60k Luxembourg vs 90k CHF Geneva

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hello All,

Just signed up, because I'm doing some research.

Currently earning 60k, EURO got 5 years of experience.

Got a job offer 90k CHF.

I am interested to know if my buying power will increase.

Not important: if I got a fair offer for my qualifications/ skills, more interested in terms of financial gains.

In other words; will I have a better life with 90k CHF in Geneva or 60k Euro in Lux.

Addtional info;

Lifestyle: 1 bedroom apartment within 10-20min by car from the city center, phone, gym, leasecar A Class/ Audi A1 , once a week dinner, one a week drinks.

Vacation: 2x Eurotrip with budget airline. 1x intercontinental holiday 2-3 weeks.

2
Spoke to someone I know who is French and used to work in Luxembourg but now lives/works in Zürich. She’s not convinced you’ll save anything or have more financial freedom living/working in GVA. If you’re cross border then yes but that will also impact your lifestyle/living situation. No data on this but you might want to compare flight costs out of GVA compared to LUX - I have a feeling they’re more expensive here. Hope that helps!

3
There are many recent cost of living threads on this forum that you can search for. Please do your research and then come back with relevant questions based on the information you gather.

4
We moved from Luxembourg to Switzerland.

Your purchase power will remain around the same here, besides rent. Rent in Geneva is incredibly expensive and it is difficult to find a home/very competitive, especially close to the city center.

Groceries, especially meat, are more expensive in Switzerland.

5
90k is not great in Geneva, have no idea what 60k gets you in Luxembourg. You need at least 2k for rent a small one bed in Geneva, if you can find one. If you can afford a decent plac in Lux on 60k, then I would stay put.

6
Cross border doesn’t make sense.

Luxembourg is also not cheap.

Flights out with Lux air are expensive.

Only Ryan Air is cheap but are limited options.

Most of he times you need to take a connecting flight.

Rent is crazy expensive in Lux aswell.

I earn about 3500€ after tax.

1 bedroom apartment with bills is around 1400€. Which is more than 1/3 of Thebes salary.

IS GVA THAT MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN LUX?

I’m single with no kids.

90k bad for a single male in his early 30’s?

7
I don't know Geneva well, but if you're fairly frugal it might work.

A quick search on homegate.ch shows 30 properties that are within 5kms of city center going for 1500 CHF or less. Some are just rooms in a shared flat, others are studios or small flats. I have no idea if any of the neighborhoods are good or not.

You mention driving. A car parking space is often 120 CHF or more per month on top of rent, if there are spaces available in the building or on the street. For work, you'll not only need to find parking downtown (good luck) but pay for it. That can be pricey too.

It might be worth considering places that will allow you to take public transport too.

8
According to this

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...atchComparison

No, it will be worse off moving to Geneva

9
I have the same profile, would be happy to share experiences if she is interested!

Imo the CHF 90k Swiss salary is coherent with the EUR 60k Lux one, maybe a bit low.

You buying power will not increase in your daily life, will probably even be the contrary. The only buying power increase will be when travelling outside Switzerland.

Personnaly I would rather consider my career overall. Taking for example the financial services industry, Luxembourg is on the rise whereas Geneva is on the decline, kind of... this could have a bigger impact on your buying power further down the line.

I lived/worked in Luxembourg and now in Zurich.

10
HOW worse?

You need 4,5k € in GVA to have the same lifestyle As 3,5k€

90k CHF = 7500 CHF gross = 5700 CHF net =5000€.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...ayCurrency=EUR

11
numbeo is mostly bs anyway, those numbers are based on data reported by 160 people who live in geneva.

12
Yes, never use numbeo

13
It’s just hard to believe that 90k CHF is a bad salary?!

If 6500 CHF is the Average salary, how can 90k/ 7500 CHF be a bad salary?

Also this average is spiked by high salaries from finance/ bankers.

14
It’s not really a bad salary at all especially for a young, single person.

It’s not a fabulous salary either but you’d be fine in Geneva in that money.

15

If you get a good bargain with your rent, the rest falls into place. You learn quickly to find the cheaper but good quality restaurants, you buy your wine direct from the producer (fair enough, I only have 100 yards to go!) and you nip over the border to France if you are desperate for some red meat.

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Are you saying that lots of people are earning over 120k in GVA??

17
Yes

18
Who Managers? Director?

Fresh grads? Waiters?

How much does a waiter earns?

Or a fresh grad? Customer service executive?

19
For this lifestyle, in Geneva, 90k (gross) sounds feasible, but probably without much savings.

P.S. To me.

According to https://www.lohncomputer.ch , your netto takeaway would be ca. 5400CHF/month.

Do you have some bonus/13th salary too?

PS. For the lease, try to get not a brand new car, but a 1-3 year old one.

The former doesn't make financial sense; another story if you crave the latest tech et al.

(PPS. A class and A1 are in a different class/size - A3 is more comparable)

And yes, you can lease used cars here.

20
Jesus... Ok, I will keep this simple: I used to work in Switzerland for over a decade. I work in Luxembourg now and grew up in the area... so I have a pretty good idea.

60k in Lux gets you a better life than 90k in Geneva.

You dont seem to believe the feedback you got and you dont want to believe it... so go ahead and make your own experience. You wont have any serious hardship but trust me, 60k in Lux is better. And I will break it down:

1. You are right that the rents in Lux are totally inflated. (Thats why I live across the border like over 50% of the people working in Lux...) Geneva will still be a real estate market you havent seen before. In Lux are the prices too high but if you are willing to pay them do you get a place. In Swiss cities are the prices even more inflated but you will still struggle to find a landlord willing to rent to you for those prices... because they can typically choose from a lot of applicants and dont necessarily want the fresh arriving immigrant.

2. I honestly dont care if you believe Swiss salaries or not. A cashier at Aldi makes 57-60k CHF a year. If you have a college education are you very quickly in the six digits. It took me about three years to get there after graduation. But I am in IT, in commercial roles thats even faster. You did not say what you are working in, only that you have five years of experience... so I cant tell you if 90k is a good offer or not. Its certainly at the low end for a professional profile with 5 years experience. Normal in the country side, but not in Geneva or Zurich.

3. The thing about Switzerland is that the price levels are insane compared to Luxembourg. The stuff simply adds up:

- health insurance. I wont go into details here, but it is a cost factor in Switzerland. Its not an automatic deduction included in your taxes as in Lux. Loads of info on it available here.

- Food. The supermarkets have price levels you havent seen before. And thats nothing compared to the restaurants. My lunches in Switzerland were about twice of what I pay in Lux... A pizza is easily 20 CHF or more. Even eating at Mc Donalds is 50% more: 13 CHF for a Big Mac Menu instead of 8.95 EUR.

- Going out. Even just parking your car in the city center is 5 CHF an hour. I think even Clausen is 2 EUR(?). If you like me enjoy a beer or two in a bar... well, lets just say that the salary difference you are getting will be used up rather quickly.

- a cheap gym membership in Zurich would be around 69CHF if you make a 12 month subscription. Thats the sort of gym that costs you 19.99 EUR in lux...

Simply put:

- 90k CHF for Geneva isnt a stellar offer. You can life off it, but it wont get you a better life style than 60k EUR in Lux... but a slightly worse one.

- you dont seem to like to hear this or decided to simply not believe the feedback you got here... so go on and make your own experience. Please report back with all your complaints on "Why is XYZ so expensive in Switzerland?"... or just look up all the other threads where people already do so.

P.S: Are you really complaining about flight prices from Lux? Do yourself a favor and check just how much more it is from Geneva... I just returned from the US via Portugal with TAP on a brand new 330Neo and just love how well Lux airport is connected in Europe... the only expensive flights here are the ones to Zurich. Swiss is milking this route so badly that there are private jets offering competitive prices!