Zürich, Switzerland
What Zurich is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 23,908 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.
23,908 businesses on file · 60 trades · 55 sectors · registry population 436,551 · built from geonet.zurich on 2026-10-27
Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Zurich → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.
The local economy
What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.
Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.
Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.
What this city is specialised in
Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 26 metro tables worldwide. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.
Thin against the national pattern
Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.
The base against the entry screen
Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.
How to read the survival figure
Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.
Weighted over 100% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And what it does not measure
A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.
Who lives here, and who the city is for
The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.
No census subdivision is mapped for ch-zurich in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.
The communities the register shows
A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.
| Community | Institutions | Worship | Trade | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss | 1 | — | 113 | trade on Bahnhofstrasse 84 (2) · Talacker 41 (2) · Herzogstrasse 14 (2) · Köschenrütistrasse 109 (2)
Swiss Postal Technology Export Association |
| Thai | 1 | — | 18 |
Thai Cooking School of Switzerland |
| Chinese | 1 | — | 6 |
Chinese Association for Technology and Economy Esc |
| South Asian | — | — | 14 | |
| German | — | — | 14 | trade on Gutenbergstrasse 10 (2)
|
| Italian | — | — | 12 | |
| Spanish-speaking | — | — | 6 | |
| Jewish | — | — | 6 | |
| French | — | — | 3 | trade on Merkurstrasse 34 (2)
|
| Indigenous | — | — | 3 | |
| Korean | — | — | 2 | |
| Brazilian | — | — | 2 | |
| Czech | — | — | 2 | |
| Islamic | — | — | 2 | |
| Filipino | — | — | 1 | |
| Malaysian | — | — | 1 | |
| Greek | — | — | 1 | |
| Portuguese | — | — | 1 | |
| Polish | — | — | 1 | |
| Hungarian | — | — | 1 | |
| Bulgarian | — | — | 1 | |
| Austrian | — | — | 1 | |
| Turkish | — | — | 1 | |
| Afghan | — | — | 1 | |
| Arabic-speaking | — | — | 1 | |
| Caribbean | — | — | 1 | |
| Irish | — | — | 1 |
Where the communities are
Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.
Swiss
What the city is made of
Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 23,908 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.
| Sector | Businesses | Share | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 871 | 3.6% | restaurant (848) · pizza (11) · steakhouse (6) · pubs (4) · burgers (1) · diner (1) |
| Business | 817 | 3.4% | consulting (797) · association (9) · bank (6) · foundation (3) · accounting (1) · auction (1) |
| Automotive | 296 | 1.2% | autos (296) |
| Travel | 285 | 1.2% | hotel (173) · travel agent (94) · airline (17) · parking (1) |
| Finance | 232 | 1% | bank (232) |
| Tech | 199 | 0.8% | computers (174) · telecom (23) · wireless (2) |
| cafes | 179 | 0.7% | |
| massage | 177 | 0.7% | |
| movies | 98 | 0.4% | |
| Entertainment | 61 | 0.3% | museum (31) · nightclub (17) · zoo (12) · aquarium (1) |
| spas | 51 | 0.2% | |
| travelagents | 42 | 0.2% | |
| Food | 37 | 0.2% | catering (34) · baker (2) · seafood (1) |
| booksmusic | 35 | 0.1% | |
| Retail | 29 | 0.1% | photography (9) · flowers (8) · antiques (7) · pet supply (4) · toys (1) |
| Media | 20 | 0.1% | advertising (15) · signs (5) |
| emergency | 20 | 0.1% | |
| Sports | 18 | 0.1% | martial arts (9) · boating marine (6) · golf course (3) |
| fitness | 16 | 0.1% | |
| taxis | 16 | 0.1% |
The franchises already here
Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.
39 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.
| Brand | Category | Here | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| AG Jeans | retail | 4 | — |
| The Body Shop | retail | 3 | — |
| Carlson Wagonlit Travel | travel | 2 | 4,300 |
| Alamo Rent A Car | car | 1 | 1,000 |
| Christian Dior | fashion | 1 | — |
| Crystal Glass | auto | 1 | — |
| Estée Lauder | inc | 1 | — |
| Laura Ashley | retail | 1 | — |
| Leading Hotels of the World | accommodation | 1 | 400 |
| Lions Club | club | 1 | — |
| Little Gym | school | 1 | — |
| Pizza Hut | pizza | 1 | 10,000 |
| Rotary Club | club | 1 | — |
| Salvatore Ferragamo | retail | 1 | — |
| HESS name only | fuel | 21 | 1,250 |
| Denner name only | supermarket | 17 | 580 |
| Hofer name only | supermarket | 17 | — |
| Aldo name only | retail | 10 | — |
| Migrol name only | fuel | 10 | 360 |
| Limited name only | retail | 7 | — |
| Tiffany name only | retail | 4 | 150 |
| Cartier name only | retail | 3 | — |
| Diana name only | supermarket | 3 | 3 |
| Irma name only | supermarket | 3 | 71 |
| Jacob name only | retail | 3 | 200 |
| Midas name only | auto | 3 | 1,800 |
| Benetton name only | retail | 2 | — |
| Intersport name only | retail | 2 | 60 |
| TUMI name only | retail | 2 | — |
| AEON name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Beltone name only | specialty | 1 | 1,500 |
| Burberry name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Centra name only | convenience | 1 | 350 |
| Champion name only | supermarket | 1 | 1,000 |
| Clarion name only | businesshotel | 1 | — |
| Coach name only | luggage | 1 | — |
| COSI name only | food | 1 | — |
| Dillons name only | supermarket | 1 | 18 |
| Esprit name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Europcar name only | car | 1 | 2,825 |
| Honda name only | car | 1 | — |
| Hyatt name only | upscalehotel | 1 | — |
| MANGO name only | retail | 1 | 850 |
| Manor name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Marriott name only | upscalehotel | 1 | 2,800 |
| Mitsubishi name only | auto | 1 | — |
| Netto name only | supermarket | 1 | 371 |
| Nissan name only | auto | 1 | — |
| Raffles name only | luxuryhotel | 1 | 8 |
| Sofitel name only | luxuryhotel | 1 | — |
| Swissotel name only | upscalehotel | 1 | 28 |
| Volkswagen name only | — | 1 | — |
| Wolford name only | retail | 1 | — |
Real estate as a local trade
Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.
Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.
Selling homes
5312Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.
Named in the register
- Maag Prime Real Estates AG — Dörflistrasse 120
- MCR Managing Corporate Real Estate — Löwenstrasse 3
- REG Real Estate Group — Brandschenkestrasse 150
- SRE Swiss Real Estate and Facility Management Grou — Manessestrasse 170
- Stuker Realty AG — Bahnhofstrasse 16
Who actually owns it
The full property record →From the /property research for this city, which asks a different question: not who trades in property here, but who owns it. An owner is named there only where a document says so. Owner public by law, free online per parcel via Swiss SMS, 5 a day; no bulk.
Landowners
- City of Zürich — Liegenschaften Stadt Zürich (LSZ) and four municipal housing foundations (incl. Stiftung PWG, SAW, SFW, SEW) — ~15,600 non-profit flats (communal bodies); CHF 358M of purchases in 2023
- Housing cooperatives (Wohnbaugenossenschaften) — e.g. Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ), Bau- und Wohngenossenschaft KraftWerk1, Genossenschaft WOGENO Zürich, Baugenossenschaft mehr als wohnen — ~41,000 flats at cost rent, ~5,500 of them on City ground-lease land
- Swiss Confederation — ETH Domain (ETH Board as federal property body) — portfolio balance-sheet value ~CHF 4.3bn (all Switzerland)
- SBB AG (Swiss Federal Railways) — SBB Real Estate — Europaallee: ~195,000 m2 across six uses (office, residential, education, services, retail, gastronomy)
- Canton of Zürich — 33% plus one share of Flughafen Zürich AG
- Ownership structure of all flats (Statistik Stadt Zürich) — private companies 33%, natural persons 32%, cooperatives ~18%, condominium 10%, public sector 7%
Homebuilders
- City of Zürich and its housing foundations (Liegenschaften Stadt Zürich, Stiftung PWG, SAW, SFW, SEW) — 450 new + ~650 bought, 2020–2023
- Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ) — 204 (Koch-Areal B, 2023) + 174 (Hardturm, 2028) + share of 220
- Bau- und Wohngenossenschaft KraftWerk1 — 124 (Koch-Areal C, 2023)
- Genossenschaft WOGENO Zürich (with Stiftung Familienwohnungen) — 160 (Thurgauerstrasse West D, 2029)
- Baugenossenschaft Sonnengarten / Gemeinnützige Bau- und Mietergenossenschaft Zürich / SAW — 420 (Areal Grünwald, 2028)
Commercial landlords
- PSP Swiss Property AG — 74 Zürich-address property pages; portfolio CHF 10.2bn (all Switzerland)
- Swiss Prime Site AG — 127 properties, CHF 14,005.3M fair value, 1,565,528 m2 lettable (all Switzerland, 30 Jun 2026)
10 marquee buildings examined, 8 with an owner established.
On "how many doors"
How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the Zürich property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.
Work on the go, mobile services
The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you. Each service opens a page on Ultimate 411 to request a quote or book a time.
A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 186 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 0 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.
The 186 Service=1 rows in search.local: work on the go, mobile services, where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.
home services
services
events
pets
luxury
healthcare
sporting goods
sports
business
outdoors
travel
construction
Schools and colleges
wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.
| Institution | Type | Students | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETH Zürich | University | — | 1855 |
| University of Zurich | University | — | — |
In the business register
Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.
Health and care
What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.
geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.
Funded & hiring here
Companies in this city that have raised money, and the careers pages of employers here, from the /employers research and the company database. For someone looking for work here, this is the shortlist.
Funded here — 1 company has raised money
A fresh round usually means hiring. Largest raise first; the amount links to its source where one is on file, and the currency is as the source wrote it.
Careers pages — 17 more employers here
Each link goes to the company's own careers page or official job board, not a third-party listing site. Largest local staff first.
| Company | Staff here | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| UBSFinance | 63,500 | Careers → |
| AmcorPlastic product manufacturing | 47,000 | Careers → |
| Chubb | — | Careers → |
| Credit SuisseFinance | — | Careers → |
| Credit Suisse Funds | — | Careers → |
| ExpedSports | — | Careers → |
| FlavorWikiMedia | — | Careers → |
| Habib BankFinance | — | Careers → |
| Isovalent softwareSoftware | — | Careers → |
| RingierMedia | — | Careers → |
| SIX Swiss ExchangeFinance | — | Careers → |
| SonovaEntertainment | — | Careers → |
| Sunrise softwareTech | — | Careers → |
| USTERManufacturing | — | Careers → |
| Webnode softwareSoftware | — | Careers → |
| Zürcher KantonalbankFinance | — | Careers → |
| Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB)Finance | — | Careers → |
Also based here — 1 researched company
Companies and software vendors from the market research whose home in the company database is this city, with the market they were researched in. No careers page is on file for these yet.
| Company | Researched in | Staff here |
|---|---|---|
| ABBNavigational, measuring, medical and control instruments manufacturing | Navigational, Measuring & Control Instruments Transformer & Switchgear Plant | — |
What this record cannot tell you
Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.
- No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
- wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
- No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
- 0.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.
Built from
geonet.zurich— the local business registerwander.regions— city name, population, metrosearch.local— trait vocabulary and the come-to-you servicessearch.cozfranchises— 2,024 franchise brands