Zurich

Quality of life in Zurich

Zurich is one of the wealthiest but also one of the most expensive cities in Europe. It is a leader in the world's financial industry as well as an international hub for banking. Zurich is also the center for development and scientific research with two world-class universities within its boundaries. The city is extremely well-connected through public transport and offers an exceptionally high quality of life.

Zurich is one of the top ten city matches for 13.3% of Teleport users.

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Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

1
256/265
Details
Large apartment$3100.00
Medium apartment$2500.00
Rent index [score]0.19
Small apartment$1900.00

Cost of Living

1
244/248
Details
5km taxi ride$23.00
A Cappuccino$5.90
A beer$2.40
A kilogram of Apples$4.00
Bread$1.30
Inflation [score]0.10
Lunch$29.00
Monthly fitness club membership$100.00
Monthly public transport$100.00
Movie ticket$20.00
Price of a meal at a restaurant$126.23

Startups

6
55/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups10
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.54
Coworking spaces [score]0.56
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co13
Meetups [score]0.69
Meetups groups197
Meetups members90100
Number of investors101
Number of startup events in the last 12 months258
Number of upcoming meetup events127
Startup climate scene [score]0.66
Startup events171
Startup events [score]0.75
Startups [score]0.70
Total number of startups425

Venture Capital

4
63/192
Details
Venture capital [score]0.39

Travel Connectivity

8
14/266
Details
Airport hub137
Airport hub [score]0.61
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.94

Commute

6
41/255
Details
Traffic handling [score]0.88

Business Freedom

9
59/264
Details
Business freedom82.20
Business freedom [score]0.81
Freedom from corruption86.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.96
Lack of labor restrictions72.10
Lack of labor restrictions [score]0.66
Time to open a business10.00
Time to open a business [score]0.90

Safety

9
24/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.95
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year3
Guns per 100 residents24
Lack of gun related deaths [score]0.92
Lack of guns [score]0.87
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.89

Healthcare

10
1/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]1.00
Healthcare quality [score]0.92
Life expectancy (years)83.36
Life expectancy [score]1.00

Education

7
13/240
Details
Best university in rankingETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Best university ranking9
Country mean scores in PISA math test531.14
Country mean scores in PISA reading test509.04
Country mean scores in PISA science test515.30
PISA math ranking (high school)7
PISA ranking11
PISA ranking (high school) [score]0.85
PISA reading (high school)20
PISA science (high school)14
Percent of happy students0.86
Percent of low performers in PISA math test0.12
Percent of low performers in PISA reading test0.14
Percent of low performers in PISA science test0.13
Percent of top performers in PISA math test0.21
Percent of top performers in PISA reading test0.09
Percent of top performers in PISA science test0.09
University quality [score]0.61

Environmental Quality

9
28/266
Details
Air quality [score]0.87
Cleanliness [score]0.95
Drinking water quality [score]0.93
Urban greenery [score]0.71

Economy

7
12/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area0.97
Currency for urban areaCHF
GDP growth rate0.02
GDP growth rate [score]0.39
GDP per capita$58087.21
GDP per capita [score]0.92

Taxation

6
44/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.82
Income tax level [score]0.47
Profit tax (% of profit)0.29
Time overhead to file company taxes63
VAT (Sales Tax)0.08

Internet Access

7
34/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)54.49
Internet access (download) [score]0.65
Internet access (upload) [score]0.80
Upload speed (Mbps)26.96

Leisure & Culture

5
173/264
Details
Art galleries89
Art galleries [score]0.46
Cinemas89
Cinemas [score]0.45
Comedy clubs43
Comedy clubs [score]0.65
Concert venues125
Concerts [score]0.56
Historical sites101
Historical sites [score]0.45
Museums99
Museums [score]0.54
Performing art venues105
Performing arts [score]0.57
Sport venues49
Sports [score]0.49
Zoos18
Zoos [score]0.79

Tolerance

9
22/266
Details
LGBT Equality Index81.79
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.83
LGBT adoption rights✖ Illegal
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulationsAmbiguous
LGBT conversion therapy regulations✔ Banned
LGBT discrimination legality✔ Illegal
LGBT employment discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT gender changing rights✔ Legal, but requires surgery
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT marriage rights✔ Civil unions
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.92

Outdoors

5
75/266
Details
Elevation (hills or mountains) [score]0.37
Median peak in meters1105.00
Presence of hills in city1.00
Presence of mountains in city1.00
Seaside waterbody1.00
Urban area elevation (meters)419.00
Water access [score]0.71
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Zürich are in the most expensive 10 percent of all 248 Teleport cities. Average living expenses are significantly higher compared to other cities, especially in the housing market. Moving to Zürich will very likely increase your daily costs of living. Sign up for free to get access to our cost of living index and use our international  cost of living calculator to do cost comparison by city.

Housing costs (USD)

$2,100$2,900
$2500
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$100
Movie ticket$20
Broadband internet connection$43
Monthly public transport$100
Lunch$29
+32%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Zurich

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Zurich are very high. For this job type, Zurich ranks 4th for salaries among 265 cities. Get access to our salary comparison calculator by signing up. Compare salaries city by city with our free salary wizard and convert your own salary to a local salary in Zurich.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$100,400
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Zurich

Locals review Zurich

Do locals recommend living in Zurich?

What could Zurich do better?#improveZurich

How could Zurich improve to make it a more liveable city? We will make sure that the local government will know about the suggestions that reach enough votes.
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Zurich a special place?#praiseZurich

Is Zurich a great place to live? What makes it special for you? What makes it liveable? What should others know about? Why should they move here? Why do you love it?
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something nice about your city.

Taxation

Personal taxation

Effective income tax rate

12%
For annual salary of $40000
12%
For annual salary of $80000

Value added tax (VAT)

8%
Standard tax rate. Different rates might apply for certain product categories.

Compared to other cities

73/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

32/263
See more details on taxation in Zurich
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Safety

Gun crimes & Ownership

24.45
Guns per 100 people
3.01
Gun deaths per 100k people / year
HIGH GUN CRIMELOW GUN CRIMEFEW GUNSMANY GUNS
North America
Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Oceania

Overall crime rate city ranking

The overall crime rate puts Zurich in position 18 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Zurich

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of
Get more information about visas in Zurich here
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People in Zurich

Population of Zurich

2,236,000
1,114 /km²
118/264
Density (people per unit of area)
6%
Growth in 2015-2020
Zurich

Demographics of Switzerland

Median age
42
Elderly people
18%
Life expectancy at birth
83
GDP per capita (in USD)
$58,087
7/263
Unemployment
3%
21/264

Languages

English proficiency score
60
138/228
Common spoken languages
German
French
Italian

Friends living in Zurich

Find out which of your friends are living in Zurich. Nothing is better than knowing a local 😉

Teleport Users  X  Zurich

Teleport users who are      Zurich

Work in:

Software Engineer
12.89%
Marketing Manager
5.84%
Project Manager
3.32%
Founder
3.12%
Web Developer
2.92%
Product Manager
2.82%
IT Manager
2.52%
Other
66.57%

Come from:

Climate

Average annual percent chance of sunshine

36

Climate type

Marine West Coast

Average daily maximum temperature

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Impressions from Zurich

2:51 Zurich by Night

A video by Alessandro Della Bella

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On living in Zurich

Zurich (German: Zürich, Swiss German: Züri) is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of some 400,000 in the city proper and 1.3 million in the metro area. Zurich is on Lake Zurich, where the lake meets the Limmat River, in the north of Switzerland. Contrary to what some believe, Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland — that honour falls to Berne.

Zurich is Switzerland's biggest city and a cultural center of German-speaking Switzerland. Despite it not being the administrative capital of any more than its Kanton, Zürich punches well above its weight in terms of major media and business headquarters and due to to it being at the heart of Switzerland's excessively punctual and meticulously maintained train network and being home to Switzerland's most important airport, it is often the first part of Switzerland that visitors get to see. Zürich is close to some excellent skiing resorts and many people headed for the Swiss Alps don't spend much time in Zurich itself, but you'd be missing a lot if you don't stay in Zurich for a couple of days at least.

While Zurich can be expensive, it is also clean, efficient and blessed with a high standard of living, which - together with the high wages - explains why people bear with the high prices. Zurich has drawn people from the rest of Switzerland for centuries, but in the 20th and 21st century it has also begun to draw both people and companies from outside Switzerland and in some cases even outside Europe. This means that you will hear a lot more languages than just Swiss German and the overall atmosphere is a lot more cosmopolitan than you might think.

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Good Country Index

Every city comes with a country. How is this one doing in terms of giving back to the global community? Our friends at The Good Country Index measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.

Overall ranking

Switzerland
4th from a total of 163 countries

World Order

10th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

61st

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

3rd

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

2nd

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

31st

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

10th

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

5th

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

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