Overview
- The Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) reported in September 2026 that 20.64 million social‑security‑covered workers lived in a different place than their workplace, about 50,000 more than in 2024.
- Munich was the largest destination for inbound commuters in 2025 with 461,400 social‑security‑covered workers coming from other places, roughly 3,000 more than the year before.
- Average one‑way distance edged up to 17.3 kilometres nationwide and large numbers travel far: about 7.29 million live more than 30 km from work, 4.10 million more than 50 km, and 2.39 million more than 100 km.
- The BBSR links large inbound flows, especially to Munich, to strong local job markets combined with high housing costs and shortages that push workers into surrounding counties, but the dataset counts residential‑workplace pairs and does not record trip frequency or transport mode.
- Regional patterns vary: some cities such as Düsseldorf and Neuss saw declines in inbound workers while places like Münster and Köln grew, and the trends point to ongoing strain on housing, road and rail planning if many distant workers travel regularly.