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Job Market Research›Denmark›Public Policy & Administration

Public Policy & Administration jobs in Denmark for international graduates

Check the job market before you choose the course.Real jobs and pay for your field, and how to stay on to work.

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Public Policy & AdministrationLaw, Politics & Governance · Denmark
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Job market at a glance

The jobs Public Policy & Administration leads to, added together. Each label compares Public Policy & Administration with the other Danish fields.

New job ads a month vs last year-6.2% WeakJobindsats.dk (STAR)
New job ads a month160 StrongJobindsats.dk (STAR)
Average pay (calculated)DKK 790,600 ModerateStatistics Denmark
Entry-level pay (calculated)DKK 663,800 ModerateStatistics Denmark
Growth to 2035 (Cedefop)+17% WeakCedefop
Change since 2024-3% WeakEurostat
People in these jobs (full-time equivalents, Statistics Denmark)5,369 WeakStatistics Denmark
Jobs on Denmark's Positive List90% StrongSIRI

People in these jobs: full-time equivalents (Statistics Denmark, earnings statistics 2025), covering the public sector and private firms with at least 10 full-time employees; Statistics Denmark notes it is not a count of everyone employed. Change: people employed in the broader occupation groups these jobs belong to (Eurostat Labour Force Survey, Denmark). Yearly pay is calculated by UNIFER from Statistics Denmark's median standardised hourly earnings × 160.33 hours × 12. It includes pension contributions and holiday allowance, as SIRI's pay limits do. Source: Jobindsats.dk (STAR) for the job ads (vacancies newly posted on Jobnet), licensed CC BY 4.0. Positive List: jobs for which Denmark grants a work permit to people with a higher education without a salary minimum (SIRI, national entries).

Jobs this degree leads to

The jobs Public Policy & Administration courses most often lead to in Denmark, and how each one is doing.

JobShareAverage pay Statistics DenmarkEntry pay Statistics DenmarkGrowth to 2035 CedefopNew job ads a month Jobindsats.dk (STAR)vs last year
1.Policy administration professionalsDKK 825,071DKK 686,719+16.3%284-1.4%
2.Public relations professionalsDKK 662,727DKK 542,268+16.3%37-59.8%
3.Policy and planning managersDKK 1,111,780DKK 950,398+22.5%37+32.1%
4.Philosophers, historians and political scientistsDKK 693,068DKK 584,249+24.3%—
5.Government social benefits officialsDKK 588,308DKK 550,118+3.9%—
6.Sociologists, anthropologists and related professionalsDKK 669,692DKK 596,370+24.3%—
7.Management and organization analystsDKK 922,346DKK 758,771+16.3%54+157.1%

Share: how common each job is among Public Policy & Administration destinations. Entry pay: lower-quartile pay, a guide to starting salaries. New job ads a month: vacancies newly posted on Jobnet in the latest month (Jobindsats.dk, STAR), against the same month a year earlier. Small counts STAR does not publish are left out. Swipe the table sideways for more.

What graduates like you earned

What graduates of Danish master's programmes in Politik og forvaltning and Comparative Public Policy and Welfare Studies earned in their second year after graduating, weighted by the number of graduates of each.

Master's graduates, 2nd year after graduatingmedian, 2022–2024 · 146 graduates · Uddannelseszoom 2026DKK 459,600 Uddannelseszoom
All master's holders in social sciencesmedian, full time, all ages, 2025DKK 782,000 Statistics Denmark
Master's graduates born abroad, in work15 months after graduating (class of 2022), of those still in Denmark76% Statistics Denmark
Master's graduates of Danish origin, in worksame group, for comparison92% Statistics Denmark

Foreign-born master's graduates working full time in Denmark earned 91.8% of what Danish-born graduates earned (2022) OECD. Graduates' pay: Uddannelseszoom 2026 (Ministry of Higher Education and Science, data from Statistics Denmark), median monthly earned income × 12, calculated by UNIFER; includes pension and is not converted to full time, so it reads lower than full-time figures. Master's holders': Statistics Denmark's median standardised hourly earnings × 160.33 × 12, calculated by UNIFER; includes pension contributions and holiday allowance. "Born abroad" is Statistics Denmark's immigrants, which includes, but is not only, international students; shares calculated by UNIFER.

Staying to work after you graduate

How international students stay to work in Denmark after studying Public Policy & Administration.

1
Finish your course

A master's or a PhD from a Danish university.

2
Job-seeking permit
12 months SIRI

to look for a job in Denmark after graduating, if you applied for your student permit on or after 1 October 2026 (3 years if you applied before). You can work up to 90 hours a month, and full time in June, July and August.

3
Work permit

Positive List: if your job is on Denmark's Positive List for people with a higher education, there is no salary minimum; the pay must meet Danish standards for the job.

Pay Limit scheme: any job paying at least DKK 552,000 a year (pension contributions and holiday allowance count).

Supplementary Pay Limit scheme: at least DKK 446,000 a year, while Denmark's unemployment stays at or below 3.75% and after the job has been advertised on Jobnet and EURES.

Denmark does not issue the EU Blue Card. Amounts are SIRI's 2026 levels.

Typical pay in Public Policy & Administration jobs vs the Pay Limit SIRI
DKK 790,600
typical payminimum DKK 552,000
Public Policy & Administration jobs on Denmark's Positive List SIRI90%

Public Policy & Administration in other countries

Typical pay for the same jobs (in US dollars in brackets, at October 2026 exchange rates), projected growth, and post-study work after a master's.

DenmarkDKK 790,600 ($118,400)Growth +17% (2022–35) · Job-seeking permit 12 monthsGermany€72,700 ($81,400)Growth +0.3% (2023–40) · 18 monthsSwedenSEK 553,000 ($55,600)Growth +32.2% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 12 monthsUnited Kingdom£42,700 ($57,100)Growth +8.7% (2025–35) · Graduate visa 18 monthsUnited States$130,400Growth +2% (2025–35) · OPT 12 months, 36 with the STEM extensionCanadaCA$88,900 ($63,500)Growth +8.4% (2023–33) · PGWP up to 36 months
Show more →
AustraliaAU$127,600 ($89,600)Growth +23.3% (2025–35) · 24 monthsIreland€50,100 ($56,100)Growth +5.1% (2025–28) · Stamp 1G 24 monthsNetherlands€73,100 ($81,800)Growth +2.6% (2025–30) · Orientation year 12 monthsFinland€56,100 ($62,800)Growth +22.5% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 24 monthsFrance€50,600 net ($56,600)Growth +24.3% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 12 monthsPolandPLN 111,500 ($28,400)Growth +27.8% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work 9 monthsSpain€42,900 ($48,000)Growth +28.1% (2022–35) · Job-search permit 24 monthsItaly€23,800 net ($26,600)Growth +38.1% (2022–35) · Permit to look for work up to 12 monthsBelgium€67,000 ($75,000)Growth +22.8% (2022–35) · Search year 12 monthsSwitzerlandCHF 113,200 ($137,300)Job search 6 months

Questions students ask

How much do Public Policy & Administration graduates earn in Denmark?

Graduates of Danish master's programmes in this field earned a median DKK 459,600 a year in their second year after graduating (Uddannelseszoom 2026); all master's holders in social sciences earn DKK 782,000 (full time, all ages). 76% of master's graduates born abroad were in work 15 months after graduating, against 92% of graduates of Danish origin. Across all workers in these jobs, typical pay is DKK 790,600 and starting pay about DKK 663,800.

Is Public Policy & Administration in demand in Denmark?

Employers posted about 160 new job ads on Jobnet for these jobs in September 2026, 6.2% fewer than a year earlier. Employment in these jobs is projected to grow 17% from 2022 to 2035.

Can I stay and work in Denmark after a Public Policy & Administration master's?

Yes, for 12 months on a job-seeking permit if you applied for your student permit on or after 1 October 2026. To stay, a job on Denmark's Positive List needs no salary minimum (90% of these jobs are on it); otherwise the Pay Limit scheme needs DKK 552,000 a year.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure comes from an official Danish source. Tap a source tag next to any number for its details.

Cedefop Skills Forecast — future employment growth by occupation group, Denmark, 2022–2035European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) · Cedefop: reuse with acknowledgement of the source (CC BY 4.0) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
StatBank LONS20 — earnings by occupation (DISCO-08); yearly figure calculated by UNIFERStatistics Denmark (DST) · CC BY 4.0 (Statistics Denmark) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Employed persons by detailed occupation (ISCO-08 two-digit), Denmark — EU Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egai2d)Eurostat · Eurostat reuse policy: free reuse with acknowledgement of the source (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Jobindsats.dk — Antal ledige stillinger på Jobnet: newly posted vacancies by job title (STAR)Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (STAR), Jobindsats.dk · CC BY 4.0 (Jobindsats.dk, STAR) · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Danish post-study and work permit rules — SIRI pages (manually verified)Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) — transcribed and verified by UNIFER · Official government information · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Positive List for People with a Higher Education — Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI)Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) · Official government information · loaded 19 Oct 2026
Uddannelseszoom 2026 — pay by master's programme in the 2nd year after graduating (UFM, data from Statistics Denmark)Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet, UFM) · Reuse terms not stated (unverified); credited, for educational, non-commercial use · loaded 19 Oct 2026

Indicative figures from official Danish sources. They describe groups of graduates and workers, not what any individual will earn or be offered. Visa rules change, so check nyidanmark.dk before you decide.