Taxes and health insurance: what your place of residence costs

What three model households pay in tax in 2026

The table shows one year’s tax for 18 places: cantonal, municipal and direct federal tax together, without church tax. The calculation covers a single person with a gross salary of CHF 100,000 and a married couple with two children, once with CHF 150,000 and once with CHF 250,000.

The range. All three households pay least in Magden and most in Birsfelden. For the single person it is CHF 12,259 against CHF 16,446, a difference of CHF 4,187 a year. For the family with CHF 150,000 it is CHF 11,881 against CHF 17,405 (a difference of CHF 5,524), and for the family with CHF 250,000 it is CHF 38,008 against CHF 50,898 (a difference of CHF 12,890).

Where Basel stands. The city of Basel comes to CHF 14,659, CHF 15,583 and CHF 44,372. For all three households that is less than in any of the 13 Basel-Landschaft municipalities. Riehen, Bettingen and Magden are lower than the city, and so is Dornach for the two families. In Basel-Landschaft, Pfeffingen is the cheapest place on the list, at CHF 14,899, CHF 15,761 and CHF 46,751.

What has been calculated. The figures come from the federal tax calculator for the 2026 tax year. The starting point is the gross salary. From this the calculator deducts the contributions to old-age and survivors’ insurance (AHV), disability insurance (IV), income compensation insurance (EO), unemployment insurance and non-occupational accident insurance, as well as an estimated pension fund contribution. From the net salary it deducts only flat-rate deductions: no payment into pillar 3a (Säule 3a), no travel costs, no childcare costs. Wealth is zero, and nobody belongs to a church. In both families only one person earns. It is a model calculation and not a tax assessment. Your own tax depends on your deductions.

If both spouses earn, the result changes. With two salaries of CHF 150,000 and CHF 100,000 instead of one of CHF 250,000, the federal calculator shows CHF 40,565 for Basel, CHF 44,571 for Binningen and CHF 34,726 for Magden.

Why you cannot compare tax multipliers directly

Each canton sets what is known as a simple tax (einfache Steuer), using its own tax scale and its own deductions. The tax multiplier (Steuerfuss) states what multiple of this the canton and the municipality levy. A tax multiplier of 100 per cent therefore means something different in each canton. Magden, with 103 per cent for the canton and 95 per cent for the municipality, has the highest figures on the list and still the lowest tax. Pfeffingen, with 100 and 45 per cent, is higher.

Basel-Stadt. In the city of Basel there is no separate municipal tax. It is included in the cantonal tax, and the tax multiplier is 100 per cent. In Riehen and Bettingen the canton levies 50 per cent of the cantonal income tax. On top of this comes the municipal tax as a percentage of the cantonal tax: in 2026, 40 per cent in Riehen and 37.5 per cent in Bettingen. Together that makes 90 and 87.5 per cent of what is due in the city.

Basel-Landschaft. The canton levies 100 per cent, the municipality a percentage of the cantonal tax. In 2026, among the 13 municipalities on this website, this ranges from 45 per cent in Pfeffingen to 62 per cent in Birsfelden.

Dornach and Magden. In Dornach, a municipal tax multiplier of 92 per cent applies in 2026, with a cantonal tax multiplier of 104 per cent. The government of the canton of Solothurn (Regierungsrat) adopted the municipality’s budget in its place and raised the tax multiplier to 92 per cent with retroactive effect. The amount for Dornach includes the Solothurn personal tax (Personalsteuer) of CHF 30 per person. In the canton of Aargau, the cantonal tax multiplier for 2026 is 103 per cent and the municipal tax multiplier of Magden 95 per cent.

Tax at source without a C permit

Anyone who lives in Switzerland and does not hold a settlement permit (Niederlassungsbewilligung, C permit) has their tax deducted directly from their salary. This is the tax at source (Quellensteuer). From a gross salary of CHF 120,000 a year, a subsequent ordinary assessment (nachträgliche ordentliche Veranlagung) is mandatory: you complete a tax return like everyone else, and the tax at source already deducted is credited. For married couples, the two salaries are not added together for this threshold.

Health insurance: obligation, deadline and premium region

Anyone who takes up residence in Switzerland must take out cover with a health insurer (Krankenkasse) within three months. Each member of the family is insured individually. If you register in time, the insurance applies retroactively from the day you took up residence, and the premiums are owed from that day. If you join late, the insurance begins only when you join.

The premium depends on the premium region (Prämienregion). What counts is the municipality of residence, not the postcode. Basel-Stadt, Solothurn and Aargau each form a single region. Basel-Landschaft has two. All 13 Basel-Landschaft municipalities on this website are in region 1 in 2027.

Average premium for 2027 per month

The change compared with 2026 is shown in brackets. All values, including the percentages for Basel-Stadt, come from the Federal Office of Public Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit, BAG).

Basel-Landschaft, region 1. For the 13 Basel-Landschaft municipalities on this website, the value for the region tells you more than the cantonal average. According to the BAG, the average adult premium in region 1 for 2027 is CHF 556.00 a month and the average child premium CHF 146.10.

What “average premium” means. The BAG divides all premiums paid by all insured persons, across all deductibles (Franchisen) and insurance models. It is an average, not an offer. What you pay yourself depends on the insurer, the insurance model and the deductible. You will find the premiums of all insurers for your municipality in the federal premium calculator.

An example: a family with two children

The calculation for the premium: twice the canton’s average adult premium plus twice its average child premium, times twelve months. For Basel that is (2 × 570.60 + 2 × 155.20) × 12 = CHF 17,419.20, rounded to CHF 17,419. Alongside it is the tax for the family with a gross salary of CHF 150,000 from the table above. For Binningen the values for Basel-Landschaft region 1 apply: (2 × 556.00 + 2 × 146.10) × 12 = CHF 16,850.

On tax, Basel is CHF 565 below Binningen; on the premium, it is CHF 569 above. Added together, the two places are practically level.

Two caveats. The tax is for 2026, the premium for 2027: these are different years, and the total is an order of magnitude and not a budget. And the average premium is an average across all insured persons, not your family’s premium.

Premium reduction (Prämienverbilligung)

Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft regulate the premium reduction, a state subsidy towards health insurance premiums, differently. The information is as at November 2026. Basel-Stadt has not yet published new eligibility limits for 2027.

Basel-Stadt. You are entitled if your household income and wealth are below the eligibility limit (Leistungsgrenze). In addition, you must have lived in the canton since 1 January of the current year or have moved here from abroad in the current year. As examples of the eligibility limit, the canton gives CHF 49,375 for single persons and CHF 97,000 for a household of four (as shown on the cantonal page in November 2026, with no year stated). An application to the Office for Social Contributions (Amt für Sozialbeiträge) is required. The entitlement begins at the earliest in the month after the application. For 2027 the cantonal government (Regierungsrat) has raised the contributions in proportion to the rise in premiums.

Basel-Landschaft. The entitlement is calculated from the final cantonal tax assessment. Anyone who is newly arrived, from another canton or from abroad, must submit an application themselves to the social insurance office SVA Basel-Landschaft, by 31 December of the year after arrival at the latest. A separate application procedure applies to persons who are taxed at source.

Further reading

• Municipalities compared: tax multiplier and purchase price side by side.
• Address Check
• Arriving
• School and childcare
• Ancillary costs: taxes and fees when buying.

What we do

Madiba has been managing properties in the region since 1964. Dieter Ruf, our managing director, knows the municipalities and will tell you in conversation what a location means for your question. We do not advise on taxes or insurance. For your own case, use the federal tax calculator, ask a tax adviser (Treuhänderin or Treuhänder) and compare the premiums on priminfo.ch.

Sources: Federal Tax Administration (ESTV), tax calculator, 2026 tax year · ESTV, tax rate and tax multiplier (Steuersatz und Steuerfuss), as at 1 January 2026 · Canton of Basel-Stadt, tax multipliers 2026 · Canton of Basel-Landschaft, tax calculator · Canton of Solothurn, Dornach budget, 30 June 2026 · Canton of Aargau, tax multipliers 2026 · ESTV, tax at source · BAG, compulsory insurance · BAG, average cantonal premiums 2026/2027, 29 September 2026 · BAG, premium regions 2027 · Canton of Basel-Stadt, premium reduction · SVA Basel-Landschaft, persons moving to the canton · As at November 2026