Short-term rental in Zurich in 2026: what it earns, and the new rules that took effect this month

Most Swiss owners think of short-term rentals as a lakeside or ski-resort business — Montreux in summer, Verbier or Zermatt in winter. But the single largest city market in the country is Zurich, and it works completely differently. Demand is driven by business travel and city breaks rather than beaches or pistes, the season runs more evenly through the year, and the guests want short, efficient, midweek stays in apartments close to the business district — not long weekends in the mountains.

Zurich is also where Swiss housing policy has moved fastest. On 1 September 2026 — days before this guide was written — the city's new regulation against converting residential units into commercial short-stay accommodation took effect, after the Federal Court rejected a legal challenge in April 2026. This guide covers what a Zurich short-term rental actually earns today, what the new rule requires owners to do, and whether the market still makes sense for you.

Short answer: A median Zurich listing earns roughly USD 26,900 per year, and the top 10% earn more than double that — but since 1 September 2026 owners letting commercially for under a year must report their use to the city, and change-of-use to a business apartment now needs a building application. Zurich still rewards compliant, well-priced apartments; it penalises unlicensed ones.

What a Zurich short-term rental actually earns in 2026

Zurich's market is big and liquid. In AirROI's 2026 dataset (August 2025 to July 2026), the city tracked roughly 1,750 active listings — supply up around 11% in a single year — with an average nightly rate of about USD 248 and 41.6% occupancy. That occupancy figure looks modest next to a resort town, but it is the shape of a business-led market: strong Monday-to-Thursday demand and softer weekends, rather than the seasonal spikes of a leisure destination.

The gap between the top and the median is the real story. The best-performing listings earn well over double the median — not by luck, but because demand in a business city concentrates on small, fast-turnover, well-located apartments that are priced intelligently and serviced reliably. August is typically the highest-revenue month and February the weakest, while nightly rates peak around June. Roughly 40% of Zurich's market is guests looking for stays of 30 nights or more — corporate relocators and business travellers — which is why the same apartment can mix a week of short corporate stays with a month-long project assignment.

One caveat worth flagging now: that extended-stay demand is not a loophole. Zurich's new rule specifically targets apartments let "regularly, commercially, for under a year" — which includes monthly corporate lets and business apartments, not just short tourist stays. Moving from three-night stays to one-month corporate lets does not get you out of the city's new reporting and change-of-use regime; if anything, it is the exact activity the rule was written to catch. We cover the maths of pricing and platform fees in our guide to Airbnb's 15.5% Swiss fee — the same repricing logic applies when you sell shorter Zurich stays above the fold.

What changed on 1 September 2026: Zurich's new STR rule

Zurich's housing market is one of the tightest in Switzerland, and the city has been working for years on a rule to stop residential apartments from being quietly converted into permanent short-stay income. That rule — a partial revision of the city's building and zoning ordinance (BZO), titled "Nichtanrechenbarkeit an Wohnanteil" (not countable toward the residential share) — survived a challenge all the way to the Federal Court, which confirmed it on 30 April 2026. It took effect on 1 September 2026.

In plain terms, the rule does three things:

• Short-stay units no longer count as housing. Apartments let out regularly and commercially for under a year — Airbnb units, business apartments — can no longer be counted toward the minimum residential share a building must keep. In a residential zone where, say, 90% of a building must remain housing, operators can no longer fill that 90% with short-stay units.
• Owners must report. Property owners who let apartments in this way are required to report (Anzeige) the use to the City of Zurich's building authority. The authority says it expects a large volume of reports as enforcement begins.
• Change of use now needs a building application. Converting an apartment into a business apartment for commercial short-stay use requires a building application (Baugesuch) — even if no construction work is done — and the rental duration of the residential use must be declared with the application.

The exemption is deliberately narrow: the occasional letting of your own home while you are away is not affected. What the city is targeting, in its own words, is permanently, commercially used residential objects — the professional Airbnb and business-apartment stock it says is draining housing supply. By the end of 2025 Zurich counted around 5,320 business apartments on city territory, and the building authority is hiring (five new full-time posts) to enforce the new regime.

Is there a 90-day cap in Zurich?

Not yet — and the distinction matters. Geneva has enforced a 90-night limit since around 2018 (see our guide to Airbnb rules in Geneva), and Lucerne has capped short-term lets at 90 days in residential zones since January 2024. Zurich does not currently impose a hard annual night cap. The 1 September rule is about reporting and residential-share accounting, not a day-count ceiling.

That could change. A popular initiative ("Protect housing — regulate Airbnb and business apartments") was filed in September 2025, and the city council is drafting a counterproposal that could introduce a 90-day ceiling. If a cap lands, the economics change immediately: every booked night counts more, pricing discipline matters more, and owners who have not been tracking nights across platforms will be caught out. For the wider context on how the national market is evolving and where the 90-day rules apply, our Swiss short-term rental market guide breaks it down city by city.

Who still profits in Zurich — and who shouldn't list at all

Because Zurich's demand is business-led and midweek, the market rewards a specific kind of owner and punishes another. The owners who still do well here are those with a small, centrally located apartment near the business districts and good tram access — Altstadt, the City Centre, Zürich-West, Enge and Oerlikon (close to the airport) are the most active areas — who can service fast weekday turnovers, who price for corporate demand, and who operate a licensed, reported unit.

Three groups should think hard before listing in Zurich:

• Owners expecting a leisure-weekend calendar. Zurich guests are overwhelmingly midweek business travellers. If your weekender model only fills Friday–Sunday, you will sit empty Monday–Thursday — the opposite of the Montreux or Alpine rhythm.
• Owners who cannot service weekday turnover or midnight check-ins. A business guest arriving on the 19:00 flight needs a flawless handover. A self-managing owner in another city — or another country — cannot deliver that reliably, which is exactly how reviews and occupancy erode.
• Owners planning to dodge the new rules. With reporting now mandatory and enforcement hiring, running an unregistered commercial Airbnb in Zurich is the fast route to a building-authority notice and, potentially, having the unit reclassified. RivieraHost only manages licensed, compliant apartments — the policy is far more important in Zurich than in a lightly regulated market.

At the same time, professional management matters more precisely because Zurich delivery is so unforgiving. Our model is a flat ~20% commission with 30 days' notice, and professionally managed listings in our portfolio average around 87% occupancy versus self-managed peers — the equivalent of roughly +34% revenue — which is a much bigger swing in a business market where one lost weekday booking cascades through the week.

A Zurich owner's compliance checklist for 2026

If you own an apartment in the city of Zurich and let it (or are thinking of letting it) on Airbnb or as a business apartment, here is the checklist to work through with the September 2026 rules in mind:

1. Report commercial short-term use. If you let regularly and commercially for under a year, report the use to the City of Zurich building authority (Amt für Baubewilligungen). The city acts on these reports, and expects many in the coming months.
2. File a building application for a change of use. Converting an apartment into a business apartment now needs a Baugesuch even without construction, with the residential rental duration declared.
3. Check your lease or condominium rules. If you are a tenant, get written landlord consent — most Swiss leases restrict subletting. If you own in a condominium (PPE), confirm the building's internal rules allow short-stay letting. Our guide to short-term rental in a Swiss condominium is a useful primer.
4. Sort the city tax. Zurich applies a City Tax of CHF 3.50 per person per night for stays of up to 30 nights, usually collected automatically by Airbnb on your reservations — confirm who is liable in your setup and that it is being remitted.
5. Keep your tax and VAT affairs in order. STR income is taxable; Swiss accommodation VAT (3.8%) becomes relevant above CHF 100,000 annual turnover — see our tax & VAT guide.
6. Hold the right insurance and track nights. Standard home cover often excludes commercial letting, and with a possible 90-day cap on the horizon, track every night across all platforms so you are never surprised.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading: Swiss short-term rental market 2026 · Airbnb rules in Geneva: the 90-day rule · Short-term rental in a Swiss condominium · Airbnb's 15.5% Swiss fee

Sources: Stadt Zürich, Medienmitteilung «Regelung für kurzzeitig vermietete Wohnungen tritt in Kraft», 1 September 2026, https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch · Stadt Zürich, Bundesgericht bestätigt Regelung, Juni 2026 · 20 Minuten, Bundesgericht stützt Regelung für Temporärwohnungen, 2026 · AirROI, Zurich, Zurich Airbnb Market Data 2026, retrieved 2026-09-08, https://www.airroi.com/airbnb-data/switzerland/zurich/zurich · Airbnb Help Center, Occupancy tax collection in Switzerland (Canton of Zurich City Tax CHF 3.50), retrieved 2026-09-08 · Lucerne/Geneva 90-day rules per Hostaway and Swiss cantonal practice, 2026.