DON’T MISS
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Expat Info
Swiss news & articles
Best places to live in Switzerland revealed in new quality of life study
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

Best places to live in Switzerland revealed in new quality of life study

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:



Related Stories

Higher wages, less work: New report gives Canton Zurich A+ for quality of lifeHigher wages, less work: New report gives Canton Zurich A+ for quality of life
Which Swiss cantons have the highest purchasing power in 2025?Which Swiss cantons have the highest purchasing power in 2025?
8 important things happening in Switzerland in April 20248 important things happening in Switzerland in April 2024
Housing in this Swiss city is the most overpriced in the worldHousing in this Swiss city is the most overpriced in the world
Moving to Switzerland: A step-by-step guideMoving to Switzerland: A step-by-step guide
The best places for expats to live when working in ZurichThe best places for expats to live when working in Zurich
What does it mean to be in poverty in Switzerland?What does it mean to be in poverty in Switzerland?
Major changes in Switzerland in 2024: What expats need to knowMajor changes in Switzerland in 2024: What expats need to know
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usSitemap
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
Sep 23, 2022
Jan de Boer

Editor at IamExpat Media

Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016. While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more

A new quality of life survey by Handelszeitung has revealed the best places to live in Switzerland. German-speaking areas dominated the list, with all the top three being located in the same Swiss canton.

Swiss Council Ratings 2022 (Gemeinderatings 2022)

According to Handelszeitung, the new "Council Ratings 2022" (Gemeinderatings 2022) report is designed to provide "help to all those who are looking for a new place of residence" in the alpine nation. Alongside helping people choose the right location in Switzerland, the authors hoped that the ranking would give "a basis for comparison and improvement for municipal policy."

On the commission of the newspaper, consulting company IAZI ranked the 944 councils (Gemeindes) of Switzerland which have more than 2.000 residents. These areas are analysed using 50 separate criteria in order to determine how “attractive” each area is to live in. A selection of the criteria are: 

  • Taxation (tax rates for individuals and businesses)
  • Availability of leisure establishments
  • Availability of schools, higher education and childcare
  • Quality of security
  • Access to public transport or the motorway
  • Level of support for elderly residents
  • Number of jobs available
  • Quality of the real estate market (both buying and renting)
  • Ecology and sustainability factors

All towns were then ranked from first to 944th in each category, with the average score from all the criteria being used to determine a town's overall ranking. According to Handelszeitung, the ranking is the “most complete” study of its kind to ever be carried out in Switzerland.

Top three places to live in Switzerland are all in Canton Zug

The report found that the three best places to live in Switzerland are all in Canton Zug. This year, the town of Cham took the top spot, with Zug and Risch rounding out the top three. Each town was praised for low tax rates, high quality of life and ease of access to public transport.

The top 100 was dominated by Canton Zug and Canton Zurich, with all councils on Lake Zurich - with the exception of councils in St. Gallen and Wangen, Canton Schwyz - being ranked in the top 100. Out of the five largest cities, Zurich fared best in 39th, followed by Basel (101st), Bern (201st), Geneva (204th) and Lausanne (304th).

Top 10 places to live in Switzerland

According to the Handelszeitung study, these are the 10 best places to live in Switzerland:

  1. Cham, Canton Zug
  2. Zug, Canton Zug
  3. Risch, Canton Zug
  4. Altendorf, Canton Schwyz
  5. Walchwil, Canton Zug
  6. Meggen, Canton Lucerne
  7. Meilen, Canton Zurich
  8. Hergiswil, Canton Nidwalden
  9. Hünenberg, Canton Zug
  10. Baar, Canton Zug

As you can tell, French-speaking areas did not fare well in this year's ranking, with Pregny-Chambésy in Canton Geneva being the best of the Romande in 63rd. Valbirse, Tramelan (Canton Bern) and Mümliswil-Ramiswil (Canton Solothurn) were ranked as the three worst towns in Switzerland.

Mayor of the second-worst town in Switzerland calls ranking a "bad joke"

This did not go down well with the mayor of Tramelan, Philippe Augsburger, who told 20 minuten that the ranking was “a bad joke, a pure and simple aberration. It is null and void!” He said that “there is something for everyone” in the town of 4.500 people.

“We have sports and cultural infrastructures that are envied far and wide,” Augsburger noted. Taxes “may not be the cheapest," but they aren't the highest either and access to the motorway is only five minutes away. "It's people who have never left their office who say such aberrations!" he concluded.

If you want to see how your town fared in the ranking, check out the interactive map on the Handelszeitung website.

By Jan de Boer