Strong income disparities between cantons
It is in Zug that the incomes of wealthy households are the highest: to enter the 0.1% club, you need a net income of 3.5 million per year, compared to 1.1 million in national scale, according to the Institute for Economic Policy (IWP) at the University of Lucerne.
In Geneva, despite an income tax rate capped at 44.74% – the highest in the country – the canton remains a popular place for wealthy people. The threshold for entry into the “top 1%” in Geneva is more than 530,000 francs and that of the “top 0.1%” is almost 2 million francs. “Taxation is not the only determining factor. The amounts received by Geneva’s ‘top earners’ are significantly higher than the average, because the canton is home to many highly paid jobs,” notes Melanie Häner-Müller, responsible for social policy issues at the IWP.
Conversely, it is in the Jura that these thresholds are the lowest: a household with an income of 219,500 francs already belongs to the wealthiest. To enter the wealthiest 0.1% of his canton, he will have to receive 563,000 francs, almost half the national average.
