Costs of living
The cost of living in Switzerland is one of the highest in the world. On average, earners spend about one third of their income on rent. In addition, as part of the basic expenses, there are various insurances, of which the obligatory health insurance is the most expensive. Over the last 10 years, the monthly premiums have been steadily increasing and now constitute, on average, about 10 % of one's income. Because earnings are also relatively high in international comparison, an average Swiss person doesn’t have to work too long in order to buy a loaf of bread: just 3 minutes, to be exact !
Here you can compare the cost of living among the individual cities
This chart will give you an idea about rental costs in the cities of Basel, Geneva and Zurich.
2-bedroom apartment, unfurnished
| Table 1 | Table 2 | |
| Basel | 2400 | 3000 |
| Geneva | 3500 | 5000 |
| Zurich | 3700 | 4500 |
Table 1: good standard of accommodation in areas popular with both locals and some international assignees..
Table 2: excellent standard of accommodation in areas preferred by international assignees.
Property start-up and running costs
Utility costs amount to 10% of the rental price. It includes bills for water, hot water, heating, sewage water, and possibly gardening services (depending on the contract).
Additional cost factors per month
| Type | number of residents | costs in Swiss francs |
| Electricity per month - (quarterly settlement) | single person | approx. 40.00 |
| family | approx. 80.00 | |
| Serafe - licence fee for radio & TV (yearly settlement) | household | 30.40 |
| Telephone / TV / internet | household | 50.00 to 120.00 |
| Health insurance | basic, per person | from 250.00 |
| Contents / private liability insurance, depending on the insured amount (yearly settlement) | per household | 25.00 |