Overview
- The BBSR analysis reported on Wednesday shows Munich had about 461,400 social‑security‑registered inbound commuters in 2025, roughly 3,000 more than in 2024 and the highest total of any German city.
- Nationally, about 20.64 million social‑security‑registered employees worked outside their place of residence in 2025, an increase of roughly 50,000 from 2024, and the average one‑way distance rose to 17.3 kilometers.
- The study finds marked regional shifts: some cities such as Düsseldorf, Neuss and Nürnberg saw declines while places like Münster, Köln and Leipzig recorded gains in inbound commuters.
- Counties around Munich, including Landsberg am Lech and Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, show particularly long average commutes of about 27 kilometers, reflecting housing shortages that push workers to the periphery.
- The BBSR data come from registered home and workplace records as of June 30, 2025, do not track how often trips are made or which transport modes are used, and therefore can overstate the number of people who commute physically every day because home office is counted as commuting.