Salaries
June 6, 2023
5
min read

Average Salary in Switzerland

Eli McGarvie

What is the average salary in Switzerland?

Avg. salary per year

79,980 CHF
2023

Avg. salary per month

6,665 CHF
2023

According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, the average gross salary in Switzerland is CHF 79,980 per year which is CHF 6,665 per month. Breaking it down by gender, we can see that men in Switzerland earn approximately CHF 6,963 gross monthly salary (median) and women earn CHF 6,211. 

Full-time employees in Switzerland earn higher than the national gross average with an annual salary of around CHF 83,700. Full-time male employees earn CHF 87,500 while full-time female employees are estimated to earn CHF 75,000.

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Analysing Average Salaries in Switzerland

The average salary in Switzerland is much higher than the average salary in other European countries like the UK and Austria. Within Switzerland, average wages vary as well, for example the northwestern region where Basel is located, the average monthly wage is the highest in the country (CHF 7,048). Looking to the south we find the Ticino region where average wages are the lowest reported at CHF 5,216. Swiss map.

Region Gross Monthly Wage (CHF)
Northwestern Switzerland 7,048
Zurich 6,885
Eastern Switzerland 6,255
Central Switzerland 6,443
Espace Mittelland 6,301
Lake Geneva Region 6,591
Ticino 5,216

Gross income by occupation group

Thanks to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office we’ve also got access to salary data based on occupation. With this, you can drill down further to compare your salary with those people in the same occupation to see how you measure up. You can also compare average salary based on gender. Annual salary (CHF) by occupation:

Occupation Total Men Women
Self-employed 60,000 72,000 40,000
Executives, senior managers 84,400 96,100 56,000
Academic/scientific professions 71,600 88,900 55,100
Intermediate professions 60,000 73,300 38,700
Administrative staff 55,900 68,300 39,900
Service and sales staff 36,000 58,000 30,200
Farmers 60,000 60,000 32,000
Craftsmen and skilled workers 67,600 71,500 22,000
Drivers and fitters 55,100 55,900 (53,300)
Unskilled workers 43,200 58,200 21,800
No answer 46,600 53,700 (32,000)
Family workers 48,000 62,000 35,200
Employees 70,000 82,500 55,800
Executives, senior managers 117,000 130,000 94,500
Academic/scientific professions 85,100 102,700 71,100
Intermediate professions 77,100 89,700 62,400
Administrative staff 64,400 78,000 55,900
Service and sales staff 45,000 60,500 37,100
Farmers 60,800 63,900 (47,700)
Craftsmen and skilled workers 71,500 73,000 54,600
Drivers and fitters 67,900 70,000 50,700
Unskilled workers 39,500 59,100 25,000
No answer 49,400 62,100 36,000
Apprentice 12,500 12,800 12,200
First year 9,700 9,600 9,800
Second year 12,200 12,400 12,000
Third and fourth year 16,300 16,300 16,300

Key industries and job roles

Now, let’s look at some specific roles based on industry, and analyse their average salaries (Glassdoor data). Below, we've outlined notable sectors along with their corresponding average salary ranges (CHF):

Information Technology (IT):

Finance:

  • Financial Analyst: 93,500
  • Accountant: 72,000
  • Investment Banker: 98,000

Healthcare:

  • General Practitioner: 75,000
  • Registered Nurse: 61,500
  • Surgeon: 203,000

Engineering:

  • Mechanical Engineer: 88,000
  • Civil Engineer: 79,000
  • Electrical Engineer: 91,500

Marketing:

  • Marketing Manager: 90,500
  • Social Media Manager: 75,000
  • Graphic Designer: 79,000

Factors influencing salary levels

Aside from occupation and industry, the next biggest factors that can push your potential earnings higher are experience, education, location, company, and market trends. Let’s go through each of these factors and discuss why and how they influence salary. 

1. Experience:

  • Pay generally increases parallel to the years of experience that you have in your industry or career. Experience also factors into title changes (i.e. from individual contributor to manager) and promotions within a company — organisational movements tend to mean a salary increase. As you gain more years of experience, you will be offered more money, you’ll have more job opportunities, and your earning potential will increase. This is assuming experience = skill (which is not always true) and that you are in a role that requires skill. 

2. Education and qualifications:

  • A good education will help you get your foot in the door, and can go towards securing a higher paying entry-level/grad position. Top companies (like Google and Meta) have requirements for entry-level positions which can include a masters degree in a specific field. If you have that degree, well, you have a competitive advantage, and if you land the job you’ll likely earn $20K - $40K more than your peers. Secondly, education factors into getting a work visa in many European countries (including Switzerland).

3. Location:

  • In most cases, you’ll have a higher earning potential in the city compared to a town or regional location (this is across most professions). Based on the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, we can see that average wages also vary between cantons — this doesn’t necessarily mean that if you were to move canton you’d earn more, but it does indicate that higher earners are living in that region. You generally find top earners in locations where there are higher paying jobs and better job opportunities (corporates and multinational companies). The map below shows the average monthly wages by Swiss region. 


4. Company size and industry demand:

  • Larger companies have bigger budgets and can afford to pay higher salaries to attract top talent. Shifting from a smaller company to a multinational or tech company will increase your salary. Startups generally pay employees the least amount but there can be high earning potential if you’ve got stocks or equity and you stick with that company until it gets acquired. Scaleups and unicorns have a lot of funding from investors and so can pay a bit higher — growth and management positions can earn significantly more. And then there’s the big tech companies like Spotify and Stripe that’ll only hire top talent but compensate them very well. 

5. Market trends and economic conditions:

  • The health of the economy and what’s trending directly influence where investors put their money. As a downstream effect, this affects how companies behave and where resources are allocated. If investors are putting all of their cash into machine learning startups and AI, then we’ll see companies shifting in that direction. Salaries will be higher in hot markets and for specialists who have those desired skills. The same thing if investors stop investing or pull back significantly, we see hiring freezes and layoffs. In a market like that, HR and recruiting is redundant, and that’s why a lot of these roles are on the chopping block. 

Average salary in other European Countries

Average Annual Salaries in Europe
Country Average Annual Salary (Euros)
Switzerland Flag Switzerland €84,159
Norway Flag Norway €56,810
Denmark Flag Denmark €49,850
Germany Flag Germany €49,260
Finland Flag Finland €47,688
Sweden Flag Sweden €43,690
Netherlands Flag Netherlands €42,236
France Flag France €39,800
Italy Flag Italy €35,561
Austria Flag Austria €31,407
United Kingdom Flag United Kingdom €30,031
Spain Flag Spain €29,113
Slovenia Flag Slovenia €27,350
Estonia Flag Estonia €22,850
Portugal Flag Portugal €22,000
Poland Flag Poland €20,390
Czechia Flag Czechia €19,200
Hungary Flag Hungary €18,807
Croatia Flag Croatia €16,440
Greece Flag Greece €15,335

Summary

While the average gross salary in Switzerland is CHF 79,980 per year, your salary might vary based on the factors discussed above. Use the market data from above to pinpoint an accurate salary range based on your experience, occupation, and industry. As a starting point, you can use the salary calculator created by the Swiss government. On the off chance that you are earning lower than the national average, it might be time to find a new job. For tech jobs check out the WeAreDevelopers job board and see what new opportunities await!

Average Salary in Switzerland

June 6, 2023
5
min read

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