r/interesting • u/SuspiciousLow3062 • May 13 '26

NATURE Would you trade city life for this?

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/Lescansy May 13 '26

The biggest problem is often work related. There are not a lot of high-paying jobs in that area. People living there either come with money in the first place (already earned it while working somewhere way outside this area) or get it handed down by parents (money, or the house).

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u/Heavy-Guest-7336 May 13 '26

That describes a lot of Asian/South East Asian countries. Tourists can live like kings but the locals struggle to get well-paid jobs and would rather go abroad to work for some years before coming back.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

Other way around, locals live pretty well in Switzerland, tourists can't afford shit.

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u/Heavy-Guest-7336 May 13 '26

Oh. Other guy said the opposite.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

Essentially, the Swiss Franc is very expensive, so someone coming from the US will suddenly see their money wiped out by 20% on arrival.

Salaries are some of the highest in the world, even when accounting for cost of living.

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u/mdmdmdmdmdmdmdmdmdm May 14 '26

I dunno if you teally understand how it works.

Someone moving to from the US will already have enough money on arrival. They would have planned for it.

Youre not really going to see people moving there only to struggle. If theyve decided theyre going to move there, they probably have a decent amount of money to move with.

I feel like you replied to someone without reading any of the prior comments.

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u/MustBeNiceToBeHappy May 15 '26

I think the other guy referred to the pictured area specifically, not Switzerland per se. Most people commute to the cities for work. Salaries are high.

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u/Lescansy May 13 '26

Well, everything is expensive for foreginers in switzerland, due to currency exchange rates.

However, in especially those picture-esque areas, job opportunities are often between "shit and worse". The good, well-paying jobs in switzerland are either found in the cities, or in special industry areas / places.

Those mountain-esque pictures you see are far away from those places.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

far away

Dude, I live in Zürich. Every year I hike 1000+ km across the Alps. This is my backyard.

These picturesque places start at an hour from Zurich by train. The funicular up to Stoos is less than an hour from Zurich.

I've gone on moonlight hikes after work to some of these places.

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u/Aethermancer May 13 '26

It's your backyard in a figurative sense. I'm certain your quality of life is higher than most as well, but the situation they are describing is one where this is your LITERAL backyard.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

I've walked out of my apartment here in Zurich one day and hiked across all of Switzerland to Italy, because I was hungry for some proper pasta 😄

My reply wasn't about me owning that or now, it was literally a reply to "far away".

They aren't.

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u/Dramatic_Entry_3830 May 13 '26

Minimum wage jobs in Switzerland:

Geneva CHF 24.48–25 about $27–28 USD/hour Basel-Stadt CHF 22 about $24–25 USD/hour Neuchâtel CHF 21.3 about $23–24 USD/hour Jura CHF 21.4 about $23–24 USD/hour Ticino CHF 19–20.5 about $21–23 USD/hour

Kindergarten teacher average: CHF 80,000–86,000 annual

Switzerland has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe.

In 2025, the unemployment rate was approximately:

2.8%–3.1% according to Switzerland’s official SECO registered unemployment data.

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u/Lescansy May 13 '26

You look at those numbers and you think its amazing. You know shit.

I've worked in Thun, thats the nearest city, reachable in 30 min by train / car from there. I've worked as a junior engineer. Salary? Below 85,000 CHF. Fucking engineer.

The same position in Zurich would get you around 105,000. If not initially, then guranteed after a few years. I've worked there (in Thun) for five years and didnt reach 90'000, despite Inflation being higher. So, i really got less money with more experience, in real terms.

Top jobs for experienced engineers in Zurich or around Bodensee are between 120'000 and 140'000. Thats what i mean by "if you want to earn money, you move". Those areas (Thun and nearby mountains) are around the lowest paid in switzerland, with you giving up 30% - 45% in effective salary, by just moving around to a different place.

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u/Dramatic_Entry_3830 May 13 '26

But you have to admit the gap between engineers and minimum wages is smaller than anywhere in the world that I know of. And I don't think that is a bad thing (mechanical engineer here)

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u/Lescansy May 13 '26

Well, it is smaller, but i'm not so sure how real those minimum wage numbers are.

I've been searching for quite some time now for different jobs, and let me tell you: I found positions that paid less than 20 CHF/h for a restaurant / bar job in Bern. So.... its a spectrum. And to be completely transparent: You cant live a good life with only that money. You wont starve to death, but thats about it.

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u/Dramatic_Entry_3830 May 13 '26

Isn't minimum wage enforced? Like if start a job getting 20 CHF/h and you complain somewhere the employer is forced to pay the gap to minium in hindsight?

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u/Nearby_Friend_2323 May 13 '26

Digital nomads can live anywhere

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u/5432salon May 13 '26

or consultants working remotely

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

Swiss here.

Taxes are lower than most developed countries, including the US.

Cost of living is high, but proportional to salaries, it is lower than almost any other country in the world.

Edit: I fooled you, it actually sucks, don't come here, go somewhere else, after all, r/switzerlandisfake, so don't believe any of this!

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u/Sandwich_Destroyer44 May 13 '26

Shhh redditors who think they know everything about everything are commenting why this hypothetical beautiful property wouldn’t actually be sustainable

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u/Aethermancer May 13 '26

If there weren't more drawbacks than "simply choose to live here" then it would t look like this for much longer. Obviously immigration is hard, but there are always some big tradeoffs that account for why a place doesn't look "average".

I live in a very scenic area. The property next to me is literally the focus of world famous paintings. It's great... But. Very few affordable homes enter the market. Most are purchased by wealthy neighbors. The infrastructure is limited (partially to preserve the area's style, part because why fix a bridge that only services three cars a day. Taxes are reasonable, but home repairs are insane due to the wealth in the area and permitting requirements.

The roads near me all point in the "wrong" direction for the nearest city because they followed old trade routes to mills that haven't operated for 150 years. Picturesque but it really makes a commute bad. One section in my township literally has no roads to it that are in-state. I can't imagine how annoying that is for maintenance.

I can't get natural gas at my house because the pipeline can't cross the scenic landscape. I'm ok with that, because I'm here for the scenic landscape but it does add cost.

Lots and lots of little things that aren't as obvious of problems, but it does help explain why some of the green areas remain green.

(Oh and a blight/pest is killing all my trees so I have to pay $100/tree/yr if I want to keep my property looking the same. Unfortunately I think I'm just going to let them die and convert to a native plant meadow. The trees were native too, but blights don't care)

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u/AlltheBent May 13 '26

Yeah shit, as far as the blight goes, really sorry to hear that. Its so frustrating watching trees or shrubs or whatever plant succumb to something you can't control!

Native plant meadow sounds awesome, what would you plant?

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u/Aethermancer May 14 '26

I actually don't know. The stste has a program where they are sending "meadow starter" kits and I signed up. I was just going to start with that, and I also have a few lbs of native wildflower seeds and a couple of bags of milkweed pods I was just going to let my kids play with for a few days :p

The area I live is less Switzerland and more Hobbiton. (I even live on a river called the Brandywine so it fits ;) So if I can end up with an English garden front yard I'll be happy.

(The trees in my yard were mostly elm and ash, so it's going to be a big change in looks. I even bought a house that was older so I didn't contribute to the sprawl, so it just saddens me to see them dying out. They are pretty much going to go extinct across the state in a generation or two.)

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u/AlltheBent May 14 '26

welp, if you're ever in the market for a tree in the future, it probably can't hurt to plant an oak or a maple tree native to your area!

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

True, true, I added a disclaimer!

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/Sandwich_Destroyer44 May 13 '26

Don’t worry in this hypothetical Reddit scenario post there are tons of places hiring with high salaries and every Friday is free hot chocolate day.

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u/adestructionofcats May 13 '26

I do love hot chocolate....

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/vanekcsi May 14 '26

Wtf are you talking about. The taxes are very low. And btw cost of living is the best in the world in relation to median salaries, the country is literally the top when comes to how livable it is.

These are just facts, the taxes anyone can google, idk why you would lie about it.

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u/[deleted] May 14 '26

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u/vanekcsi May 14 '26

I know my taxes pretty fucking well, as I need to file them yearly. I make around an average salary here, bit above.

I'm talking about median salaries. The tax you're paying on a median salary is one of the lowest in Europe, only lower are microstates like San Marino, Andorra, Malta.

Median salary btw here is around 100k CHF in Canton Zurich, you pay aronud 20% of that in taxes, + a bit for the media tax separately, VAT is max 8.1%, in many cases lower, which is also extremely low.

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u/OldBanjoFrog May 13 '26

Can I please live there?   

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u/Gold-Kaleidoscope537 May 13 '26

Do you have room on your couch?

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u/93Seven May 13 '26

Not to sorry, nobody in the states can afford to move there :(

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u/shinoda88 May 13 '26

I don't know where you live. Maybe in some areas here. But there are other areas where you dont even pay 1 salary in taxes. And the taxes are mostly going back into infrastructure. So thats okey.

Sales Tax is <10%. Median Salary (in ZH) is around 8.4k (before taxes). People who live in these mountain regions are usually taxed higher, but live cheaper (rent much lower, salary lower). So it equals itself out.

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u/quanate May 13 '26

And make sure you have excellent health and no mental health issues.

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u/Ok-Comment3702 May 13 '26

That doesnt even make sense

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u/quanate May 13 '26

They do not allow people with health issues to immigrate.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

Swiss here. 

That's pure bullshit.

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u/quanate May 13 '26

It's not just a swiss thing, it's lots of countries. Some are more strict than others, perhaps switzerland is less so, but it is still something that is scrutinized when attempting to immigrate.

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u/LeroyoJenkins May 13 '26

It absolutely isn't a thing here. Stop spreading bullshit.

Not just that, but the health insurance companies can't reject you for the basic, mandatory coverage, and they can't ask anything about your health and previous issues for those plans.

Really, how do you go around bullshitting with such idiotic confidence?

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u/quanate May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

Your cuss laden angry response is really working well here 👍 have a good one.

And yes, if you're curious, I have blocked you. Later.

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u/blueaurelia May 13 '26

Cries in Swedish😭 (we have even higher taxes than Schweiz apparently) but we still can’t tax the rich properly😡 46 richest people in Sweden owns together more than almost the total of the whole country, 8 million people. I am so ashamed of Sweden and its politics…

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u/phatelectribe May 13 '26

Also socially and as a society, it’s very much a class system and somewhat closed minded / conservative (not in the American meaning did the word).

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u/EggyChickenEgg88 May 13 '26

Wages are also a lot higher than in other European countries. I heard the minimum is like 3500€, not sure how true that is.

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u/MisterDonkey May 13 '26

My cost of living gets higher every time I blink and I get to look at crumbling roads and my taxes don't cover healthcare but rather fund destruction worldwide.

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u/Limberpuppy May 13 '26

Swedish jails are nicer than how some people actually live. It would be a nice little vacation.

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u/sobrique May 13 '26

Thought it was bonkers I had better 5G signal up a mountain than I did in the middle of a city back home.

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u/thecodeape May 13 '26

How many blankets are you allowed to own before you are taxed?

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u/knight04 May 14 '26

What do normal people do there for a living?

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u/JinxFae May 14 '26

Cost of living is not unreasonably high when you have a Swiss salary. My partner and I moved from Spain to Switzerland and the amount of money we are able to save per month is… quite high. I wouldn’t say life here is expensive at all. I live in Bern city btw.

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u/FewCompetition1347 May 14 '26

Visited Zurich and the hotel and restaurant prices were eye watering. I was there for 5 days and on the first day I was sweating on how I could afford it.

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u/FabiGdasKrokodil May 14 '26

What are you talking, we have some of the lowest taxes in all of the oecd countries

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u/Stefejan May 14 '26

Don't know man, with a median salary you live pretty decently 

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u/fretzy64 May 15 '26

Taxes in Switzerland are famously low compared to other European countries.

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u/Numar19 May 16 '26

Taxes in Switzerland are generally pretty low. Health insurance on the other hand is crazy high...

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u/AntSuccessful9147 May 13 '26

Downsides? Sounds like you're describing America.

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/AntSuccessful9147 May 13 '26

We'll see about that once they "Make America Great Again"

I know it's more financially expensive but the American mental tax of exhaustion must be more than living here.