Helpore's analysis of the latest BFS housing table reveals a nationwide age shift: in all 26 cantons, occupied single-family homes with at least one resident aged 65 or over increased during 2025, while those with no resident in that age group decreased. It is the first 26 out of 26 result in the annual comparisons available from 2014 to 2025. Across Switzerland, the two movements were +6,573 and -5,085 homes.
The BFS published the underlying housing table. Helpore combined its household-age categories and compared the annual canton results, revealing the 26 out of 26 pattern.
By the end of 2025, 337,198 occupied single-family homes, or 38.6% of all occupied single-family homes nationally, included at least one resident aged 65 or over.
Almost two in five single-family homes now include someone aged 65-plus
The 2025 result is the latest point in a longer change. From 2013 to 2025, the number of occupied single-family homes with at least one resident aged 65 or over increased by 24.0%. The number with no resident in that age group declined by 5.8%.
In 2013, someone aged 65 or over lived in 32.4% of occupied single-family homes. In 2025, the share was 38.6%, almost two in five.
The most recent year makes that long-term movement unusually visible. Homes with a 65-plus resident increased from 330,625 to 337,198, while the comparison group fell from 540,387 to 535,302. The total occupied single-family-home stock grew by only 1,488.
The rise in older-only homes equalled 53% of the net increase in occupied dwellings
A broader ageing signal appears when all occupied dwelling types are counted.
Homes in which every household member was aged 65 or over increased by 22,407 in 2025, reaching 959,382. Total occupied dwellings increased by 42,291. The rise in older-only homes was therefore equal to 53.0% of the net increase, the second consecutive year in which the proportion exceeded half.
At the end of 2025, older-only households occupied 23.2% of all occupied dwellings in Switzerland, almost one home in four.
One national shift, three canton stories
The nationwide direction is uniform, but the local picture depends on what is measured.
26/26
Find your canton
The same split appeared everywhere, but its size varied sharply.
Scroll sideways to compare all five measures.
| Canton | 65-plus share in single-family homes, 2025 | Change with 65-plus | Change without 65-plus | Total change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aargau | 38.1% | +807 | -799 | +8 |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden | 38.1% | +90 | -35 | +55 |
| Appenzell Innerrhoden | 34.5% | +11 | -28 | -17 |
| Basel-Landschaft | 41.9% | +292 | -165 | +127 |
| Basel-Stadt | 41.6% | +34 | -23 | +11 |
| Bern | 39.8% | +718 | -554 | +164 |
| Fribourg | 33.4% | +390 | -102 | +288 |
| Geneva | 42.2% | +127 | -123 | +4 |
| Glarus | 41.1% | +47 | -33 | +14 |
| Graubünden | 40.9% | +148 | -191 | -43 |
| Jura | 40.7% | +109 | -76 | +33 |
| Lucerne | 35.3% | +260 | -263 | -3 |
| Neuchâtel | 38.6% | +84 | -64 | +20 |
| Nidwalden | 43.4% | +31 | -31 | 0 |
| Obwalden | 37.6% | +34 | -41 | -7 |
| Schaffhausen | 39.6% | +100 | -51 | +49 |
| Schwyz | 37.3% | +85 | -142 | -57 |
| Solothurn | 40.4% | +303 | -182 | +121 |
| St. Gallen | 36.8% | +452 | -335 | +117 |
| Thurgau | 37.1% | +356 | -273 | +83 |
| Ticino | 43.7% | +329 | -349 | -20 |
| Uri | 37.0% | +21 | -33 | -12 |
| Valais | 35.0% | +487 | -63 | +424 |
| Vaud | 38.2% | +618 | -365 | +253 |
| Zug | 39.2% | +38 | -43 | -5 |
| Zurich | 38.7% | +602 | -721 | -119 |
Changes show occupied single-family homes from 2024 to 2025. The share is the proportion with at least one resident aged 65 or over.
Where older-only households are most common
At the end of 2025, Jura had Switzerland's highest share of occupied dwellings where everyone was aged 65 or over, at 27.84%. Basel-Landschaft followed narrowly at 27.79%. Both round to 27.8%.
Where the long-term change is fastest
Older-only occupied dwellings increased by 55.3% in Obwalden, 51.9% in Nidwalden and 50.0% in Schwyz between 2013 and 2025. The fastest change is not confined to the cantons with the highest shares today.
Why the Ticino split matters
Ticino had Switzerland's highest share of occupied single-family homes with at least one resident aged 65 or over, at 43.66%, just ahead of Nidwalden at 43.42%.
It also shows why the two-category view matters. Ticino's total number of occupied single-family homes decreased by only 20 during 2025, but within that total, homes with someone aged 65 or over increased by 329 and homes without one decreased by 349. The small change in the headline total concealed two much larger movements in opposite directions.
What this adds to the ageing-at-home debate
Previous Swiss research has shown that older people move rarely and often want to remain in familiar surroundings. A 2025 study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, commissioned by the Federal Office for Housing, found that only 5.1% of people aged 76 or over changed residence in 2022 and recommended better support in their current homes.
The new BFS housing data add another part of the picture: the change is now visible in the occupied single-family-home stock of every canton, and almost 960,000 Swiss homes are occupied entirely by people aged 65 or over.
Age alone does not imply a need for help. But when people remain at home as they grow older, cleaning, shopping and household maintenance remain practical realities. Helpore's role begins when a household decides it wants reliable support.
What Helpore calculated and how to read it
The unit is an occupied dwelling, meaning a dwelling to which at least one person registered in a private household could be unambiguously assigned in the BFS data at year end. The figures count homes, not people.
A single-family home follows the BFS building category: a residential building containing one dwelling. It does not identify who owns the home or whether it was bought, sold or newly built.
The analysis uses three clear age groupings:
- With 65+: at least one household member is aged 65 or over
- Without 65+: no household member is aged 65 or over
- Older-only: every household member is aged 65 or over
The BFS publishes seven mutually exclusive household-age combinations. Helpore combined those categories into homes with at least one 65-plus resident and homes with none, then compared the annual totals for Switzerland and every canton from 2013 to 2025.
A dwelling can move between groups because somebody turns 65 or because the household composition changes. Annual differences compare year-end snapshots; they do not follow the same people or homes through the year. The 26 out of 26 finding requires both movements to appear in every canton in the same annual comparison. That happened in 2025 and in no earlier comparison from 2014 to 2024.
Download the study and data
Frequently asked questions
What happened in all 26 cantons?
Between 2024 and 2025, every canton recorded an increase in occupied single-family homes with at least one resident aged 65 or over and a decrease in those with no resident aged 65 or over. This is the first such 26 out of 26 divergence in the annual comparisons from 2014 to 2025.
Does this mean older people bought 6,573 single-family homes?
No. The figures describe the age composition of residents in the occupied housing stock. A home can change category when a resident turns 65 or when the household composition changes, without being bought, sold or newly built.
What is an older-only household in this study?
It is a private household in an occupied dwelling where every household member is aged 65 or over. It can contain one person or several people.
What does the 53% figure mean?
The number of occupied dwellings with only residents aged 65 or over increased by 22,407 in 2025. Total occupied dwellings increased by 42,291, so the older-only category represented 53.0% of that net increase. It does not mean 53% of newly built homes went to older people.
Official source
Federal Statistical Office, Occupied dwellings by age classes of household members and building category, by canton, 2013 to 2025.
Context: Federal Office for Housing, Housing situation of older people in Switzerland, published in 2025.
Author
Gilberto de la Fuente
Director at Helpore