Renting a house in Switzerland can be pricey, but some cantons are much cheaper than others. These are the cantons where you can get the most (and least) for your money.
A study by Swiss Marketplace Group (SMG) has shown that the most affordable Swiss cantons when it comes to rental properties are the cantons of Neuchâtel and Jura, costing tenants 1.000 Swiss francs per month for a 3,5-room flat. The most expensive cantons by contrast are located around Switzerland’s most prominent cities, with the best strategy for finding more affordable housing being to look outside the main urban centres.
The most expensive canton for renting is Zug, a region well known for its favourable business taxes and wealthy residents, one in eight of whom have a net worth over one million Swiss francs. Closely behind lie the country’s largest cities: Geneva, Zurich and Basel. The canton home to the Swiss capital city of Bern ranks in the middle.
The report noted that residents in the most expensive cantons can often afford to buy two of the same property in Jura or Neuchâtel. For instance, purchasing an apartment with 4,5 rooms costs just 516.000 Swiss francs in Jura, while the same type of property costs 1.722.000 Swiss francs in Zug, meaning that both buyers and renters are better off financially by heading out of town.
The study found that over the last year prices for 4,5 room properties (properties with three bedrooms) “soared in 17 of the 26 cantons.” The report advises those looking for their dream home to widen their search area to make the process more affordable. “If, for example, you could see yourself living in the cantons of Aargau, Schaffhausen, Thurgau or St. Gallen instead of Zurich, you could save up to 43 percent, on average, when buying a home," the report said.