What moving to another municipality really changes

One model couple, identical in every municipality

Comparing municipalities means comparing the same thing. Civiora therefore applies the same fictional household everywhere: a married couple with a single income of 120’000 francs, no children, no wealth and no religious affiliation. This couple pays three bills that the municipality of residence makes vary: income tax, the health insurance premiums of two adults, and electricity.

The three amounts come from three separate official sources. The tax burden is calculated by the tax simulator of the Federal Tax Administration for 2025. The premiums are the official averages published by the Federal Office of Public Health for 2026. Electricity follows the 2026 ElCom tariff for the H4 profile, a household consuming 4’500 kilowatt hours a year.

The extremes come mainly from tax

In Baar, tax accounts for 4’548 francs, the two premiums for 7’476 francs and electricity for 985 francs. In Les Verrières, tax rises to 18’612 francs, four times as much, while premiums reach 12’696 francs and electricity 1’300 francs.

The three items are of very different magnitudes. Tax and premiums are counted in thousands of francs and vary sharply from one end of the country to the other. Electricity stays below 2’000 francs everywhere: it weighs little in a move, even though its tariff can double from one municipality to the next.

Five municipalities at the top, five at the bottom

The top of the table is held by municipalities in Zug, the bottom by municipalities in Neuchâtel. Median spending across the documented municipalities stands at 26’786 francs a year, roughly halfway between the two extremes.

The municipality next door can be 10’710 francs cheaper

Moving does not always mean crossing Switzerland. Comparing the 3’355 pairs of municipalities that share a border and each have at least 1’000 residents, the widest gap separates Risch (ZG) and Meierskappel (LU): 13’093 francs against 23’803 francs, or 10’710 francs a year for two areas that adjoin each other.

• Risch (ZG) against Meierskappel (LU): 10’710 francs a year
• Hünenberg (ZG) against Oberrüti (AG): 10’708 francs a year
• Hünenberg (ZG) against Mühlau (AG): 10’645 francs a year
• Risch (ZG) against Dietwil (AG): 10’124 francs a year
• Hünenberg (ZG) against Dietwil (AG): 10’064 francs a year

Almost all these pairs straddle two different cantons. The cantonal border, invisible on the ground, accounts for most of the difference here, because it changes both the tax scale and the premium region.

What this calculation does not say

Three items do not make a budget. Rent, often a household’s largest expense, is absent from this calculation: Civiora holds no rental data by municipality. Transport costs, municipal charges and property prices are missing too.

The result also depends on the household chosen. A single person, a family with children and a retired person face neither the same scale nor the same premium. The Civiora comparison tool places five municipalities side by side across the five tax scenarios of the Federal Tax Administration.

The figures come from different reference years, as do the sources themselves: 2025 tax burden, 2026 premiums, 2026 electricity tariffs. The annual total is a Civiora calculation based on these three official sources, not an amount published by any authority. Municipalities that merged or changed canton on 1 January 2026 are excluded, since their new tax multipliers have not yet been published. Only municipalities of at least 1’000 residents are used for the neighbouring pairs.