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Study28 July 2026

Not income. Wealth.

The largest dwellings in the canton of Zurich are not on the Goldküste but in the Weinland. In Buch am Irchel, 29.0 percent of all dwellings have six or more rooms; in the city of Zurich it is 2.6 percent. What explains the difference is not the wage: across all 160 municipalities, dwelling size tracks wealth (r = +0.653), and once wealth is held constant, the effect of income turns negative. Anyone who wants to know where in the canton there is a lot of floor space to look after has to look at the land register, not at the payslip.

Data (CSV)
+0.653
Correlation between wealth and the share of 6+ room dwellings, 160 municipalities
−0.495
The same calculation for income, with wealth held constant
29.0% vs 2.6%
Share of large dwellings: Buch am Irchel against the city of Zurich
Factor 2.6
Range in dwelling size between the poorest and the richest fifth by wealth

Summary

There is a widespread idea of where people live large in the canton of Zurich: on the Goldküste, in the municipalities with the highest wages. The canton's figures say something else. The municipalities with the highest share of dwellings with six or more rooms are Buch am Irchel (29.0 percent), Hüttikon (28.6) and Schlatt (28.5), rural municipalities in the Weinland and the Furttal with median taxable incomes between 54,900 and 70,500 francs. At the other end stands the agglomeration: Opfikon 2.0 percent, Zurich 2.6, Dietikon 2.7.

We examined for all 160 municipalities what explains these differences. The result is unambiguous and runs counter to intuition. The share of large dwellings tracks median taxable wealth (r = +0.653, rho = +0.737, |t| = 10.8), not median taxable income (r = +0.307). And even this weak income effect is borrowed: income and wealth correlate with each other at r = +0.809. Calculate the income effect with wealth held constant, and it flips sign: r = −0.495. At equal wealth, people live in smaller dwellings where wages are higher.

The same finding appears in three mutually independent measures: in the share of 6+ room dwellings, in the share of 5+ room dwellings and in the share of single-family houses. In all three, wealth is the driver, and income turns negative as soon as one controls for it. For anyone who organises housework, this is the figure that matters more in practice: cleaning, laundry and maintenance scale with floor space, and floor space follows ownership, not the payslip.

Two scatterplots, one finding

The clearest way to show this is two identical charts in which only the horizontal axis changes. On both, the vertical axis carries the share of dwellings with six or more rooms, and each point is a municipality. In the first, the horizontal axis is median taxable wealth, in the second median taxable income. The same 160 municipalities, the same dwellings, the same tax year.

216’00016153’50029291’000r = r = +0.653Share of 6+ room dwellingsMedian taxable wealth in francs ( %)

Each dot is one of the 160 Zurich municipalities, tax year 2022. Pearson r = +0.653, Spearman rho = +0.737, |t| = 10.8. It is the strongest relationship we found anywhere in the Zurich municipal data.

Data (CSV)

The point cloud in the first chart has a clear slope. It is the strongest relationship we have found anywhere in the Zurich municipal data, stronger than anything we calculated on age, household size or social spending. In the second chart the cloud is broad and flat.

246’6001668’4502990’300r = r = +0.307Share of 6+ room dwellingsMedian taxable income in francs ( %)

The same 160 municipalities, the same year, only the x-axis changed. Pearson r = +0.307, |t| = 4.1. And even that weak relationship is borrowed: income and wealth correlate with each other at r = +0.809. Hold wealth constant and income turns negative (r = −0.495).

Data (CSV)

The reason for what is left of the weak income relationship is that income and wealth are themselves closely related (r = +0.809). People who own a lot usually earn well too. That is why the calculation that actually matters is the partial correlation: what remains of income when you compare municipalities with the same wealth? The answer: a negative relationship, r = −0.495. High wages with little wealth are the profile of the urban tenant municipality, and there the dwellings are small.

The same result without a single correlation coefficient

You do not have to believe the statistics to see the finding. Sort the 160 municipalities into fifths, once by wealth and once by income, then look at how large people live there, and the same picture emerges in plain averages.

05101419bottom fifth2nd3rd4thtop fifth
sorted by wealth ( %)sorted by income ( %)

Mean share of 6+ room dwellings per fifth of the 160 municipalities, 2022. Sorted by wealth the share climbs from 7.2 to 19.0 percent, a factor of 2.6. Sorted by income it only goes from 11.3 to 16.6 percent, a factor of 1.5. Same municipalities, same dwellings, only a different sort order.

Data (CSV)

Sorted by wealth, the share of large dwellings rises from 7.2 to 19.0 percent, a factor of 2.6, and it rises at every step. Sorted by income, the range runs only from 11.3 to 16.6 percent, a factor of 1.5, with an almost flat course across the first three fifths. They are the same municipalities and the same dwellings. Only the sorting is different.

The map: where the large dwellings are

On the map the finding has a very clear geography, and it is not the one you would expect. The dark areas lie in the Weinland, the Furttal and the Knonaueramt, that is, on the rural edges of the canton. The light ones lie in the centre and in the Limmattal, where wages are highest and dwellings smallest.

Aeugst am Albis: 20.8 % 6+ roomsAffoltern am Albis: 7.5 % 6+ roomsBonstetten: 9.9 % 6+ roomsHausen am Albis: 19.2 % 6+ roomsHedingen: 15.8 % 6+ roomsKappel am Albis: 26.1 % 6+ roomsKnonau: 12.8 % 6+ roomsMaschwanden: 23.4 % 6+ roomsMettmenstetten: 14.7 % 6+ roomsObfelden: 15.1 % 6+ roomsOttenbach: 17.4 % 6+ roomsRifferswil: 24.1 % 6+ roomsStallikon: 13.3 % 6+ roomsWettswil am Albis: 15.1 % 6+ roomsBenken (ZH): 19.0 % 6+ roomsBerg am Irchel: 25.6 % 6+ roomsBuch am Irchel: 29.0 % 6+ roomsDachsen: 18.8 % 6+ roomsDorf: 20.7 % 6+ roomsFeuerthalen: 11.5 % 6+ roomsFlaach: 17.3 % 6+ roomsFlurlingen: 20.4 % 6+ roomsHenggart: 15.9 % 6+ roomsKleinandelfingen: 18.0 % 6+ roomsLaufen-Uhwiesen: 20.7 % 6+ roomsMarthalen: 20.6 % 6+ roomsOssingen: 20.9 % 6+ roomsRheinau: 14.5 % 6+ roomsThalheim an der Thur: 20.2 % 6+ roomsTrüllikon: 27.2 % 6+ roomsTruttikon: 27.6 % 6+ roomsVolken: 21.5 % 6+ roomsBachenbülach: 8.1 % 6+ roomsBassersdorf: 7.7 % 6+ roomsBülach: 4.5 % 6+ roomsDietlikon: 6.7 % 6+ roomsEglisau: 12.9 % 6+ roomsEmbrach: 9.0 % 6+ roomsFreienstein-Teufen: 17.6 % 6+ roomsGlattfelden: 9.1 % 6+ roomsHochfelden: 10.6 % 6+ roomsHöri: 7.4 % 6+ roomsHüntwangen: 18.1 % 6+ roomsKloten: 2.9 % 6+ roomsLufingen: 19.3 % 6+ roomsNürensdorf: 10.6 % 6+ roomsOberembrach: 18.3 % 6+ roomsOpfikon: 2.0 % 6+ roomsRafz: 12.6 % 6+ roomsRorbas: 14.1 % 6+ roomsWallisellen: 5.4 % 6+ roomsWasterkingen: 16.8 % 6+ roomsWil (ZH): 21.6 % 6+ roomsWinkel: 11.9 % 6+ roomsBachs: 15.4 % 6+ roomsBoppelsen: 23.4 % 6+ roomsBuchs (ZH): 5.7 % 6+ roomsDällikon: 7.2 % 6+ roomsDänikon: 10.5 % 6+ roomsDielsdorf: 6.8 % 6+ roomsHüttikon: 28.6 % 6+ roomsNeerach: 15.7 % 6+ roomsNiederglatt: 8.9 % 6+ roomsNiederhasli: 7.4 % 6+ roomsNiederweningen: 17.1 % 6+ roomsOberglatt: 5.3 % 6+ roomsOberweningen: 10.2 % 6+ roomsOtelfingen: 17.3 % 6+ roomsRegensberg: 14.8 % 6+ roomsRegensdorf: 4.6 % 6+ roomsRümlang: 7.2 % 6+ roomsSchleinikon: 15.8 % 6+ roomsSchöfflisdorf: 15.1 % 6+ roomsStadel: 13.8 % 6+ roomsSteinmaur: 13.6 % 6+ roomsWeiach: 10.0 % 6+ roomsBäretswil: 14.7 % 6+ roomsBubikon: 15.3 % 6+ roomsDürnten: 14.7 % 6+ roomsFischenthal: 16.2 % 6+ roomsGossau (ZH): 13.6 % 6+ roomsGrüningen: 14.3 % 6+ roomsHinwil: 11.6 % 6+ roomsRüti (ZH): 8.5 % 6+ roomsSeegräben: 16.6 % 6+ roomsWald (ZH): 10.3 % 6+ roomsWetzikon (ZH): 6.2 % 6+ roomsAdliswil: 5.2 % 6+ roomsKilchberg (ZH): 11.6 % 6+ roomsLangnau am Albis: 12.2 % 6+ roomsOberrieden: 11.2 % 6+ roomsRichterswil: 10.4 % 6+ roomsRüschlikon: 15.2 % 6+ roomsThalwil: 6.7 % 6+ roomsErlenbach (ZH): 21.8 % 6+ roomsHerrliberg: 21.0 % 6+ roomsHombrechtikon: 13.5 % 6+ roomsKüsnacht (ZH): 17.2 % 6+ roomsMännedorf: 9.1 % 6+ roomsMeilen: 12.0 % 6+ roomsOetwil am See: 8.4 % 6+ roomsStäfa: 10.2 % 6+ roomsUetikon am See: 12.6 % 6+ roomsZumikon: 19.8 % 6+ roomsZollikon: 14.0 % 6+ roomsFehraltorf: 8.9 % 6+ roomsHittnau: 16.4 % 6+ roomsLindau: 14.5 % 6+ roomsPfäffikon: 8.4 % 6+ roomsRussikon: 23.8 % 6+ roomsWeisslingen: 17.7 % 6+ roomsWila: 16.6 % 6+ roomsWildberg: 18.9 % 6+ roomsDübendorf: 4.7 % 6+ roomsEgg: 14.1 % 6+ roomsFällanden: 9.3 % 6+ roomsGreifensee: 10.1 % 6+ roomsMaur: 16.9 % 6+ roomsMönchaltorf: 11.1 % 6+ roomsSchwerzenbach: 6.5 % 6+ roomsUster: 6.8 % 6+ roomsVolketswil: 7.6 % 6+ roomsWangen-Brüttisellen: 7.3 % 6+ roomsAltikon: 24.8 % 6+ roomsBrütten: 19.5 % 6+ roomsDägerlen: 22.2 % 6+ roomsDättlikon: 21.3 % 6+ roomsDinhard: 16.2 % 6+ roomsEllikon an der Thur: 19.4 % 6+ roomsElsau: 17.9 % 6+ roomsHagenbuch: 17.4 % 6+ roomsHettlingen: 22.3 % 6+ roomsNeftenbach: 16.6 % 6+ roomsPfungen: 9.8 % 6+ roomsRickenbach (ZH): 16.0 % 6+ roomsSchlatt (ZH): 28.5 % 6+ roomsSeuzach: 12.5 % 6+ roomsTurbenthal: 12.3 % 6+ roomsWinterthur: 5.9 % 6+ roomsZell (ZH): 8.5 % 6+ roomsAesch (ZH): 15.0 % 6+ roomsBirmensdorf (ZH): 8.6 % 6+ roomsDietikon: 2.7 % 6+ roomsGeroldswil: 9.7 % 6+ roomsOberengstringen: 3.4 % 6+ roomsOetwil an der Limmat: 11.1 % 6+ roomsSchlieren: 2.8 % 6+ roomsUitikon: 17.7 % 6+ roomsUnterengstringen: 9.0 % 6+ roomsUrdorf: 4.6 % 6+ roomsWeiningen (ZH): 8.8 % 6+ roomsZürich: 2.6 % 6+ roomsAndelfingen: 22.6 % 6+ roomsStammheim: 23.5 % 6+ roomsWädenswil: 9.1 % 6+ roomsElgg: 13.7 % 6+ roomsHorgen: 7.9 % 6+ roomsIllnau-Effretikon: 7.4 % 6+ roomsBauma: 14.9 % 6+ roomsWiesendangen: 20.0 % 6+ roomsZürichWinterthurBuch am Irchel
2.0%29.0%

Share of dwellings with six or more rooms in the housing stock, 2022. From 2.0 percent in Opfikon to 29.0 percent in Buch am Irchel, a factor of 14.5. The cantonal figure of 7.5 percent counts dwellings and is therefore pulled down by the city of Zurich; the median across municipalities is 14.1 percent. Map base: generalised municipal boundaries of the canton of Zurich (Office for Spatial Development, OGD).

Data (CSV)

One figure needs an explanation here. The cantonal value of 7.5 percent lies far below the municipal median of 14.1 percent. That is not a contradiction but a question of weighting: the cantonal value counts dwellings, and the city of Zurich alone provides around 29 percent of all private households in the canton, with a share of large dwellings of 2.6 percent. The municipal median treats Buch am Irchel and the city of Zurich alike. Both figures are correct, they answer different questions.

The roomiest municipalities in the canton of Zurich: share of 6+ room dwellings
#6+ rooms
1Buch a.I.income 62’700 · wealth 145’000 francs29.0 %
2Hüttikonincome 70’500 · wealth 139’000 francs28.6 %
3Schlattincome 54’900 · wealth 149’000 francs28.5 %
4Truttikonincome 53’100 · wealth 143’000 francs27.6 %
5Trüllikonincome 53’400 · wealth 149’000 francs27.2 %
6Kappel a.A.income 66’000 · wealth 143’000 francs26.1 %
7Berg a.I.income 62’500 · wealth 205’000 francs25.6 %
8Altikonincome 55’100 · wealth 94’000 francs24.8 %
9Rifferswilincome 65’200 · wealth 184’000 francs24.1 %
10Russikonincome 61’600 · wealth 123’000 francs23.8 %
11Stammheimincome 55’000 · wealth 173’000 francs23.5 %
12Maschwandenincome 53’700 · wealth 120’000 francs23.4 %
13Boppelsenincome 69’100 · wealth 155’000 francs23.4 %
14Andelfingenincome 59’500 · wealth 142’000 francs22.6 %
15Hettlingenincome 61’900 · wealth 142’000 francs22.3 %

2022. Subline: median income and median wealth of the same municipality. None of these is among the canton's highest-income municipalities. For comparison, Uitikon, the highest-income municipality, reaches 17.7 percent.

Data (CSV)

What is remarkable about this ranking is who is not on it. Uitikon, the municipality with the highest median taxable income in the canton (90,300 francs), reaches 17.7 percent and so does not make the top fifteen. Kilchberg, second on income, reaches 11.6 percent and thus lies below the municipal median. Both are lakeside municipalities with high wages, favourable tax rates and comparatively compact dwellings.

The finding holds across three measures

A single correlation coefficient can be an artefact of the indicator chosen. That is why we repeated the calculation with three different, independently collected measures of «living large»: the share of dwellings with six or more rooms, the share with five or more rooms, and the share of single-family houses in the housing stock.

The same finding in three independent measures of living large
MeasureIncomeWealthIncome, wealth held constant
Share of 6+ room dwellings+0.307+0.653−0.495
Share of 5+ room dwellings+0.221+0.568−0.493
Share of single-family houses+0.073+0.407−0.476

Pearson correlations across all 160 municipalities, 2022. The last column is the partial correlation: the relationship between income and dwelling size once wealth is held constant. In all three measures the sign turns negative. Read it this way: at equal wealth, places with higher salaries live smaller, because high salary with little wealth is typical of urban rental municipalities.

Data (CSV)

In all three measures wealth is the stronger predictor, and in all three income turns negative as soon as wealth is held constant: −0.495, −0.493 and −0.476. This agreement across three indicators is the actual reason we consider the finding robust.

Why this counts for housework

Housework does not scale with income, it scales with what has to be looked after: rooms, floors, windows, garden. A dwelling with six rooms makes more work than one with two, regardless of what the occupants earn. So if floor space tracks wealth and not the wage, then the need for household help tracks wealth and not the wage as well.

That has a consequence which rarely comes up in the debate about household help. The household with the greatest workload is often not the one with the highest current income. It is the older couple in the single-family house in the Weinland, whose wealth sits in the house and whose current income consists of the state old-age pension and the occupational pension fund. It is precisely this household that has a lot of floor space, little help in the house and an income that makes employing someone look like a big decision.

That is why the concrete calculation is worth doing. With the Clino payroll calculator, under Zurich conditions and at the usual rate of CHF 29 an hour, household help of four hours a week costs the household CHF 608 a month in total employer outlay, including old-age, disability and loss-of-earnings insurance, unemployment insurance, accident insurance, family allowances and administration. Of that the employee receives CHF 482 net.

What household help costs in the canton of Zurich, registered and at CHF 29 an hour
Hours per weekGross wageTotal employer costNet to the worker
2272314241
3408461362
4544608482
5681755603

Monthly amounts in francs, computed with the Clino payroll calculator: hourly model, four weeks of holiday, permit C, age 45, simplified procedure. It includes old-age and survivors' insurance, unemployment insurance, accident insurance, family allowances and the administration fee. Up to an annual wage of CHF 22’680 the simplified procedure is available.

Data (CSV)

Without registration

  • •No old-age insurance contributions: the household employee builds up no pension
  • •No accident cover, although the insurance would be mandatory from the first hour
  • •Claims for back contributions and fines hit the household as the employer
  • •In a dispute there is no contract that either side can rely on

Legally employed (from CHF 314 a month for 2 hours a week)

  • •Written contract, old-age, disability and loss-of-earnings insurance from the first franc, accident insurance, family allowances
  • •Simplified payroll procedure up to CHF 22,680 annual wage, one statement a year
  • •Monthly payslip and annual wage statement for the tax returns of both sides
  • •The household employee builds up a pension and insurance cover, the household has legal certainty

Why a payroll platform publishes this data

Clino registers household employment in all 26 cantons: written contract, old-age insurance registration from the first franc with the cantonal social insurance fund, accident insurance, occupational pension where due, monthly payslips and an annual wage statement, for CHF 19.90 a month. This analysis describes our market, and in doing so it corrects our own first assumption: we ourselves had taken it that demand for household help follows income. The canton's data say that it follows floor space, and that floor space follows wealth.

Register a household employee · Salary calculator

The largest dwellings in the canton of Zurich are not where the most is earned, but where the most is owned. Income buys the help, wealth creates the work.

Surprising findings

The Goldküste lives more compactly than the Weinland

Kilchberg has the second highest median taxable income in the canton (87,600 francs) and a share of large dwellings of 11.6 percent, so below the municipal median of 14.1. Truttikon has a median taxable income of 53,100 francs, 39 percent less, and a share of 27.6 percent. The lakeside municipalities are expensive per square metre, not large per dwelling. Anyone who automatically equates «rich municipality» with «big house» is confusing land prices with floor space.

The sign flips, and that is the real finding

A weak positive relationship that disappears once you control for something would be unspectacular. Here something else happens: with wealth held constant, the income effect becomes clearly negative (−0.495) and stays that way in all three measures. Income and wealth therefore pull dwelling size in opposite directions. That is a stronger result than «no relationship» and cannot be explained away as noise.

The city of Zurich ranks 159th of 160

At 2.6 percent the city of Zurich sits in second-to-last place among all municipalities, only Opfikon has less with 2.0 percent. In absolute numbers the city nonetheless provides a considerable part of all large dwellings in the canton, simply because it has so many dwellings. For the organisation of household help that means two things: the volume is in the city, the floor space per job is in the Weinland.

Sources

  • Statistical Office canton of Zurich — municipal portraits, indicators 246 «median taxable income» and 292 «median taxable wealth» (2022) — Taxable income and taxable wealth per tax unit, median, all 160 municipalities
  • Statistical Office canton of Zurich — municipal portraits, indicators 241, 312 and 358 (dwelling sizes and single-family houses) (2022) — Share of 6+ rooms from 2.0% (Opfikon) to 29.0% (Buch am Irchel)
  • Office for Spatial Development canton of Zurich — generalised municipal boundaries (OGD) (2026) — Base map for the municipal map
  • Federal standard employment contract for domestic work (2026) — Minimum wage CHF 20.35/hour for unskilled employees from 1 January 2026
  • Clino — payroll calculator (2026) — Employer cost of a registered household employee in the canton of Zurich

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Clino is a Swiss SaaS platform enabling households to legally employ domestic workers — payroll, contracts, social security, and accident insurance included. CHF 19.90/month. All 26 cantons. Founded 2025 in Zurich. clino.ch

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