Swiss salaries 2026: it is not the banks that pay the most

It is not the banks that pay the most. So who does? ↓

Earning 10,000 francs a month does not yet put you in Switzerland's top 10 %: that starts at CHF 12,526. And the middle, the median wage of CHF 7,024, sits much closer to the bottom of the scale than to the top.

One in two people with a full-time job in Switzerland earns less than CHF 7,024 gross a month. Not roughly: exactly the middle.

Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Swiss Wage Structure Survey 2024

📊 Median salary Switzerland: the middle is not in the middle

From the median wage (CHF 7,024) down to the lowest-paid tenth (CHF 4,635) it is CHF 2,389. Up to the best-paid tenth (CHF 12,526) it is CHF 5,502, more than twice as far. Most wages crowd into a narrow band below the middle, and a long tail stretches upwards. That is why the Federal Statistical Office uses the median rather than the average: top salaries pull an average up, but they do not move the middle.

A Federal Councillor earning CHF 478,000 a year simply moves to the far end of the line, the middle stays where it is. At the other end is the low-wage threshold, at CHF 4,683, two thirds of the median: more than one job in ten in Switzerland pays less (10.8 %), and since 2008 that share has only moved between 10.2 and 11.7 %.

🏭 Salaries by industry: it is not the banks that pay the most

In the tobacco industry the median wage is CHF 14,304 a month, CHF 3,581 more than in banking (CHF 10,723) and more than three times as much as in personal services (CHF 4,496), according to the FSO wage structure survey 2024. Aviation shows how a median can mislead: at CHF 7,134 it is above the Swiss median, and yet one job in four is low-paid (26.3 %). In restaurants the median is only CHF 61 above the low-wage threshold, and almost every second job (47.8 %) falls below it. You can sort every industry yourself in the industry wage overview; at the very bottom, 5 cantons apply a cantonal minimum wage.

Median wage means: half earn more, half earn less. Among the 13 industries the FSO names in its release, that puts the tobacco industry at rank 1, more than three times as high as personal services at the bottom.

Teaching professionals earn a median of CHF 9,697, more than production and specialised services managers (CHF 9,594). And managers in hospitality, retail and other services earn CHF 6,723, less than business and administration associate professionals without a management role (CHF 7,900). Where does your occupational group stand? The official FSO list:

🗺️ Salaries by region: the Lake Geneva region below the median

The Lake Geneva region, home to banks, is at CHF 6,998 below the Swiss median (CHF 7,024). Central Switzerland is above it at CHF 7,092, the Zurich region leads with CHF 7,502 and Ticino is last with CHF 5,708. The Federal Statistical Office publishes wages for seven major regions, not for individual cantons. That is why the map above shows each canton in the colour of its region. Whether a higher gross wage actually pays off depends on tax, rent and health insurance; we work it through on the median wage further down.

⚖️ Gender pay gap: the higher you go, the wider it gets

Even in the public sector, women earn on average 12.8 % less than men, in the private sector 17.2 % (FSO analysis of the 2024 survey). Across all full-time jobs, the median woman earns CHF 6,666, the median man CHF 7,276: a gap of 8.4 %, or CHF 610 a month (FSO earnings structure survey 2024). In 2018 it was still 11.5 %. That is the raw gap across all jobs, not the gap for equal work: part of it is explained by industry, position, education and age. For the rest, even the FSO analysis based on average wages (gap of 15.7 %) finds no explanation: CHF 640 a month.

The higher the level, the wider the gap: among managers, women are CHF 1,638 a month short in the median (CHF 10,077 against 11,715, 14.0 %), without a management role CHF 339 (5.2 %). And the wage pyramid is sorted by gender: below CHF 4,500 a month, 62.0 % are women; above CHF 16,000, 74.9 % are men.

8.4 %: that is the median pay gap between women and men in 2024, down from 11.5 % in 2018. In management it is almost three times as large as in jobs without management duties: 14.0 versus 5.2 %.

🎓 Salary by education: higher vocational training almost catches up

With an apprenticeship plus higher vocational education (federal certificate, diploma, college of higher education), you earn a median CHF 7,849 without management duties, only CHF 493 less than with a university of applied sciences degree (CHF 8,342). The big gap only opens up in management: university CHF 14,409, higher vocational education CHF 10,489. Across all jobs, university graduates earn CHF 10,533, applied sciences graduates CHF 9,288 and people with a federal VET diploma CHF 6,390 (FSO 2024).

📈 Wage growth: the lowest wages rose the most

Since 2008, the lowest wages have risen the most: +18.1 % for the lowest-paid tenth, +16.8 % for the top tenth and least of all in the middle (+15.4 %), according to the FSO. Purchasing power has held up too: the median rose from CHF 6,189 (2014) to CHF 7,024 (2024), and after inflation that leaves a real gain of about 6.8 %. The dip came between 2020 and 2022: wages rose by 1.8 %, prices by 3.4 %.

💸 Gross to net: more is left in Jura than in Zug

In Jura you pay almost three times as much tax as in Zug (CHF 973 against 328 a month), and yet more of the same pay is left: CHF 3,591 against CHF 3,526. Rent makes the difference. A 3-room flat costs CHF 1,875 on average in Zug and CHF 926 in Jura, half as much. That is what the ConvivaPlus Restlohn-Index shows: we run the same gross pay, the Swiss median of CHF 7,024, through all 26 cantons, subtract social contributions, tax in the cantonal capital, the cheapest standard health insurance premium and the average rent, and look at what is left.

Most is left in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, CHF 3,820, least in the canton of Vaud, CHF 2,979. In between: CHF 841 a month, more than 10,000 francs a year, for exactly the same pay. Zurich has one of the lower taxes, but the highest rent after Zug, and ends up at rank 22. If you still want to get out without blowing your budget: we have collected day trips under 20 francs.

In only 6 of 26 cantons is more than half of the Swiss median wage left once contributions, tax, health insurance and rent are paid.

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Published by Wojtek BernetFounder and publisher · Editorial ›

Salaries · 11/01/2026