Living in Lausanne as an expat

Everyone who moves to Lausanne registers with the residents' office (Service du contrôle des habitants) within 14 days of arriving(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). If you come from abroad or from another canton, you book an appointment and bring the documents to the counter in person; the office deals only with complete files(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Moves from another Vaud commune can be reported online, through the canton's eDéménagement service where the previous commune uses it, by contact form or by post(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Documents for an arrival from abroad

• The arrival form for EU/EFTA citizens, or the arrival report for nationals of other countries, filled in and signed
• Original passport or identity card, with a visa where one is required
• One passport photo
• The lease in your name, or a sublease or accommodation certificate with the main tenant's ID and lease
• Documents on the reason for the stay, such as an employment contract, university enrolment or family reunification papers
• Civil status documents, such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate or divorce judgment

The city's fee schedule sets CHF 30 for registering an arrival and CHF 20 to CHF 30 for a residence certificate (déclaration de résidence), depending on whether it is ordered online, at the counter or by post(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Fees for residence permits are set separately by the canton(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). At the counter you can pay in cash, by card or with Twint(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The same office also renews B, C and L permits(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

The guides to registering at a Swiss commune and to the B, L and C permits explain the national rules; the first 90 days checklist covers the steps that follow.

Seven in ten households in Canton Vaud rent their home(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Flats are advertised online; applicants hand a file to the letting agency (gérance) or owner, sign a lease (bail à loyer) and pay a rent deposit, often three months' rent, into a bank account(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The city's own letting service (Gérance Ville) rents out municipal flats and lets a commission choose the tenants(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The rental deposit guide explains the deposit rules, and the directory lists apartment search services in Lausanne.

Supply is tight. Statistique Vaud's provisional count found 523 empty homes in Lausanne on 1 June 2026(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026), about 0.64% of the city's 82,321 dwellings (our calculation)(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026). The cantonal rate was 0.87%; a market is usually considered balanced at 1.5%, a level Vaud has not reached since 1999(vd.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Rents

The average net rent of an occupied 3-room flat in Lausanne was CHF 1,408 a month over 2020 to 2024, without charges; 2-room flats averaged CHF 1,158 and 4-room flats CHF 1,714(Statistique Vaud (FSO data), checked 21 Oct 2026). These averages include long-running leases. Across Canton Vaud, 3-room flats let for less than two years averaged CHF 1,668 in 2024, against CHF 1,477 for all 3-room leases(Statistique Vaud (FSO data), checked 21 Oct 2026).

The districts

The city describes itself as built on three hills, with more than 500 metres of height difference between the lake shore and the Jorat forests, and its housing ranges from detached houses in Chailly and Vidy to large blocks in La Borde and La Bourdonnette(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The first table shows each statistical district at the end of 2025. Its total of 151,284 is the city's register count of all residents; the cantonal figure of 145,707 counts the permanent resident population(lausanne.ch statistics, checked 21 Oct 2026) (Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Each commune sets its own tax coefficient, so the communes around Lausanne differ, as the second table shows(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026). Further along the lake, Vevey has 20,179 residents and a 2026 coefficient of 74.5%, Montreux 27,166 and 65.0%, and Nyon 23,732 and 61.0%(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026).

The table uses official averages, not quotes: rents from Statistique Vaud(Statistique Vaud (FSO data), checked 21 Oct 2026), 2027 health premiums from the FOPH across all deductibles and models(FOPH, checked 21 Oct 2026), the Mobilis fare(Mobilis, checked 21 Oct 2026) and the household radio and TV fee (Serafe)(Serafe, checked 21 Oct 2026).

What moves the total. A new lease usually costs more than the average, since the average includes old tenancies; charges for heating and water come on top of net rent(Statistique Vaud (FSO data), checked 21 Oct 2026). Childcare in the city's network is priced by household income, household size and hours(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026), and tax depends on income and deductions (see the next section).

Vaud communes set their tax as a percentage of the cantonal base tax (impôt cantonal de base). Lausanne's coefficient has been 78.5% since 2020 and stays there in 2026; the cantonal coefficient is 155%, and a separate cantonal law reduces the base tax on personal income(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Among the neighbouring communes in the table above, 2026 coefficients run from 61.0% in Pully to 77.0% in Renens(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Tax at source on a B or L permit

Foreign employees who do not hold a settlement permit (C) pay tax at source, deducted from their salary. A later ordinary assessment (taxation ordinaire ultérieure) is compulsory from CHF 120,000 gross a year; below that it can be requested by 31 March of the following year, for example to claim deductions the tariff does not include(ESTV, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Deadlines

Residents who file a return have until 15 March. The canton allows a tolerance period to 30 June without any request, and a free extension, requested by 30 June, can run to 30 September(vd.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). For help in English, see finding an English-speaking tax advisor and the directory of tax advisers and Treuhand firms in Lausanne.

Compulsory school in Vaud lasts 11 years, from 1P to 11S, and nine in ten children in the canton attend public school(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). All children who are 4 by 31 July start school that autumn(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Families who arrive enrol their children at the school office (SEP), which assigns them to a school and favours the one closest to home(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Children aged 4 to 8 who do not speak French join their local primary school and get intensive French lessons. Pupils aged 8 to 15 go through the resource centre for non-French-speaking pupils (CREAL), which places them in a reception class or a regular class with intensive French(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Private and international schools

The canton's list of private schools for compulsory-age pupils (August 2026) includes these schools in and next to Lausanne that teach in English or in French and English, listed alphabetically(vd.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026):

• Brillantmont International School, Lausanne: English; ages 12 to 15 in the cantonal list
• Collège Champittet, Pully: French, German, English and Italian; ages 4 to 15
• École Bilingue de Suisse Romande, Lausanne: French and English; ages 4 to 15
• École Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande (ENSR), Lausanne: French and English; ages 4 to 15
• International School of Lausanne, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne: English and French; ages 4 to 15

The international schools guide explains curricula and admissions; this page lists no fees. The directory has schools and childcare in Lausanne.

Childcare

Daycare for ages 0 to 4, out-of-school care for 1P and 2P and day families are organised through the city's childcare network, Réseau-L. A place is requested by entering the child on the central waiting list (liste d'attente centralisée) from the fourth month of pregnancy, or up to six months before moving to Lausanne. Being on the list does not guarantee a place: each centre allocates its own places and may offer only the days the parents work(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Fees depend on household income, household size and hours, and the city offers a fee simulator(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). See also daycare providers in Lausanne.

The university hospital (CHUV) runs the adult emergency department (Service des urgences, Rue du Bugnon 44) and paediatric emergencies for ages 0 to 18 (Rue du Bugnon 52)(CHUV, checked 21 Oct 2026). It lists 144 for life-threatening emergencies and the cantonal on-call doctors' line (Centrale téléphonique des médecins de garde), 0848 133 133, for urgent cases that are not life-threatening, including psychiatric emergencies(CHUV, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Basic health insurance is compulsory within three months of taking up residence; if you sign up in time, cover is back-dated to your arrival, and a late sign-up brings a premium surcharge(FOPH, checked 21 Oct 2026). Average 2027 premiums in Vaud, across all deductibles and models, are CHF 543.50 a month for adults, CHF 382.10 for young adults aged 19 to 25 and CHF 146.30 for children, against a Swiss adult average of CHF 487.60(FOPH, checked 21 Oct 2026). The health insurance guide explains deductibles and models.

To find a family doctor who speaks English, see finding an English-speaking doctor and the directory of GPs in Lausanne.

The tl (Transports publics de la région lausannoise) run buses, trains and metros in Lausanne and the surrounding communes(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The m2, the first urban metro in Switzerland, has run since 2008, climbs most of the city's 500-metre height difference and carries 25 million passengers a year(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Mobilis prices depend on the number of zones. For two zones, adults pay CHF 39 a week, CHF 78 a month or CHF 702 a year in second class, and CHF 133 a month in first class; children and young people under 25 pay CHF 55 a month(Mobilis, checked 21 Oct 2026). The annual pass costs the same as nine monthly passes, and Mobilis has announced new fares from 13 December 2026(Mobilis, checked 21 Oct 2026). The city subsidises annual zone 11 and 12 passes for retirees and young people in training(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

For cycling, the city refunds 15% of the price of an electric bike, up to CHF 400, or 30%, up to CHF 800, for people under 25 and for people who receive a health-premium subsidy(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026).

The figures come from the federal structural survey, in which people can name up to three main languages(lausanne.ch statistics, checked 21 Oct 2026).

Institutions, associations and private schools offer French courses for adults, free or paid; the city's integration office (Bureau lausannois pour les immigrés, BLI) lists them in its brochure «Apprendre à Lausanne», available in several languages(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). Each summer the BLI runs five weeks of free beginners' French at Vidy Plage, with care for children aged 2 and over(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The directory lists language schools in Lausanne.

Lausanne is also an international city: the International Olympic Committee has been based there since 1915, and more than 50 international sports federations and organisations are also based there, as is the Court of Arbitration for Sport(lausanne.ch, checked 21 Oct 2026). The universities UNIL and EPFL had 31,431 students in the canton's 2024 count(Statistique Vaud, checked 21 Oct 2026).