Cheapest and most expensive cities to rent in Switzerland revealed

A new report by Comparis has revealed the cheapest and most expensive cities in Switzerland to rent a house or apartment. The findings show that while costs have stabilised in most of the country, Zurich and Geneva remain the priciest.

Geneva and Zurich remain the most expensive cities to rent

The report found that Geneva and Zurich are still the most expensive places to rent a home. A 4,5 room flat, ideal for families, costs around 3.500 Swiss francs a month in Geneva, making it the most expensive city for large apartments.

Zurich is the most expensive for smaller two-room flats, at around 1.600 Swiss francs a month. Comparis suggested that this may be down to more people living alone in Zurich, noting, “While this has decreased in Geneva in the past years, it has gone up in Zurich.”

Zurich and Geneva regularly rank as some of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, although it is estimated by HousingAnywhere group that Paris, London and Amsterdam have higher rents.

Lugano the least expensive place to rent a family home

Despite prices rising in many of the 10 largest cities in Switzerland that Comparis analysed, there are many parts of the country that are seeing rents fall. For a 4,5 room flat, Lugano, in Canton Ticino, has seen rents decline from 1.900 Swiss francs a month in 2017 to 1.700 per month today, less than half the price of Geneva. This makes it the cheapest place in Switzerland to rent a family-sized home.

For smaller flats, the city of Biel / Bienne is the cheapest, where a two-room apartment can be secured for as little as 985 Swiss francs a month. A spokesperson for Comparis, Leo Hug, said that the reason flats are so cheap in Lugano and Biel / Bienne is because of young people moving out and looking for jobs elsewhere, with both towns seeing their populations fall by 2,1 percent between 2017 and today.

The highest and lowest rent costs in the 10 largest cities in Switzerland

The study by Comparis compared the rent differently sized apartments in the 10 largest cities in Switzerland. For a 4,5 room apartment, the cheapest places to rent are as follows:

1. Lugano (1.700 Swiss francs per month)
2. St. Gallen (1.740 Swiss francs per month)
3. Biel / Bienne (1.852,5 Swiss francs per month)
4. Winterthur (2.190 Swiss francs per month)
5. Lucerne (2.230 Swiss francs per month)
6. Basel (2.340 Swiss francs per month)
7. Bern (2.350 Swiss francs per month)
8. Lausanne (2.570 Swiss francs per month)
9. Zurich (2.980 Swiss francs per month)
10. Geneva (3.500 Swiss francs per month)

The cheapest Swiss cities for two-room apartments 

According to Comparis, the cheapest cities for a two-room apartment are:

1. Biel / Bienne (985 Swiss francs per month)
2. St. Gallen (995 Swiss francs per month)
3. Lugano (1.150 Swiss francs per month)
4. Basel (1.220 Swiss francs per month)
5. Lucerne (1.300 Swiss francs per month)
6. Winterthur (1.300 Swiss francs per month)
7. Bern (1.330 Swiss francs per month)
8. Lausanne (1.400 Swiss francs per month)
9. Geneva (1.610 Swiss francs per month)
10. Zurich (1.650 Swiss francs per month)

Find out about how rent prices have changed in Switzerland

The rental market in Switzerland has changed significantly in the last few years. High demand in some cities is leading to lower prices elsewhere. For more information, check out the Comparis website.