City · Bern
Bern
Bern, or Berne, is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city". With a population of about 146,000, Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland, behind Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000.
Housing market in Bern
The following figures are for the whole municipality Bern belongs to. The vacancy rate is 0.42%, 59% below the cantonal average (1.03 %) — a tight rental market. The municipal tax multiplier (Steuerfuss) is 154% (2026), 6% below the average of the canton's municipalities (164.2 %) — low for the canton. A single person without children on a gross wage of CHF 100'000 pays CHF 14'665 a year in canton, municipality and personal tax in the municipality of Bern (tax year 2026, without church, federal and wealth tax). On the mean of the municipalities weighted by residents it is CHF 14'998 in the canton and CHF 12'251 in Switzerland. Median taxable income of all taxpayers is CHF 49'100 (tax period 2022). The municipality has 138'562 residents (2025).
Sources: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
