Generally speaking, the quality of life is good all over Switzerland, but as a new analysis reveals, some municipalities offer more than others.
This is what emerges from the Residential Attractiveness Indicator 2026 study carried out by UBS Bank.
It analysed all Swiss municipalities across 10 regions to identify the best places to live in terms of infrastructure, leisure opportunities, as well as cost of living for families with two children.
Only municipalities within the same region were compared to each other – that is, those located within a radius of less than 10 km.
The finding: “Medium-sized communities often rank higher than major urban centres.“
Various factors at play
“Residential attractiveness depends primarily on the interplay of infrastructure, leisure opportunities, quality of life, and cost of living,” according to the report.
“A place is attractive when everyday life runs smoothly: Short distances and easy accessibility increase the residential attractiveness of centrally located municipalities,” it pointed out.
“However, a high cost of living can also hold back centrally located municipalities in the residential attractiveness ranking,” the study said.
And the winners are…
“The cantonal capitals Solothurn, Fribourg, Sion, Basel, Lucerne, Aarau, Chur and St. Gallen, as well as the medium-sized towns of Vevey (Vaud) and Lugano, (Ticino) are the most attractive residential municipalities in their respective regions for a family with two children and an average income,” UBS reported.
That’s because they all offer well-developed infrastructure, a wide range of shopping and leisure opportunities, and access to various services, for example in education and childcare.
“At the same time, living costs at most medium-sized towns are significantly lower than those in major cities.”
For instance costs in Vevey are around 15 percent lower than in Geneva, while in Aarau and Schaffhausen they are 28 percent and 34 percent below Zurich levels, respectively.
“This favourable balance between location quality and costs makes medium-sized centres attractive places for families to live,” the study concluded.
These are, by region, the best medium-size towns for families to live, according to th UBS analysis:
Northwest
Solothurn, Biel/Bienne, and Solothurn
Basel region
Basel, Riehen, and Bettingen
Zurich area
Aarau, Baden, Schaffhausen
Lake Constance region
St. Gallen, Wil, and Teufen
Lake Geneva area
Vevey, Lausanne, and Morges
Valais
Sion, Martigny, Conthey
Bern-Fribourg
Fribourg, Murten, Bern
Central Switzerland
Lucerne, Schwyz, Zug
Ticino
Lugano, Locarno, and Tenero-Contra
Eastern Switzerland
Chur, Quarten, and Vaz/Obervaz
What about international residents?
The study does not distinguish between various nationalities; instead, it was based on the needs and preferences of an average-income family of four – Swiss or foreign.
However, we do know that – in line with the study’s findings – many foreigners do settle in small communities:
READ MORE: Five small Swiss towns that attract lots of foreign nationals
