How Much Should You Charge as a Cleaner or Nanny in Switzerland? The 2026 Rate Guide

To set a gross hourly wage, compare the tasks and your experience, check the applicable minimum, and understand the deductions that affect take-home pay.

This guide gives you the numbers, the rules and a simple method to set a fair rate, whether you clean homes, look after children or support older people. It is written for Helpers (the people doing the work) and grounded in the 2026 Swiss minimum-wage rules.

You can create your free Helper profile, set a gross rate and prepare your services and availability.

Gross wage ranges for planning

The ranges below are planning orientation for private-household work, not a verified 2026 wage survey. Agree a gross rate for your actual tasks and check the applicable legal floor separately.

These are illustrative gross hourly wages before employee deductions, not verified current market averages. Agree the wage for your own tasks, experience and location, and check the applicable legal floor.

Start with the legal minimum (this is your floor)

The federal domestic-work minimum applies within its scope, generally from an average of five hours a week with the same employer. Geneva has its own domestic-work contract, other cantonal or local rules may be higher, and work mainly involving childcare is excluded from the federal contract. Check the applicable task, canton and contract. Within federal scope, the 2026 gross minimums are:

• Unskilled: CHF 20.35/hour
• Unskilled with at least 4 years of domestic-work experience: CHF 22.30/hour
• Trained with an EBA: CHF 22.30/hour
• Trained with an EFZ: CHF 24.55/hour

Two things to remember:

1. Paid holiday is a separate entitlement. An hourly payout is permitted only for genuinely irregular part-time work with the share identified in the written contract and payslip.
2. Some cantons set higher floors. For example, Geneva's minimum wage is CHF 24.59/hour in 2026, well above the federal baseline. Always check your canton.

The legal minimum protects you at the bottom. The market is where you decide how far above it you sit.

Choosing a cleaning wage

For planning, this guide uses an illustrative cleaning range of CHF 25 to 34 gross per hour. It is not a verified 2026 wage survey. Check current local offers with comparable tasks before agreeing a wage.

What moves you up the range:

• Experience and references. Compare offers for similar experience and tasks rather than assuming a fixed premium.
• Region. Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Zug and Lausanne sit at the high end; rural cantons sit lower.
• Extra tasks. Ironing, oven and fridge cleaning, windows, laundry and occasional cooking all justify a higher rate.
• Reliability and flexibility. Households pay a premium for someone punctual, trusted and consistent.

How much do nannies and childcare Helpers charge?

Childcare involves responsibility for children. This guide uses an illustrative CHF 25 to 35 gross range, not a verified market average. Agree pay for the actual qualifications, hours and tasks.

Rates rise with:

• Number and ages of children (infants and multiples cost more)
• Qualifications (childcare training, first aid, EFZ/EBA)
• Added responsibilities such as cooking, school runs, homework help or light housework
• Hours and regularity (a fixed weekly schedule may differ from occasional evenings)

A useful rule: price childcare at or above what you would charge for cleaning, because the responsibility is higher.

Gross vs. net: what "your rate" actually means

This is where many Helpers get confused, so let's be precise.

• Your rate is a gross hourly wage. It is the figure you and the household agree on before deductions.
• Social contributions. Age/year and reference-age exceptions can apply. For a working-age employee liable to AHV and ALV, the standard employee share is 6.4%. An eligible simplified settlement adds 5% tax; other employee deductions may also apply.
• The employer pays their share on top. The household, as your legal employer, pays the employer-side contributions and compulsory accident insurance in addition to your wage.

Take-home pay is gross wage minus all applicable employee deductions. For a working-age employee liable to AHV and ALV, the standard employee share is 6.4%: 5.3% AHV/IV/EO and 1.1% ALV. Under the eligible simplified settlement procedure, a further 5% tax is deducted from liable gross pay, including for Swiss citizens and C permit holders. Pension, insurance and cantonal employee deductions may also apply. See the take-home estimator for labelled illustrations.

Cash payment and correct declaration

Cash payment can be lawful when the employment is correctly declared and documented. The risks below concern missing declarations or records.

• No AHV contributions means gaps in your pension that you cannot easily fix later.
• Missing accident insurance can create back-payment and premium consequences for the employer. Statutory employee entitlements do not simply vanish.
• No record of employment means nothing to show for a permit renewal, a loan, or proof of income.
• Legal exposure falls on both sides if the work is discovered.

Declared work provides an income record and the applicable contributions and cover. Read cash payment and undeclared work for the duties behind either payment method.

How to set your own rate in four steps

Here is a simple way to land on a number you can defend:

1. Find your floor. Take the legal minimum for your skill level and canton (start with the figures above, then check your cantonal rules).
2. Consider your experience. Compare offers for similar skills and references before agreeing your rate.
3. Add for tasks and region. Ironing, deep cleaning, childcare extras and high-cost cities (Zurich, Geneva, Basel) push you toward the top of the range.
4. Check comparable offers. Compare tasks, experience, hours and location, then agree and state your gross rate clearly. The ranges above are planning examples.

Want to model the numbers, including the employer-side costs a household sees? Try the Helpore cost calculator.

Helpore takes no fee from your gross wage

Helpore takes no fee from the Helper’s gross wage. Compare actual employment terms and deductions rather than assuming how another household pays.

• You set your own rate and choose your own availability and working areas.
• No Helpore fee from your wage. Applicable employee social contributions, tax, pension and insurance deductions remain. Household service fees are separate.
• The admin is handled. Your employer is the household you work for, and where the household chooses Helpore Admin, Helpore fills in the employment contract template that you and the household sign and prepares the AHV/AVS registration, the accident cover in the household's name and the payroll, so every hour can be properly declared.
• Joining is free for Helpers. Creating a Helper profile costs you nothing.

You can prepare a Helper profile across Switzerland. Households can book through Flex, but joining does not guarantee work.

Start now

Signing up is free, and Helpore takes no fee from your gross wage. Applicable employee deductions remain. Households can book through Flex; keep your profile ready for their requests.

If you clean, care for children, support older people or help in the home, now is the moment to set your rate and claim your spot.

• Create your free Helper profile
• Learn more about working as a Helper
• Find cleaning and nanny jobs in Switzerland

Frequently asked questions

How much should I charge as a cleaner in Switzerland in 2026?

This guide uses CHF 25 to 34 gross per hour as a planning illustration, not a verified current market average. Agree pay for your tasks, experience and location, at or above the applicable legal floor.

What is the minimum wage for domestic work in Switzerland in 2026?

The federal domestic-work minimum applies within its scope, generally from an average of five hours a week with the same employer. Geneva has its own domestic-work contract, other cantonal or local rules may be higher, and work mainly involving childcare is excluded from the federal contract. Check the applicable task, canton and contract. Within federal scope, the 2026 gross floors are CHF 20.35 for unskilled work, CHF 22.30 for the experience/EBA category and CHF 24.55 for EFZ.

How much do nannies and babysitters charge per hour?

The CHF 25 to 35 gross range here is illustrative, not a verified market average. Agree the wage for the actual qualifications, number and ages of children, hours and tasks.

Does Helpore take a commission from my rate?

Helpore takes no fee from the Helper’s gross wage. Applicable employee deductions remain; household service fees are separate.

Do I pay AHV and taxes on what I earn?

AHV liability starts on 1 January after the seventeenth birthday. In domestic work, the low-pay exception lasts through 31 December of the year the worker turns 25: pay of CHF 750 or less per calendar year and household is exempt unless the worker requests contributions. Above CHF 750, contributions apply to the full liable wage. Older working-age domestic staff are generally liable from the first franc; reference-age rules differ. For a working-age employee liable to AHV and ALV, the standard employee share is 6.4%: 5.3% AHV/IV/EO and 1.1% ALV. Under the eligible simplified settlement procedure, a further 5% tax is deducted from liable gross pay, including for Swiss citizens and C permit holders. Pension, insurance and cantonal employee deductions may also apply.

How much can a cleaner charge per hour?

No law caps what you may ask; the law sets the floor, the minimum that applies to household work in your canton. Above it, you and the household agree a gross hourly wage that fits your tasks, experience and region. Put it in the contract, because the household, as your employer, pays that wage and takes your deductions from it.

What can a cleaner charge privately in Switzerland?

When you work for a private household you are, as a rule, its employee, so you agree a gross hourly wage rather than send an invoice. The household pays that wage for every hour worked and carries its employer contributions and accident insurance on top. The Helpore wage calculator shows the household's full cost line by line.

How much does a cleaner earn per month in Switzerland?

Your monthly earnings are your agreed gross hourly wage times the hours you actually work, so they depend on how many households book you and for how long. Your contributions and any tax are deducted from that gross amount; the take-home estimator shows what remains. Joining Helpore does not guarantee work.

How much does a nanny earn?

For childcare you earn the gross wage agreed with the household for the hours in your contract, so full time and occasional evenings differ widely. Work mainly with children falls outside the federal household minimum, but some cantons set their own floor for it. Check your canton, then deduct your contributions and any tax to see your take-home pay.

How much does a carer earn in Switzerland?

For support in a private household you earn the gross hourly wage agreed with the household, at or above the minimum that applies to the work in your canton. Help with daily life, shopping, meals and company counts as household work. Nursing, including basic care such as washing or dressing, needs a qualification and usually a cantonal permit.

Official sources

• Federal standard employment contracts (NAV) overview: seco.admin.ch
• SECO information sheet on the NAV Hauswirtschaft, point 3 on nursing and basic care (status 1 January 2026): seco.admin.ch
• Federal Council communication on the NAV Hauswirtschaft wage update (effective 1 January 2026): admin.ch media release
• AHV/AVS domestic work leaflet 2.06 (2026): ahv-iv.ch/p/2.06.e