Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

MONEY

How much do you need to earn in Switzerland to be considered wealthy?

Switzerland is a wealthy country but how much do people need to earn to be considered rich in the country?

Published: 21 January 2023 11:15 CET
Updated: 16 December 2023 12:17 CET
How much do you need to earn in Switzerland to be considered wealthy?
1000 Swiss francs note, which was introduced in 2019. Photo by Michele LIMINA / AFP

In Switzerland, the amount of money one needs to make to be considered rich is different for every location.

The Institute for Swiss Economic Policy’s “Swiss Inequality Database” has calculated this number for each Swiss canton.

What exactly does it mean to be rich, and just how much money do you have to earn to be considered among Switzerland’s wealthiest breadwinners? While the desire for wealth and abundance is – to a degree – universal, its definition varies from place to place. This is particularly the case in a country as well off as Switzerland. Yet, there is clear data that shows when an individual is considered to be among the top earners for every canton.

Swiss national average

Households with an annual income of over CHF 97.591 (before taxes) belong to the wealthiest 20 percent in the country, however, it takes an impressive net salary of more than CHF 1.2 million to be among the country’s richest 0.1 percent. In contrast, after taxes, the latter will be left with around CHF 762,866 in their pockets.

French-speaking Switzerland

As with most things in Switzerland, just what income (before tax) makes one rich can vary significantly from canton to canton.

If you’re hoping to be among Romandy’s top earners, you’ll have the most challenging time accumulating wealth in Geneva where a staggering CHF 2.1 million is required to be considered among the canton’s 0.1 per cent uber rich. If you’re shooting for less, say the canton’s top 20 percent, you’ll only need to be earning a “modest” CHF 102,873 and to position yourself somewhere in the middle, at 5 percent, your salary would have to hit CHF 213,761.

Similarly, in Vaud, an income of around CHF 1,2 million will propel you among the 0.1 percent super rich, while a lesser CHF 192,842 and CHF 101,170, will mean you’re in canton’s top 5 and 20 percent earners.

Becoming rich is slightly more attainable in neighbouring Fribourg, and Neuchâtel where incomes of CHF 95,526, and CHF 86,805, respectively, place you within the top 20 percent of earners, and incomes of CHF 158,006 and 148,677 in the top 5 percent. In order to be considered among the cantons’ 0.1 percent, you’ll need an income of CHF 745,507 in Fribourg and CHF 930,015 in Neuchâtel.

Deutschschweiz

Leading the chart in German-speaking Switzerland is Zug where an income (before tax) of CHF 3,7 million will put you in the 0.1 percent of earners. In comparison, Zurich’s super rich average CHF 1,4 million per year. The gap is equally wide when it comes to the top 5 and 20 percent of the cantons’ wealthiest, with Zug’s averages standing at CHF 310,584 and CHF 133,048, while Zurich averages at CHF 205,822 and CHF 109,585.

In Basel-Country and Basel City, you will need to bring home CHF 106,284 and CHF 98,784 to be among the top 20 percent, while the top 0.1 percent make around CHF 1.1 million and 1.8 million. The two Basels highest 5 percent earners bag around CHF 185,288 (Country) and CHF 194,727 (City).

Things look a little brighter in Bern and Aargau with the former’s 0.1 percent income standing at a lesser CHF 730,312. Bern’s chief 5 percent earn CHF 144,412 and its 20 per cent average at CHF 89,150.

The situation is similar in Aargau with its richest earners bringing in some CHF 730,312. The top 20 percent of Aargauers have a salary of around CHF 707,342, with the 5 percent bringing home around CHF 165,682.

Member comments

  1. Would it really be so hard to occasionally include Ticino/Italian speaking Switzerland in your reporting? As a subscriber it is quite annoying.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

BANKING

Can a Swiss bank refuse to deal with a foreign client?

If you live and/or work in Switzerland, you will need a local bank account. But can a financial institution turn you down?

Published: 5 April 2024 13:34 CEST
Can a Swiss bank refuse to deal with a foreign client?

For years, many myths and half-truths have been circulating about Swiss banks, almost always involving sinister, tight-lipped bankers, anonymous accounts, and money (or gold, or looted artworks) stashed in underground vaults. 

It is important to separate truth from fiction.

For instance, you may have heard that Swiss banks have various restrictive rules in place to keep foreign nationals away. Actually, in some cases this is true — read more about this below.

Generally speaking, banks need and want as many clients as possible, which makes perfect business sense, so it would not be to their advantage to turn people away for no reason. And there are no laws forbidding these institutions to deal with foreign nationals, especially those living or working in Switzerland.

This means that legal foreign residents and cross-border workers alike can, in principle, open accounts to deposit their wages, pay their bills, and conduct other banking transactions.

In fact, the vast majority of foreign residents have had no problem opening and maintaining bank accounts in Switzerland.

However, private entities like banks are not legally bound to accept each and every client, and are free to decide who to deal with, or not. (The only bank that can’t cherry pick-clients is PostFinance, which belongs to the Swiss government and, as a public institution, must be all-inclusive).

These are some of the reasons banks have used for turning down a foreign customer:

Wrong passport

While most foreigners will have no problem opening an account, US citizens will tell you otherwise.

For them, opening an account is a major hassle because few banks will welcome them with open arms.

Blame it on the heavy-handed FATCA regulations that are part of a wider US effort to combat tax evasion. To that end, the American government had created a myriad of requirements for other nations’ banks to follow to ensure that no foreign account belonging to an American goes unreported to Uncle Sam.
 
As a result of the additional administrative tasks involved in managing accounts belonging to American clients, banks see US citizens as a liability rather than asset, both literally and figuratively speaking.

This ‘exclusion’ is a serious problem for Americans in Switzerland.

“I’ve been ‘bank shopping’ here since I arrived eight months ago, but nobody wants to open an account for me once they find out I am American,” Terry, who is married to a French citizen and lives in the suburbs of Geneva, told The Local.

READ ALSO: Why are Americans being turned away from Swiss banks? 

Unclear origin of money

If you are depositing the equivalent of 10,000 francs or more, Swiss anti-money-laundering regulations require you to provide proof regarding the origin of the funds. This is to ensure they don’t come from illicit sources, such as criminal activity.

If you can’t prove that the money you are transferring from your bank abroad is legit, then the bank has the right to refuse to deal with you.

You don’t have all the required documents

Just as banks must verify the origin of your money, they are also obligated to identify their customers (which only goes to prove that ‘anonymous’ accounts are a myth nowadays).

To do this, banks require a valid identification document, such as your passport or ID card, as well as proof of address. Just bringing in your residence permit is not enough, as not all Swiss permits are acceptable as official IDs.

So if you don’t have the necessary paperwork, the bank will not open an account for you.

Manual widget for ML (class=”ml-manual-widget-container”)

Where can you file a complaint?

If you believe you have fulfilled all the criteria for opening an account but the bank refuses to do so, you can submit a complaint to the Swiss Banking Ombudsman, who will act as a mediation authority between  you and the financial institution.

Before you contact this office, see whether your query is addressed on this FAQ  page. 
 

SHOW COMMENTS