Hi - first-time poster,

I am about to negotiate a salary, but a challenge I have is that I am not sure what a good salary in Zurich is. I feel really silly being in this situation, but, despite researching this, I am not sure what a good salary is. I appreciate that it is subjective, so, I will try and explain what I mean.

I am single, but I wish to meet someone. I am a lawyer. I am 42 years old. I wish to live in, at worst, a decent apartment in a decent area. Ideally, I would like to have two bedrooms.

Regarding lifestyle, I want to be able to go to the cinema (which I know in relation to the UK is expensive), go to gigs, take part in a few sports, and eat out in mid-range restaurants maybe 3 times a month.

I also want to be able to get away from Zurich for a weekend once a month. Short flight/train journey away. I am more than happy to stay in mid-range hotels and do normal tourist activities.

I shop in the upper end of the high street, but rarely go crazy. I am not a label-orientated person.

I may want to own a car, e.g. a VW Golf.


I also wish to save money.

My current salary in the UK is £55,000, and with that I am able to do all of what I describe above.

I don't want to accept a figure thinking it is great, and then discover I am struggling.

I think I might be offered 140,000 CHF - will that be enough? Let me know your thoughts, they will be very much appreciated.

Kind regards.

My thoughts? You are either a troll or clueless. Or both.

that's gonna ruin everything

130-140k would be a good ballpark. good luck.

When you want to save money , cancel the car .
If you need one, hire it.
When you live in a decent area, the cost for the parking alone will be around 2400 sfr (underground car park).
Then there is the insurance, MFK, fuel, garage, tires.

Traffic in zurich is mayhem (especially the rushhour), even a small trip (like 8 km) can take up to 45 mins , if there is a problem.

it is your decision.....

Cinema is not expensive, gigs can be , eating out will be.
Competition for cheap plane tickets/rail tickets for weekends is pretty hard.

Lived in Switzerland for 10 years without a car, agreed. Use public transport or hire a car if you want to drive somewhere on the weekends.

OP, you will be more than fine on that salary.

For 140K you won't. Not in Zürich at least.

This is one of the bumper threads on this forum, about earnings and lifestyle. it goes on for pages and pages, not all of which are friendly, but if you take the trouble to wade through it, you'll learn a great deal, from many perspectives, about how far such a salary would go.
https://www.englishforum.ch/finance-...l-we-have.html

Yes it's enough.

It's enough if you manage to find a partner to live with/share the bills with. It's not enough if you can't find that special someone and end up developing an addiction to the rather expensive "ladies of the night" here in Zurich :-)

On a serious note, 140k is 11,660 pre-tax and roughly 8k after tax and deductions which is a great salary for a single guy. You can easily afford a great place in Zurich and have ample money to spend on eating out and weekend activities.

Guys, thank you so much for your responses. They are much appreciated.

Apart from the guy who thinks I am a troll. Bless.

I am a bit clueless. I am coming from the UK and it is hard to know what my 'purchasing power' could be. I appreciate there is a lot of info on the net, but it it is hard to make sense of, and I thought I would ask some fellow United Kingdomers. Once again, thanks.

Welcome to the Forum.

If you want info on cost of living, there's loads of info here, more than 100 threads about it. Inflation is low, so even though some threads seem old, the numbers are not far off.

http://www.englishforum.ch/search2.php?q=cost+of+living

I'm not from the UK but I believe the saying that would go with that link is "fill your boots."

140000chf is a very high salary in Zurich. You won't have any issues with yours "dreams".

No, not really.

More than enough for a good life for a single person, yeah no doubt. Very high for Zürich.. lol, definitely not.

Defintely yes, I guess some expats have a bit a wrong view of things. 140'000chf is a high salary.

Don't assume most people on here are from the UK, or even native English speakers.

You see - there is the thing. One person thinks 140K CHF is high, and another thinks not. Hence the reason I put up details of my lifestyle.

From people I know in CH - the salary range I was told was good is 100K - 150K CHF, but I am a lawyer of more than 10 + years' PQE and I was told I should be asking for 150K - 175K CHF!

Anyway, thank you all so much for your time and advice. It is much appreciated.

Of course, more is welcome. Have a good week.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah, I think the car idea is going to be parked.


(Pun intended)

How come? Elaboration is welcome.