Wages in Switzerland: median, average, minimum — and what is left of them.
One number everyone quotes, the variations behind it, the floors the cantons set, and the journey from gross to net — with a calculator for your own payslip.
CHF 7 024 — and everything that hides behind it.
The Federal Statistical Office measures more than two million jobs every two years. One figure comes out on top; the interesting part is how it moves when you change one thing.
The salary explorer
Median gross monthly wage for a full-time job. Pick what to compare.
No national minimum wage — six local ones.
Minimum wages in force, 2026 [6]
Gross, per hour, for employees. The monthly figure assumes a 40-hour week. Where a collective agreement sets a higher rate, the higher one applies — and the other way round.
- GenevaCanton · indexed every yearCHF 24.59per hour≈ CHF 4 260per month, full-time
- City of LucerneCity only, from 2026CHF 22.75per hour≈ CHF 3 940per month, full-time
- Basel-StadtCanton · since 2022CHF 22.20per hour≈ CHF 3 850per month, full-time
- JuraCanton · indexed every yearCHF 21.40per hour≈ CHF 3 710per month, full-time
- NeuchâtelCanton · the first, since 2017CHF 21.35per hour≈ CHF 3 700per month, full-time
- TicinoCanton · CHF 20.00–20.50 by branchCHF 20.00per hour≈ CHF 3 470per month, full-time
Zürich, Bern, Vaud and the other 17 cantons have no minimum wage. In those cantons the lowest legal pay is whatever the collective labour agreement (GAV) of the branch says — hospitality, cleaning, construction and security all have one — and in branches without a GAV there is no floor at all. Self-employed people are never covered by a minimum wage; they set their own prices.
What leaves your payslip before the money arrives.
Every Swiss payslip takes the same six things off the top. Taxes, for most people, are not among them.
- AHV · IV · EOState pension, disability and income-replacement insurance. No ceiling — on every franc.5.3 %you5.3 %employer
- Unemployment (ALV)Up to a salary of CHF 148 200 a year; nothing above it.1.1 %you1.1 %employer
- Pension fund (BVG)7 % of the coordinated salary at 25–34, 10 % at 35–44, 15 % at 45–54, 18 % from 55 — split at least half-half. Coordinated salary = gross minus CHF 26 460.≈ 3.5–9 %youat least the sameemployer
- Accident outside work (NBU)Covers you on the ski slope and on the bicycle. Accidents at work (BU) are paid by the employer alone.≈ 1–2 %you—employer
- Sick-pay insurance (KTG)Optional for the employer, but most have it — it pays 80 % of the wage for up to 720 days.≈ 0.5–1 %youusually halfemployer
- Family allowances (FAK)Finances the child allowances. Paid by the employer alone (except in Valais).—you1–3 %employer
Who pays the tax — you or the employer?
In most countries income tax is withheld by the employer. In Switzerland that is the exception.
- Swiss citizens and C-permit holdersNothing is withheld. You fill in a tax return once a year — federal, cantonal and communal tax in one form — and pay the canton in instalments. Setting aside 10 to 15 % of every salary is the standard advice. [11]
- B, L and G permitsTax at source (Quellensteuer): the employer withholds it every month at a rate set by the canton and pays it on. The rate already includes federal, cantonal and communal tax. From CHF 120 000 a year, or on request, you move to the ordinary tax return. [11]
- Self-employedYou pay everything yourself: AHV at up to 10 % of income, tax by return, and no pension fund or unemployment insurance unless you arrange it. In exchange nobody withholds anything.
Income tax on CHF 80 000, single, 2026 [12]
Federal + cantonal + communal tax in the cantonal capital, no church tax, per year.
- ZugCHF 3 339
- SchwyzCHF 5 378
- Appenzell InnerrhodenCHF 7 192
- SchaffhausenCHF 7 771
- ZürichCHF 7 945
- NidwaldenCHF 8 005
- LucerneCHF 8 246
- UriCHF 8 263
- ObwaldenCHF 8 329
- AargauCHF 8 354
- GraubündenCHF 8 398
- ThurgauCHF 9 212
- GlarusCHF 9 232
- TicinoCHF 9 474
- ValaisCHF 9 487
- Appenzell AusserrhodenCHF 10 076
- Basel-StadtCHF 10 126
- St. GallenCHF 10 365
- GenevaCHF 10 453
- JuraCHF 10 588
- Basel-LandschaftCHF 11 314
- FribourgCHF 11 433
- SolothurnCHF 11 457
- BernCHF 11 666
- VaudCHF 11 839
- NeuchâtelCHF 12 866
Your payslip, roughly
An estimate for one person, no children, no church tax, living in the cantonal capital. Pension-fund rate at the legal minimum; your fund may deduct more. Tax is scaled from the official figure at CHF 80 000 and gets rougher the further you are from it.
Rates 2026: AHV/IV/EO 5.3 %, ALV 1.1 % up to CHF 148 200, NBU assumed 1.2 %, BVG age credits on the salary above the coordination deduction of CHF 26 460 [8] [9]. Tax from the ESTV figures for a single person at CHF 80 000 in each cantonal capital, scaled by income [12]. For your exact tax use the federal calculator at estv.admin.ch.
Three big bills nobody deducts for you.
A Swiss net salary looks generous because it still has to pay for things that are taken off the payslip elsewhere.
The median salary as 100 francs
Where each franc of a CHF 7 024 gross salary goes — single person, aged 35–44, living in Zürich, average rent and premium, 2026. Each square is one franc.
Short answers.
What is the average salary in Switzerland?
The figure to quote is the median: CHF 7 024 gross a month for a full-time job in 2024, or about CHF 84 000 a year. The arithmetic average is around CHF 7 700, higher because a small number of very large salaries pull it up. Half of all full-time workers earn between roughly CHF 5 300 and CHF 9 500.
Is there a minimum wage in Switzerland?
Not a national one — voters rejected it in 2014. Five cantons (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino, Basel-Stadt) and the city of Lucerne have their own, between CHF 20 and CHF 24.59 an hour in 2026. Elsewhere the floor is the collective labour agreement of the branch, if there is one.
Why is there no tax on my payslip?
Swiss citizens and holders of a C permit pay income tax themselves: they file a tax return every year and pay the canton in instalments. Only holders of B, L or G permits have tax withheld by the employer (Quellensteuer) — and above CHF 120 000 a year they, too, move to the ordinary tax return.
How much of my gross salary do I keep?
After social insurance — AHV, unemployment, pension fund, accident — about 85 to 88 % of gross reaches your account. Income tax takes another 5 to 16 % depending on the canton, so a single person on the median wage keeps roughly 70 to 80 %. Health insurance and rent come out of that.
Does a small company pay less than a big one?
On average yes. The statistics office measures what an hour of work costs the employer: companies with fewer than ten staff pay about 17 % less than companies with 50 or more. The difference is largest in services and smallest in construction, where collective agreements set the rates.
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- [1]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Schweizerische Lohnstrukturerhebung (LSE) 2024: erste Ergebnisse — median CHF 7 024, P10/P90, sex, education, regions, branches, low wages, bonuses. www.bfs.admin.ch
- [2]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — LSE 2024 — median wage by Grossregion, as reported by Bilanz / SDA. www.bilanz.ch
- [3]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — LSE 2024 — median wage by branch (13 branches), as compiled by ConvivaPlus. www.conviva-plus.ch
- [4]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Erwerbseinkommen 2024 (SAKE) — median income of the self-employed, as reported by SRF. www.srf.ch
- [5]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Arbeitskosten — labour cost per hour by company size (small firms about 17 % lower), as reported by Blick. www.blick.ch
- [6]Cantonal minimum wages 2026 (overview) — Mindestlohn Schweiz 2026 — Genf, Basel-Stadt, Jura, Neuenburg, Tessin, Stadt Luzern. checkeverything.ch
- [7]Swiss Confederation — Volksabstimmung vom 18. Mai 2014 — Mindestlohn-Initiative (rejected by 76.3 %). www.bk.admin.ch
- [8]AHV/IV information centre — Merkblatt 2.01 — Beiträge der Arbeitnehmenden und Arbeitgebenden an AHV, IV, EO und ALV (2026). www.ahv-iv.ch
- [9]Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) — Kennzahlen berufliche Vorsorge 2026 — Koordinationsabzug CHF 26 460, Eintrittsschwelle CHF 22 680, Altersgutschriften 7/10/15/18 %. www.bsv.admin.ch
- [10]Swiss Confederation — Federal Accident Insurance Act (UVG), Art. 91 — occupational accident paid by employer, non-occupational by employee. www.fedlex.admin.ch
- [11]Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) — Quellensteuer — who is taxed at source; ordinary assessment from CHF 120 000. www.estv.admin.ch
- [12]Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) — Steuerbelastung in den Kantonshauptorten 2026 — single person, CHF 80 000 gross, federal + cantonal + communal, no church tax (via swisslivingindex.ch). swisslivingindex.ch
- [13]Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) — Krankenkassenprämien 2026 — mittlere Prämie Erwachsene CHF 465.30 (+4.1 %). www.bag.admin.ch
- [14]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Mietpreise — average rent CHF 1 412 per month (structural survey 2022), as reported by 20 Minuten. www.20min.ch
- [15]Serafe AG — Radio- und Fernsehabgabe — CHF 335 per household and year. www.serafe.ch
- [16]Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Arbeitszeit 2025 — usual full-time week and standardisation to 40 hours (LSE). www.bfs.admin.ch