The Swiss salary averages 6,665 CHF, in Ticino 5,546 CHF

Ticino remains the region with the lowest wages in Switzerland, both in top professions and among less qualified jobs: in 2020 the average salary was 5,546 CHF per month, taking into account both the public and private sectors.

All the other major areas of Switzerland were well beyond 6,000 CHF, with a minimum of 6,274 CHF in the Eastern part of Switzerland (which includes Graubünden) and maximum of 7,113 CHF in Zurich, the data published today by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) shows. The salary taken into account is gross, with allowances (e.g. for shift work or Sundays) and including one-twelfth of the thirteenth.

An average of 6,665 CHF is the Swiss minimum wage ( the average refers to the fact that half of the salaries in question are above the figure indicated, the other half below: it is therefore not an average, on which the individual amounts which are very high or very low have a greater impact). For senior or middle managers the francs at the end of the month were instead 10,531 in Switzerland and 8,537 in Ticino.

The discrepancy between the salary level North and South of the Alps is further highlighted by taking into consideration the private sector only. In that case, Ticino's salary falls to 5,203 francs, whereas the second lowest, in Eastern Switzerland, is over 1,000 francs higher at 6,239. The Swiss median is 6,361 CHF.

When viewing the data in perspective, one can see that the gap is widening. The benchmark in Ticino in 2008 was in fact 4,929 francs, compared with 5,786 in the Confederation: the difference was therefore 857 francs. Twelve years later, the difference is 1,158 francs. The fact that both the "poor relatives" (or less wealthy) of Eastern Switzerland (they were 485 francs higher in 2008, a figure that has risen to 865 in 2020) and the first in class in Zurich (from 1,307 to 1,704 francs higher) have become even more remote may also appear significant.

It is needless to say that the various economic sectors have very different payrolls: it is sufficient to note that the average figure is 3,947 francs in Ticino in the accommodation and catering services, while it is highest in the financial and insurance activities (8,370 Francs).

Looking back at the general Swiss data, 10% of employees earned less than 4,382 francs per month, while the best-paid 10% earned a salary of more than 11,996 francs. From 2008 to 2020, the rate of salary increase of the top and bottom of the pyramid was virtually the same, FSO economists note: the salaries of the best-paid 10% grew by 11.8%, a figure that stands at 11.6% for the lowest-paid. The increase for employees belonging to the "middle class" was the least marked, at 9.3%.

Salary levels are clearly higher than the middle-class salary in high value-adding branches such as IT (CHF 9,206), pharmaceuticals (CHF 10,040) or banking (CHF 10,211). In the middle of the wage pyramid are sectors such as land transport (6,310), healthcare (6,821), mechanical engineering (7,141) and wholesale trade (7,145). At the bottom are retail trade (4,997), food service (4,479), accommodation services (4,488) and personal services (4,211).

In 2020, more than one in three employees (36%, up from 33% in 2018) were paid bonuses, i.e., irregular annual payments in addition to their base salary. In 2020, the monetary value of bonuses paid annually averaged 10,142. The amount of these bonuses varies considerably from one economic branch to another and depending on the employee's level of responsibility within his or her company.

The share of low-wage jobs, which is defined as those paying less than 4,443 francs per month, has remained almost unchanged at 10.5% between 2018 and 2020. In 2020, almost half a million people (491,900 compared to 480,300 in 2018) held a low-wage position: 64% were women.

In the economy as a whole, the aggregate wage gap (median value) between women and men is gradually narrowing: it stood at 10.8% in 2020 compared to 11.5% in 2018 and 12.0% in 2016. This difference in remuneration between the two sexes can partly be explained both on the basis of the different structural profiles (in particular, depending on the level of responsibility for the position occupied) and by comparing the types of economic activity exercised. However, the higher up the hierarchy, the more pronounced the gender wage gap becomes.

When considering the economy as a whole, it can be seen that the level of remuneration of employees of Swiss nationality continues to be higher on average than that of their colleagues of foreign nationality: salaries are 6,988 and 6,029 francs respectively. For positions requiring high responsibilities, however, the wages paid to foreign labor are generally higher.