Home search services
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Canton Neuchâtel
Living in Neuchâtel as an expat
4 providers in and around Neuchâtel, by category and language. Every listing is checked by hand.
In short
Neuchâtel is the capital of the canton of Neuchâtel, a French-speaking canton on the lake of the same name. The commune had 45,466 residents at the end of 2025, 33.0% of them foreign nationals. New residents register at the residents' office within 14 days, and direct trains reach Bern in 36 minutes.
More services nearby: living in Bern.
Neuchâtel in figures
Checked
- Residents
- 45,466
- permanent resident population
- 31 Dec 2025 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO), STATPOP (opens in a new tab)
- Foreign residents
- 33.0%
- 14,982 residents without Swiss citizenship
- 31 Dec 2025 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO), STATPOP (opens in a new tab)
- Communal tax rate
- 65%
- coefficient communal, in % of the cantonal base tax
- 2026 · Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) (opens in a new tab)
- Vacancy rate
- 1.09%
- 287 empty homes (Switzerland: 0.84%)
- 1 June 2026 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (opens in a new tab)
- Monthly pass, 1–2 zones
- CHF 76
- Onde Verte fare network, adult, 2nd class
- 2026 · Onde Verte, Communauté tarifaire neuchâteloise (opens in a new tab)
- Registration deadline
- 14 days
- after arrival, at the Office du contrôle des habitants
- 2026 · Ville de Neuchâtel (opens in a new tab)
Services in Neuchâtel
4 providers in 4 categories
Relocation agencies
- Full-service relocation (1)
- Destination services (1)
- Orientation tours (1)
- Settling-in support (2)
Immigration & permits
- Permit applications (1)
Movers & storage
Doctors & dentists
Tax & finance
Insurance advisors
Lawyers & notaries
Schools & childcare
Language schools
- French (1)
- Several languages (1)
Featured in Neuchâtel
Premium listings
Auris Relocation
Full-service relocation · NeuchâtelAuris Relocation is a Swiss relocation and global mobility firm with nine offices from Geneva to Lugano, handling permits, home search, schools and moves for companies and families.
How do you register when you move to Neuchâtel?
New residents register at the Office du contrôle des habitants, Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville 1, within 14 days. EU/EFTA citizens who come to work bring a passport or identity card, a civil status document, the employment contract and the lease. Citizens of other countries also bring an authorisation from the cantonal migration service.
The city gives 14 days as the legal deadline to hand in papers(neuchatelville.ch, checked ), which matches the cantonal law on residents' registers: the declaration is due within 14 days of the change of residence(LHRCH Art. 40, checked ). The main office is at Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville 1; Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux and Valangin keep local counters with shorter opening hours(neuchatelville.ch, checked ).
EU/EFTA citizens arriving from abroad to work for more than three months bring their passport or identity card, an up-to-date civil status document such as a birth or marriage certificate, the employment contract and the lease, or a housing authorisation signed by the main tenant. Citizens of other countries bring the authorisation of the cantonal migration service (Service des migrations) with the other documents(neuchatelville.ch, checked ). The general steps are in registering at your commune and the permit types in Swiss permits B, L and C.
Your first two weeks in Neuchâtel
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What is Neuchâtel like to live in?
Neuchâtel is French-speaking and has been a larger commune since 1 January 2021, when it merged with Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux and Valangin. It had 45,466 residents at the end of 2025. Most jobs are in services, according to the city's 2015 figures, and direct trains run to Bern in 36 minutes.
The merger of 1 January 2021 created a commune of almost 45,000 people(neuchatelville.ch, checked ). In 2015 the city counted 31,700 jobs, about a third of the canton's, of which 26,600 were in services and about 5,000 in industry. The city also points to precision technology rooted in watchmaking and to research centres such as CSEM(neuchatelville.ch, checked ).
On 1 June 2026, 287 homes stood empty, a vacancy rate of 1.09% against 0.84% for Switzerland(FSO vacancy count, checked ). Search services are listed under apartment search in Neuchâtel, and course providers under language schools in Neuchâtel.
Trains to Bern take 36 minutes on the direct IR and 48 minutes on the S-Bahn (October 2026 timetable)(Swiss timetable, checked ); the Bern page covers the capital region. Local buses and trains belong to the Onde Verte fare network, where a monthly adult pass for one or two zones costs CHF 76 in 2nd class. The canton also funds a discount that lets its residents buy an all-zone adult pass at the four-zone price(Onde Verte, checked ).
For 2026, the communal tax rate is 65% of the cantonal base tax, and the canton's own rate is 124%(ESTV, checked ).
What else do people ask about living in Neuchâtel?
When do I have to register in Neuchâtel?
Within 14 days of arriving, at the Office du contrôle des habitants, Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville 1.
How long is the train from Neuchâtel to Bern?
36 minutes on the direct IR train and 48 minutes on the S-Bahn, according to the October 2026 timetable.
Sources
Last checked by the expat-services.ch editorial team
- Federal Statistical Office (FSO), STATPOP Permanent and non permanent resident population by year, canton, district, commune, population type, citizenship (category), sex and age (opens in a new tab)
- Federal Statistical Office (FSO) Logements vacants au 1er juin, dans les communes de plus de 5000 habitants (opens in a new tab)
- Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) Steuerfüsse in den Kantonshauptorten 2026, natürliche Personen (opens in a new tab)
- Onde Verte, Communauté tarifaire neuchâteloise Abonnements ONDE VERTE (opens in a new tab)
- Ville de Neuchâtel Ville de Neuchâtel: Arrivées (opens in a new tab)
- République et Canton de Neuchâtel Loi concernant l'harmonisation des registres officiels de personnes et le contrôle des habitants (LHRCH), RSN 132.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Ville de Neuchâtel Ville de Neuchâtel: Fusion Neuchâtel (opens in a new tab)
- Ville de Neuchâtel Ville de Neuchâtel: Tissu économique (opens in a new tab)
- transport.opendata.ch (Swiss public transport timetable) Connections Neuchâtel to Bern, 22 Oct 2026 from 08:00 (opens in a new tab)
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