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Move & retire

Switzerland

The best-run country here, and the hardest to be let into.

4/4
ingredients confirmed
Every ingredient this page asks for has a figure and a source.
Living
~$4,800/mo
Couple, all in. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level behind it prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.
Safety
Very high
Third in the world, behind Iceland and Ireland
Residency
Discretionary, quota-bound, and expensive
Healthcare
Compulsory, comprehensive, and priced accordingly
Out-of-pocket spending is 22.0% of current health expenditure here (World Bank, 2023, CC BY 4.0). Read it with care: the measure counts only what insured people pay — not premiums, and not the uninsured — which is why the United States comes out at 10.9%, ahead of most countries on this site.

More is being checked.

Where these figures came from

One row per ingredient. Open any of them for the source, how far we trust it, and when we last checked.

Living~$4,800/mo

Pathoff judgement directed by evidence, not computed from it: the country’s position comes from the World Bank household consumption price level for 2024 (1.258 of the United States, CC BY 4.0 — the ICP benchmark carried forward annually by the World Bank’s own method); the US reference budget is ours. See the Pathoff method, section 12.

Couple, all in. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level behind it prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.

Confidence
made by us from the source
SafetyVery high

Global Peace Index 2026: rank 3 of 163, score 1.363. Converted by the Pathoff GPI formula (GPI in lib/scoring.ts)

Third in the world, behind Iceland and Ireland

Confidence
made by us from the source
ResidencyDiscretionary, quota-bound, and expensive

Pathoff outcome rubric (the Pathoff method, section 10-4), residency band "Hard, and partly out of your hands": For a non-EU applicant without an employer the route is a residence permit for people not in gainful employment, granted at cantonal discretion, generally to applicants over 55 with close ties to Switzerland, and in practice coupled with lump-sum taxation whose federal minimum taxable base is CHF 435,000. High in the band because the route genuinely exists and is published; in this band rather than above because whether it is granted is the canton’s decision and quotas apply.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
No change known to us
Last checked
2026-09
HealthcareCompulsory, comprehensive, and priced accordingly

Pathoff healthcare rubric (the Pathoff method, section 13-2), band "Covered, and it covers everything": Every resident must buy basic insurance within three months of arriving, insurers cannot refuse anyone for the basic plan, premiums are published by canton and the cover is comprehensive with almost no waiting. At the foot of the band because the price is genuinely high — premiums plus a deductible of up to CHF 2,500 — and subsidy depends on income.

Out-of-pocket spending is 22.0% of current health expenditure here (World Bank, 2023, CC BY 4.0). Read it with care: the measure counts only what insured people pay — not premiums, and not the uninsured — which is why the United States comes out at 10.9%, ahead of most countries on this site.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
No change known to us
Last checked
2026-09

What it is like here

Everything about living in Switzerland works: health care is comprehensive and prompt, it is the third safest country in the world, and the trains do what the timetable says. Getting a permit is the problem. For a non-EU citizen without a job offer the realistic route is a cantonal residence permit for people not working, which in practice means lump-sum taxation, a discretionary decision and a quota.

How the process works

1

Establish which permit is even possible

For a non-EU applicant without an employer, the answer is usually the non-gainful permit or nothing.

⏱ 3–12 months
2

Negotiate the tax arrangement with the canton

Lump-sum taxation is agreed canton by canton and several have abolished it entirely.

⏱ 2–6 months
3

Buy basic insurance within three months

It is compulsory, no insurer may refuse the basic plan, and the premium depends on where you live.

⏱ 2–4 weeks

Where people settle

Geneva / Vaud
Francophone, international, and the lake
Ticino
Italian-speaking, milder, and cheaper than Zurich
Zug / Schwyz
The low-tax cantons, and the reason people choose them

Open any ingredient above to see where its figure came from, how far we trust it and when we last checked. Nothing here is a substitute for the official source. Last reviewed 2026-09-04.

Photograph of Switzerland by Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons.