Market Research Companies in Zurich

Key figures for researchers

Population

452,421 (end of 2025)¹

Canton of Zurich

1,628,081 residents (end of 2025)²

City districts

12 Stadtkreise, from Kreis 1 (Altstadt) to Kreis 12 (Schwamendingen)⁶

Foreign nationals

33.9% of residents (end of 2025)¹

Languages

23% of residents speak a language other than German best (2014–2016)¹⁰

Arrivals from abroad

about 18,000 people a year; 7 in 10 aged 20–39 (2018–2024)⁸

Moves

40,123 people moved in and 37,858 moved out in 2025¹

Dwellings

238,472 (end of 2025)³

Renting

175,400 of the 185,900 two- to four-room dwellings were rentals (March 2024)⁵

Vacancy rate

0.11% of dwellings (2026)⁴

Research guide

Research landscape

Zurich is the main business centre of German-speaking Switzerland and a major base for the Swiss research industry: full-service agencies, qualitative specialists, B2B and healthcare firms, field and telephone studios and online panel providers. The city has 452,421 residents and the canton 1,628,081, so check whether a brief means the city, the canton or a wider German-speaking sample.

Who you will interview

Zurich is international: 33.9% of residents were foreign nationals at the end of 2025. About 18,000 people move to the city directly from abroad every year, and 7 in 10 of those who arrived between 2018 and 2024 were aged 20 to 39. Germany and Italy are among the largest countries of origin; in the canton as a whole, there were 88,900 German and 62,200 Italian nationals at the end of 2025.

Swiss German is the everyday spoken language, while written material is normally in standard German. In 2014–2016, 23% of city residents said they spoke a language other than German best. For expatriate or migrant audiences, consider English or other translated questionnaires, and check the language of each focus group in the recruitment brief.

Fieldwork in practice

The city has 12 districts (Stadtkreise), from Kreis 1 (Altstadt) to Kreis 12 (Schwamendingen), divided into 34 quarters (Quartiere). Sampling or quotas by Kreis help control the spread of interviews.

Most people rent: at the end of March 2024, 175,400 of the city’s 185,900 two- to four-room dwellings were rentals. Housing is very tight (a vacancy rate of 0.11% in 2026, against 0.52% for the canton), and the population turns over quickly: 40,123 people moved in and 37,858 moved out in 2025, and only 29% of the people who arrived from abroad in 2018 still lived in the city at the end of 2024. Address and phone lists age fast, so online panels are the main method for consumer surveys, with telephone or face-to-face interviews for older or offline audiences.

Focus groups and qualitative research

In-person focus groups are usually held in dedicated studios with a one-way mirror and video streaming, most of them in central Zurich. Allow for travel time from the canton when groups must include residents from outside the city.

Ask the agency for its Zurich incentive levels and recruitment lead times; B2B and senior respondents often prefer online interviews. Consumer groups are normally moderated in Swiss German; English can be considered for B2B, professional or expatriate groups.

Timing

Zurich’s school holidays in 2026/27: autumn holidays from 5 to 17 October 2026, Christmas holidays from 21 December 2026 to 2 January 2027, sports holidays from 15 to 26 February 2027 in city schools (each municipality in the canton sets its own), spring holidays from 26 April to 8 May 2027 and summer holidays from 19 July to 21 August 2027. Families and business targets are harder to reach in these periods.

Two local festivals also matter: Sechseläuten, the spring festival, on Monday 19 April 2027, and Knabenschiessen, the city’s largest annual folk festival, from Saturday 11 to Monday 13 September 2027. Both Mondays are days off in city schools. Check national public holidays in the Switzerland guide.

Working with a Zurich agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, city or canton, districts (Kreise), method, languages and deadline.
• Say whether interviews should be in Swiss German, standard German or English, and whether other language regions of Switzerland are needed.
• For face-to-face or recruitment, ask how the agency reaches recent arrivals, expatriates and migrant communities.
• For focus groups, ask for the studio address, viewing room capacity, streaming options and incentive levels.
• Check fieldwork dates against the Zurich school holidays, Sechseläuten and Knabenschiessen.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 Zurich companies from this page.

National rules (data protection, holidays, sampling across regions) are covered in our guide to market research in Switzerland.