Municipalities of the Canton of Geneva: Map, Characteristics and Real Estate Comparison

The canton of Geneva has 45 municipalities, from the city-center to the wine-growing villages of the Mandement. This article compares them from a real estate perspective: the most and least populated municipalities, how they structure the market, the price per square meter by municipality, the prestige areas and the most affordable ones, as well as the cross-border Greater Geneva agglomeration. The full list of the 45 municipalities is presented in the general guide to real estate in Geneva.

Which are the most populated municipalities in the canton of Geneva?

As of December 31, 2024, the five most populated municipalities in the canton are, in order (Office cantonal de la statistique, OCSTAT):

• Geneva (209'061 residents): the cantonal capital and by far the largest municipality.
• Vernier (37'837): the main suburb on the right bank.
• Lancy (37'259): a dense suburb on the left bank, growing fast.
• Meyrin (27'059): home to CERN's headquarters.
• Carouge (22'488): a former Sardinian town, south of Geneva.

This ranking has been stable for more than a decade (OCSTAT).

Which are the least populated municipalities in the canton of Geneva?

At the other extreme, five municipalities have fewer than 1'000 residents (OCSTAT's 2024 figures): Russin, a wine-growing municipality in the Mandement (543 residents); Gy, rural on the left bank (553); Laconnex, agricultural in the Champagne area (704); Presinge, rural on the left bank (708); and Céligny, an enclave within the canton of Vaud (862).

How do municipalities structure the Geneva real estate market?

Municipalities structure the Geneva real estate market because each one sets its own taxation and regulates its own development. The municipal tax rate, via additional cents (centimes additionnels), varies greatly from one municipality to another and weighs on residential attractiveness.

Added to this are the degree of urbanization, the lakeshore, proximity to the lake and land scarcity, which create considerable price gaps between the city-center, the dense suburbs and the rural villages. The Geneva market is thus a mosaic of 45 local markets.

How do real estate prices vary from one municipality to another?

Real estate prices vary greatly from one municipality to another. According to RealAdvisor (June 2026), the median price per square meter ranges from 8'900 francs in the cheapest municipality, Chancy, to 19'800 francs in Cologny, the most expensive in the canton.

Between the two are, for example, Lancy (12'300), Carouge (14'500), the city of Geneva (15'300) and Anières (16'300).

Which municipalities concentrate the prestige properties?

Geneva's prestige real estate is concentrated in three municipalities on the left bank.

• Cologny: a municipality with lake views, named by RTS as the most expensive in Switzerland for luxury real estate, where exceptional lakeside properties exceed 35'000 francs per square meter.
• Vandœuvres: a residential municipality with scarce land and sustained international demand.
• Anières: a lakeside municipality in the northeast, with its lakefront properties and heritage villas.

Which municipalities are the most affordable in the canton?

For smaller budgets, the Champagne area and the southwest of the canton are the places to look. Chancy remains the cheapest municipality there, at around 8'900 francs per square meter, ahead of Avusy (9'600) and Soral (9'800), according to RealAdvisor (June 2026).

Rural and wine-growing, far from both the center and the lake, these municipalities offer the lowest entry price points in the canton.

Which municipalities make up the cross-border Greater Geneva agglomeration?

The cross-border Greater Geneva agglomeration extends well beyond the canton's 45 municipalities: it brings together 212 of them across 2'000 square kilometers (according to Greater Geneva). In addition to Geneva's 45 municipalities, there are 47 municipalities in the canton of Vaud around the Nyon district (including Nyon, Coppet and Crassier) and 120 municipalities in the Ain and Haute-Savoie départements around the Pôle métropolitain du Genevois français (including Annemasse, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Gex and Bonneville).

Altogether, the agglomeration is home to more than a million residents (1'034'084 as of January 1, 2023, Observatoire statistique transfrontalier) and accounts for approximately 4.3 million daily trips.