Zurich, Geneva Workers No. 1 in Pay

Zurich and Geneva residents earn the world’s highest average pay after taxes despite stagnating wages and a six-year recession, according to a Union Bank of Switzerland study of 56 cities that was released Wednesday.

The average Zurich resident earns $16,800 a year after taxes, the average Geneva resident $15,400 a year, the study said.

Tokyo is in third place, with an average of $15,000 a year, followed by Los Angeles at $13,200 and Chicago at $12,700.

“But high pay does not automatically mean a higher prosperity,” said the study, which was conducted in the second quarter.

Luxembourg ranked No. 1 for consumer purchasing power, which measures wages compared with living expenses, followed by Zurich, Los Angeles, Houston and Geneva. No figures were given.

Real wages in Switzerland haven’t budged in the last six years, as the country slowly pulls out of a recession. The economy expanded 0.2% in the first quarter of this year, the first rise in two years, and most economists expect the economy to grow by 0.5% this year. Still, corporate bankruptcies rose 13% in July compared with June.

Zurich and Geneva ranked fifth and seventh, respectively, in terms of the most expensive cities to live in, even as vacancies among rental and private housing rose 15% in the year through May 31.

In Zurich, it cost the average person $1,645 a month for products and services such as housing, food, transportation and clothing. In Geneva, the cost was $1,586. Tokyo was No. 1, at $2,002, followed by Oslo, $1,824; Copenhagen, $1,679; and Stockholm, $1,673.