national average.
Lawyers: what is published
Romania's large law firms do not publish their rates, and we found no recent survey of fees. This is the data that is published:
- The recommended minimum. In 2020 the bar association (UNBR), in decision 82/2020, set a recommended minimum fee of 220 lei an hour, about €41, from 2021. The guideline is not binding.
- The market range. Sponsored content on the PRO TV website from May 2024, marked as advertising, cites 100 lei an hour for a junior lawyer and up to 1,000 lei and more for a specialist, that is, up to about €190 and more.
- The international comparison. In 2010 the lawyer Doru Boștină told Ziarul Financiar that Romania "is not a market where fees are similar to the Anglo-Saxon one", where a partner charges €300 to €500 an hour.
The picture: at the top end of the market, in business law firms in Bucharest, rates are already measured in hundreds of lei an hour and more.
Teachers, police officers and civil servants: then and now
Under communism. Pay was set in fixed grades, by occupation and sector. According to an article by Dan Alexandru Chița published in HotNews in 2023, an engineer or a skilled production worker could earn two or three times as much as a teacher at the peak of their career, and in material terms a teacher stood below a doctor and an officer in the army, the militia and the Securitate. According to figures published by Antena 3 in 2011, partly attributed to the International Labour Organization, the average net wage in 1989 was about 3,000 lei. A secondary school teacher earned a little over 3,000, a general practitioner more than 3,500, a programmer 3,680 and a university professor 5,620. The article does not give the source of the figures by occupation, so they are a report only.
Today. According to INS, the average wage in education in November 2025 was 5,861 lei net, about €1,100, and in public administration and defence 6,973 lei, about €1,300. A starting teacher earns about 3,700 lei net, according to Edupedu. A starting police officer earns, according to a police pay table for Olt county cited by folositor.ro, from 4,203 lei net including allowances. The public sector has stayed stable, but the big jump in pay happened in the private sector.
Then and the recent past: how the ladder changed
| 1989 | 2008 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average net wage | About 3,000 old lei (reported) | 1,296 lei, about €357 (September, INS) | 5,688 lei, about €1,060 (August, INS) |
| Best-paying sector | No reliable data | Oil and gas extraction: 3,380 lei (INS) | Software and IT: 13,010 lei (INS) |
| What sets pay | Fixed state grade | The market, early in EU membership | The market, with large gaps between sectors and cities |
1989 cannot be compared directly with today. The old leu was replaced in 2005 at 10,000 to 1, and what a wage could buy in 1989 was limited by shortages and rationing, as we set out in the chapter on Ceaușescu. What can be seen: from 2008 to 2026 the average wage in euros almost tripled, and the leading sector moved from oil to software.
Bucharest leads
Most high pay is concentrated in the capital and the tech cities. According to INS, the average net wage in July 2026 was 7,469 lei in Bucharest, 6,952 in Cluj and 5,896 in Ilfov, against about 5,820 lei on the national average. The gap between the capital and the rest of the country also shows up in output, as we explained in our article on GDP per head in Bucharest-Ilfov.
One more figure worth knowing: in August 2026 wages in lei rose by 5.6% year on year, but according to INS prices rose faster, and the real wage index was 99.5%. For the economic background, see our article on Romania's economy in 2026, and for what a salary buys in Bucharest, our article on the cost of living.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average wage in Romania in 2026?
According to INS, in August 2026 the average wage was 5,688 lei net and 9,497 lei gross, about €1,060 and €1,775. The average is pulled up by high pay in tech and in Bucharest.
How much does a developer earn in Romania?
According to INS, the average in software and IT consulting is 13,010 lei net, about €2,430. A junior developer in Bucharest earns a median of about 7,700 lei net, about €1,450, according to Paylab, and a team lead between about €2,200 and about €5,300.
How much does an Uber driver earn in Romania?
There is no official figure. According to a 2026 calculation by Gândul, takings are 55 to 75 lei gross an hour. A driver who works 12 hours a day is left with about 9,100 lei a month, about €1,700, after commission and costs.
What happened to the programmers' tax exemption?
From November 2023 it was capped at 10,000 lei gross a month, and from January 2025 it was abolished entirely by ordinance OUG 156/2024. Programmers now pay income tax like any other employee.
What is the minimum wage in Romania?
From 1 July 2026: 4,325 lei gross, about 2,699 lei net, under the government decision approved in March 2026.
The bottom line
In 1989, pay in Romania was set by grade. Today it is set by the market, and that has created a new class: developers, team leads, professionals at international companies, and drivers willing to work long hours. The average wage in euros has almost tripled since 2008, and software leads the ladder. The gaps between sectors, and between Bucharest and the rest of the country, are still large, but the direction is clear.
If you are thinking of moving to Bucharest, you can plan with these numbers.
Moti Azulay, Compass Group Romania
Sources: Financiarul: the average wage in August 2026, per INS · Economedia: the minimum wage from 1 July 2026 · Gândul: how much a Bolt or Uber driver earns in Bucharest, 24.5.2026 · Digi24: ride-sharing drivers, Uber and Bolt, 2.3.2026 · Paylab: junior developer report, Bucharest, 1.4.2025 · Paylab: lead developer · StartupCafe: ANAF guide to taxing IT employees, 14.11.2023 · KPMG Romania: OUG 156/2024 · Alba24: UNBR minimum fees, 2021 · PRO TV, sponsored content: what a lawyer costs, 2024 · Ziarul Financiar: Boștină on fees, 2010 · Edupedu: starting teacher pay, 17.4.2026 · Edupedu: wages in education and public administration, per INS, 16.1.2026 · folositor.ro: police pay 2026 · HotNews: teachers under Romanian socialism, 28.5.2023 · Antena 3: wages under communism, 2011 · Wall-Street.ro: the wage in September 2008, per INS · InfoCons: wages by county, July 2026, per INS · cursbnr.nxm.ro: BNR rate, 6.10.2026
This article is for general information only and is not investment, tax or employment advice. The pay figures come from the sources above; some are surveys or media calculations rather than official measurements. Euro conversions are approximate, and the rate changes. Correct as of 23 October 2026.
Forget the dictatorship economy
- Forget the dictatorship economy: the new Romania
- Who earns what in Romania today (you are here)
- Agriculture: Europe's breadbasket
- Finance: banks, the stock exchange and money
- Tech: from UiPath to Bitdefender
- Food and wine
- Culture: festivals, film and music
- Abundance: malls, consumption and brands
- Western brands: consulting, accounting and hotels
- What drives growth: EU funds versus investment
- From dictatorship to market economy: what remained and what was built
Now you know more.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
