Sion, Valais for Remote Workers and Online Entrepreneurs

"What's a city in Switzerland with CH institutions, standards and stability, that is also cost and tax efficient, and has some cute European town vibes?"

1. Low/medium health insurance premiums

Less than Zurich, much less than Lugano (320 CHF in Sion vs 450 CHF in Lugano).

2. Low/medium personal income taxes (PIT)

Similar to Zurich or Lugano.

Disclaimer: I'm personally not too sensitive to PIT.

If you have an online business and an LLC (GmbH/Sarl/Sagl) and you make marketing content, you can: a) deduct some costs and b) keep your salary low just to cover for living expenses and reinvest the rest through the company.

(not tax advice)

3. Low/medium living costs (especially rent)

Rent is similarly priced to Lugano, which means that it's 30% cheaper than Zurich/Geneva etc.
Rest of the living costs is still Swiss prices, but it also depends on the item.

For the below apero (plus, another red and a glass of rose), I paid 45 CHF: fairly cheap for CH, wine glasses costed 5-8 CHF/glass (very cheap for CH, good wines).

In a normal restaurant for dinner, for 1kg of Mussels I paid 35 CHF, while other plates costed 40-50 CHF (normal Swiss prices).

4. Corporate Tax: ~14.5%

Higher than Zug (11.8%), similar to Geneva/Vaud, lower than Zurich (almost 19%), similar to Lugano area (can be 14-17% depending on exact municipality and setup, even as low as 10-12% if you do R&D/Tech and go through some paperwork).

5. Infra is good/Swiss.

Train station in the centre, fairly well connected:
• Lausanne in 1h, Geneva in 2h
• Ski slopes and top hiking spots in <30 minutes
• Good local hospital and schools (Swiss standards)
• City is clean, safe and functioning

City is 35'000 people, so expect small town vibes.

Locals work in these industries:
• Tourism/Mountain activities
• Healthcare/Education/Public Admin
• There's some engineering/bio/pharma companies and offices in the area too, as well as a few EPFL research centers
• Some spillover industry from Geneva/Lausanne

If you have a family there and raise kids in Sion:
• Sion high quality healthcare and education
• Nearby easy upgrades to Lausanne/Geneva when needed

Same dynamic holds also for festivals and cultural events.

6. Lifestyle: great.

One of the sunniest cities in Switzerland, similar to Lugano ☀️

It sits in the Rhone Valley, and is covered on both sides by mountain chains, which keeps clouds away and leave a sunny and dry weather throughout the year.

Big upside!
Considering that majority of Switzerland is fairly gloomy.

Nature: incredible mountain access. Including a local peak in the city with 2 very characteristic and charming castles.

Lac Leman at 40 minutes of direct train to Montreaux, Vaud.

One of the inputs I gave to the AI Relocation Advisors was: "I like small French town vibes with nice architecture".

And here Sion delivers excellently too.

Some say it's the oldest city in Switzerland, with population dating back to 6'000 BC.

Either way: it has a very large pedestrian centre, full of cafes, specialty shops, galleries, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and so on.

It is lively and family-friendly.

Think groups of friends with kids and family members and/or dogs sitting outside of a bar having a glass of wine or a beer, with kids playing safely in the large pedestrian areas and squares.

Relaxed and happy atmosphere, not comparable to the rushed and a bit stressed out Zurich vibes.

So, am I moving there?

The other 2 are Croatia and Lugano area.

All 3 check all the boxes.

Croatia punches above its weight for lifestyle and cost of living.

The 2 Swiss options offer Swiss institutions, stability and reliability, great nature, and likely give more opportunities to kids.

One important aspect to consider is the language.

Croatian is a bit of a niche language to learn, and opens less doors for the kids.
It's not completely useless, since makes learning other Slavic languages easier, which could be interesting in the future if the CEE region keeps growing.
Interestingly: Istria is technically bi-lingual, and there's public Italian schools that are said to be high quality.

Italian is my mother tongue so it would make Ticino life significantly easier: admin, doctors, schools, etc.
My gf could learn it and re-use it also in summer and winter when we visit family and friends in Italy.
Not just language: Italy proximity makes visiting hometown a 6h train ride and Milan network handy.

French we'd both have to learn, in case of Sion, since no one speaks English there.
Personally: I have had learning French on my to-do list for several years.
I really like some French music and literature, Franco-Belgian comics, and I don't mind French cinema.
In general, I wouldn't mind getting more direct access to French culture.
More of an effort though, for sure, also for my gf who'd eventually end up learning some Italian as well.

What do you guys think? Curious to get some inputs! Probably a lot of you know the area better 👀