Largest Cities in Switzerland 2026: Population Ranking

Switzerland's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Zürich in orange

Switzerland has 6 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Zürich with 415,367 people, followed by Geneva (201,741) and Basel (177,595). The three largest cities together hold about 8.8% of the country's 9 million people.

The capital, Bern, is the 5th largest city with 121,631 people — Zürich is 3.4× larger.

By region, the most large cities are in Zurich (6), Vaud (3), Lucerne (3).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the Switzerland population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the Switzerland atlas.

Switzerland cities by population

30 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of Switzerland
1	Zürich	Zurich	415,367	4.6%
2	Geneva	Geneva	201,741	2.2%
3	Basel	Basel-City	177,595	2%
4	Lausanne	Vaud	139,111	1.5%
5	BernCapital	Bern	121,631	1.3%
6	Winterthur	Zurich	111,840	1.2%
7	Luzern	Lucerne	81,691	0.9%
8	Sankt Gallen	Saint Gallen	75,833	0.8%
9	Lugano	Ticino	63,185	0.7%
10	Bellinzona	Ticino	43,220	0.5%
11	Fribourg	Fribourg	38,365	0.4%
12	La Chaux-de-Fonds	Neuchâtel	37,942	0.4%
13	Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen	36,587	0.4%
14	Chur	Grisons	35,373	0.4%
15	Rapperswil	Saint Gallen	34,776	0.4%
16	Uster	Zurich	34,715	0.4%
17	Sitten	Valais	34,708	0.4%
18	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel	33,475	0.4%
19	Emmen	Lucerne	30,926	0.3%
20	Zug	Zug	30,542	0.3%
21	Yverdon-les-Bains	Vaud	30,157	0.3%
22	Montreux	Vaud	25,984	0.3%
23	Frauenfeld	Thurgau	25,607	0.3%
24	Kriens	Lucerne	25,010	0.3%
25	Wetzikon	Zurich	24,764	0.3%
26	Wil	Saint Gallen	23,955	0.3%
27	Horgen	Zurich	22,662	0.3%
28	Kreuzlingen	Thurgau	21,997	0.2%
29	Opfikon	Zurich	21,554	0.2%
30	Aarau	Aargau	21,503	0.2%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Switzerland?

Zürich, with about 415,367 inhabitants (city proper). It is larger than the capital, Bern (121,631).

What is the capital of Switzerland?

Bern — population 121,631, the 5th largest city in the country.

How many cities in Switzerland have over one million people?

None — the largest, Zürich, has 415,367 people.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

Explore more

📊 Switzerland population & statistics 🗺️ Switzerland atlas 🌍 Largest cities in the world

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Figures on this page may be quoted, charted or republished as long as the page is credited with a link. Terms · Download the data as CSV · Embed a live counter.

City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.