- Apartment search services (1)
- Serviced apartments (3)
Canton St. Gallen
Living in St. Gallen as an expat
8 providers in and around St. Gallen, by category and language. Every listing is checked by hand.
Popular in St. Gallen: Serviced apartments3
In short
St. Gallen is the German-speaking capital of the canton of St. Gallen, with 79,487 residents at the end of 2025, 34.6% of them foreign nationals. On 1 June 2026, 1.95% of dwellings stood empty, more than twice the national rate. The city's tax multiplier is 138%. Register within 14 days; Zurich is about an hour away.
More services nearby: living in Zurich.
St. Gallen in figures
Checked
- Residents
- 79,487
- permanent resident population
- 31 Dec 2025 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (opens in a new tab)
- Foreign residents
- 34.6%
- 27,471 people; canton of St. Gallen 27.2%
- 31 Dec 2025 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (opens in a new tab)
- Municipal tax multiplier
- 138%
- of the simple tax, without church tax; canton rate 105%
- 2026 · Kanton St.Gallen, Steueramt (opens in a new tab)
- Vacancy rate
- 1.95%
- 900 empty dwellings; canton 1.16%, Switzerland 0.93%
- 1 June 2026 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (opens in a new tab)
- Ostwind pass, city zone 210
- CHF 72 a month
- 1 zone, adult, 2nd class; CHF 648 a year
- 2026 · Tarifverbund Ostwind (opens in a new tab)
- Registration deadline
- 14 days
- after moving in, online via eUmzugCH or at the Bevölkerungsdienste
- 2026 · Stadt St.Gallen (opens in a new tab)
- Train to Zurich
- 1 h to 1 h 15 min
- direct IC trains to Zurich main station, weekday morning
- 2026 timetable · Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) (opens in a new tab)
Services in St. Gallen
8 providers in 6 categories
Relocation agencies
- Full-service relocation (1)
- Destination services (1)
- Orientation tours (1)
- Settling-in support (1)
Immigration & permits
- Permit applications (1)
Movers & storage
- Storage (2)
Doctors & dentists
Tax & finance
- Banks (1)
Insurance advisors
Lawyers & notaries
Schools & childcare
Language schools
- German (1)
Featured in St. Gallen
Premium listings
Welcome Service
Full-service relocation · St. GallenWelcome Service is a family-owned relocation firm founded in 1990, with offices in Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich, handling permits, home search, schools and settling in for families and HR teams.
How do you register when you move to St. Gallen?
Register with the city's population services (Bevölkerungsdienste) at the Rathaus within 14 days of moving in. Moves within Switzerland can be reported online through eUmzugCH after deregistering at your old address. Foreign nationals arriving from abroad follow the cantonal migration office's leaflets and pay processing fees at the counter.
The city states that every move into, within or out of St. Gallen must be reported within 14 days, either online through eUmzugCH or in person at the counter with an official ID(Stadt St.Gallen, checked ). Before registering in St. Gallen, you deregister at your previous Swiss municipality. For foreign nationals moving from abroad, the city refers to the leaflets of the cantonal migration office (Migrationsamt)(Stadt St.Gallen, checked ). The general steps are in our guide to registering at your commune.
The documents the city asks for(Stadt St.Gallen, checked ):
- a rental contract or a confirmation from the person providing the accommodation
- for foreign nationals: the residence permit (Ausländerausweis) and a passport or other travel document
- the family record book for married couples with children under 18
- a current health insurance card or basic insurance policy
Basic health insurance must be taken out within three months of taking up residence and is then backdated to your arrival(FOPH, checked ). See Swiss health insurance for expats; permit types are explained in Swiss permits B, L and C.
What is St. Gallen like to live in?
St. Gallen is the largest municipality in its canton, and the city counted 86,259 jobs in 2024, more than its 79,487 residents. Housing is less scarce than around Zurich, with a 1.95% vacancy rate in June 2026. Direct trains reach Zurich main station in one hour to 75 minutes.
The city covers 39.4 km², half of it green space, and counted 86,259 jobs in 2024(Stadt St.Gallen, checked ). Its permanent population was 79,487 at the end of 2025, of whom 34.6% held a foreign passport, compared with 27.2% across the canton(FSO STATPOP, checked ). The official language is German.
Housing. On 1 June 2026, 900 dwellings stood empty in the city, a vacancy rate of 1.95%, against 1.16% in the canton of St. Gallen, 0.52% in the canton of Zurich and 0.93% in Switzerland(FSO vacancy count, checked ).
Tax. In 2026 the simple tax is multiplied by the canton's rate of 105% and the city's rate of 138%, a combined 243% before church tax(sg.ch, checked ).
Getting around. The city lies in Ostwind fare zone 210. A one-zone Ostwind pass costs CHF 72 a month or CHF 648 a year for an adult in 2nd class(Ostwind, checked ).
Zurich. On a weekday morning in the 2026 timetable, direct IC 5 trains reach Zurich main station in one hour and IC 1 trains in 1 hour 15 minutes(SBB timetable, checked ). For the city itself, see living in Zurich.
What else do people ask about living in St. Gallen?
When do I have to register in St. Gallen?
Within 14 days of moving in. Report the move online through eUmzugCH or in person at the population services (Bevölkerungsdienste) in the Rathaus; people moving from abroad follow the cantonal migration office's instructions.
How far is St. Gallen from Zurich by train?
One hour on the direct IC 5 and 1 hour 15 minutes on the IC 1 to Zurich main station, according to the SBB timetable for a weekday morning in October 2026.
Is housing easier to find in St. Gallen than in Zurich?
The official counts point that way: 1.95% of dwellings in St. Gallen were empty on 1 June 2026, against 0.52% in the canton of Zurich.
Sources
Last checked by the expat-services.ch editorial team
- Federal Statistical Office (FSO) Permanent resident population by institutional units, citizenship (category), place of birth and sex (opens in a new tab)
- Federal Statistical Office (FSO) Vacant dwellings by region, canton, district, commune, number of rooms and type of vacant dwelling (opens in a new tab)
- Stadt St.Gallen Die Stadt in Zahlen (opens in a new tab)
- Kanton St.Gallen, Steueramt Steuerfuss-Übersicht aller SG-Gemeinden (tax year 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Tarifverbund Ostwind Monats- und Jahresabos (opens in a new tab)
- Stadt St.Gallen Umziehen, Melden (opens in a new tab)
- Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) Health insurance: Requirement to obtain insurance for persons resident in Switzerland (opens in a new tab)
- Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) SBB timetable: St. Gallen to Zürich HB, Tuesday 27 October 2026, from 08:00 (opens in a new tab)
Guides for this
Moving to St. Gallen
The first steps, deadlines and offices anywhere in Switzerland.
Checklist
Your first 90 days in Switzerland
Register within 14 days, get health insurance within 3 months, then deposit, tax at source and Serafe: a sourced checklist for your first 90 days.
How it works
B permit in Switzerland: requirements, fees and processing times by canton
How to get a Swiss B permit: EU/EFTA and non-EU rules, steps, documents, and the fees and processing times in seven cantons, from the migration offices.
How to choose
How to choose a Swiss health insurer
Choose your Swiss health insurance deductible (franchise), model and supplementary cover with a clear framework, the legal limits and switching deadlines.