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Zurich vs Zug: Which Swiss city is the best to live in?

Moving to Switzerland and can't decide between Zurich and Zug? We look at some factors to consider in these two cities, from the population to wages, rents and international connections.

Published: 8 February 2023 10:38 CET
Updated: 3 April 2024 15:05 CEST
A view of Zug, Switzerland.
A view of Zug, Switzerland. Photo by Florian Wehde on Unsplash

Despite being only a 40-minute car ride apart, many would argue that Zurich and Zug couldn’t be more different. In Zurich professionalism is considered a make-or-break attribute and people can appear more distanced. On the other hand, Zug is a small town where people make an effort to know their neighbours.

Residents of Zug praise the city’s mountain views and short walks to the city centre, while less flattering terms, such as pretentious and arrogant, are not unheard of when describing “Zürchers”. Conversely, the latter find life in the quaint Zug to be lacking excitement.

But despite their differences, the two cities have a lot more in common than they might care to admit. For instance, both are German-speaking, have a high proportion of foreign residents, lie along lakes (Lake Zurich and Lake Zug), and are facing housing shortages due to demand.

Based on the data we collected from various official sources, here’s how these two cities compare to each other:

Zurich

Population: As Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich’s population boasts 436,332 inhabitants. In comparison, the canton of Zurich has around 1.6 million inhabitants.

About 32.2 percent of Zurich City’s permanent population are foreign nationals, with 47.8 percent born abroad.

Wages: Zurich’s salaries are the highest in the country: the median net wage is 7,832 francs.

People wait for an apartment

Zurich’s problem: More people, fewer apartments. Photo: Pixabay

Rents: Rents in Zurich are among the highest in Switzerland the city is currently facing an affordable housing shortage as demand surges. 

READ ALSO: Zurich hit by affordable housing shortage amid record high inflation

As of April 2022, the median price, for apartments in Zurich City was 1,336 francs per month for two rooms across the city, 1,470 francs for three rooms and 1,787 francs for four rooms.

International connections: The city of Zurich is home to one of Switzerland’s three airports, Zurich Aiport, which has topped the leaderboard in the “Best European airport” category of the World Travel Awards every year since first winning in 2004.

It also has a number of train links to destinations across the border via Zurich Hauptbahnhof, taking travellers to six cities in Germany, five each in Austria and Italy, as well as Paris, Dijon and Budapest.

International companies: As Switzerland’s industrial, financial, and cultural centre of the country, it is not surprising that the city is home to many international companies. Among the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Zurich are Zurich Insurance Group, UBS, ABB group, Swiss Re and food giant Migros.

Zug

Population: The capital of the canton of Zug is home to around 31,345 inhabitants, while the canton itself has a population of 129,787. About 35.7 percent of Zug city’s permanent population are foreign nationals.

Wages: The median salary for those working in the canton of Zug is 6,805 francs, with most people working in the city of Zug finance, pharmaceuticals, high tech, commodity trading and blockchain. The city employs some 40,000 people.

And one thing to note is that Zug is known for having low taxes, although it varies across the canton.  

READ ALSO: Where in Switzerland is tax lowest and highest?

Rents: Just like Zurich, Zug, too, is facing an affordable housing shortage with rent costs soaring in recent years. For instance, in 2019, there were a total of 2,168 affordable apartments in the city of Zug, representing just 14.08 percent of all apartments.

Zug in Switzerland. Photo by Peter Wormstetter on Unsplash

A quick look at Homegate shows just four available 2 to 3-room apartments in the city, ranging from 1,600 to 4,800 francs per month.

International connections: Zero. In fact, some of the city of Zug residents have been known to joke that the very benefit of living in Zug is its proximity to Zurich. Ouch!

International companies: Though it is rather small, the city of Zug is surprisingly cosmopolitan. Wholesale pharmaceuticals firm Alliance Booth and mining company Xstrata, both Fortune 500 companies, have their headquarters in the city, while Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore is based in the municipality of Baar (canton of Zug).

In short, if you want a quiet but luxury lifestyle, consider Zug. If you prefer it a bit more lively and busy, Zurich is for you. Or why not choose the best of both worlds and try somewhere in the middle?

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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

REVEALED: How Switzerland’s native-English speakers are growing in number

Some Swiss cities have higher concentrations of foreign residents than others. A new study reveals where most of them live and interestingly how more and more of them are native English-speakers.

Published: 23 April 2024 15:21 CEST
Updated: 28 April 2024 08:45 CEST
REVEALED: How Switzerland's native-English speakers are growing in number

Foreigners who move to Switzerland like to settle in the cities.

This is what emerges from a new study published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday.

Surprisingly, the municipality with the highest number of foreign residents is not Zurich or Geneva, but Kreuzlingen in canton Thurgau, where 56.3 percent of the population are foreigners.

Next is Rorschach in St. Gallen, where just over half (50.6 percent) of residents are foreign.

In terms of regions, however, more towns in the French-speaking part of the country have a high proportion of non-Swiss.

In the first place is the Lausanne suburb of Renens, where 49.3 percent of inhabitants are foreign.

It is followed by Geneva (49.2 percent) and its districts Meyrin (45.4 percent) and Vernier (44.8 percent). Next are Vaud municipalities of Montreux (44.2 percent) and Yverdon (37.7 percent).

The study doesn’t indicate why exactly so many immigrants move to these particular towns, but generally new arrivals tend to settle in or near places where they work.

Another interesting finding: English language is gaining ground

“If we consider non-national languages, it is striking to see that English has developed significantly,” FSO reports.

“It is today the main language of 8.1 percent of the resident population.”

This has also been shown in another FSO study in March, which indicated that  English is not only the most prevalent foreign language in Switzerland, but in some regions even ‘outperforms’ national languages.

In French-speaking Geneva, for instance, 11.8 percent of the population speak English — more than 5.7 percent who speak Italian. And in the neighbouring Vaud, 9.1 percent of residents speak English, versus 4.9 percent for both German and Italian.

In Basel-City, where the main language is German, 12.5 percent speak English, 6.1 percent Italian, and 5 percent French.

And in Zurich,10.8 percent speak English, versus only 5.8 percent for Italian and 3.2 percent French.

The ‘ winner’ however, is the German-speaking Zug, where 14.1 percent of the population over the age of 15 has English as their primary language. 

READ ALSO : Where in Switzerland is English most widely used? 

What else does the study reveal?

It shows to what extent Switzerland’s population ‘migrated’ from rural areas to cities over the past century.

While only a third of the country’s residents lived in urban regions 100 years ago, the 170 Swiss cities and their agglomerations are now home to three-quarters of the population.

As a result of this evolution, “new cities sprang up, many political and spatial boundaries were moved, and the country became increasingly urban.”

With a population of 427,000, Zurich is still the most populated city, followed by Geneva (204,000) and Basel (174,000).

And there is more: Fewer people practice religion

The proportion of people who feel they belong to a traditional religion is generally falling, FSO found.

This downward trend concerns all religions, but it is strongest among people of the Reformed Evangelical faith.

In six towns in particular — Bussigny, Crissier, and Ecublens (VD), Kloten, and Opfikon (ZH), as well as Oftringen (AR) — the drop was of more than 70 percent.
 
 READ ALSO: Why so many Swiss are quitting the church and taking their money with them

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