Recently published statistics show that more than half of the residents in certain parts of France were employed in Switzerland in 2018.
The data, published by INSEE, a French statistics agency, found that more than half of households in the communes du Genevois, Pays de Gex and Annemasse-Les Voirons, all regions bordering Switzerland, contained family members who worked abroad, almost all of them in Switzerland.
In the communes du Genevois, 67% of households had someone working in Switzerland. In Pays de Gex, the same figure was 64%, and in Annemasse-les Voirons it was 51%. Other French municipalities heavily dependent on Swiss jobs were Arve et Salève (53%), Station des Rousses-Haut in Jura (58%) and Lacs et Montagnes du Haut-Doubs (61%).
Across the regions covered, 129,400 households in France were dependant on cross-border employment. The top 10 regions accounted for 77% of this total. These regions include: Pays de Gex (21,220), Annemasse-les Voirons (18,230), Thonon (14,660), Genevois (12,350), Grand Annecy (11,730), Pays d’Évian Vallée d’Abondance (6,020), des Lacs et Montagnes du Haut-Doubs (4,330), Arve et Salève (4,040), Pays Rochois (3,770) and des Quatre Rivières (3,100).
In the French department of Haute-Savoie, 26% of households were receiving an income from abroad. The departments of Moselle (17%), Haut-Rhin (17%), Doubs (13 %) and Ain (10%) also had sizeable percentages of households with cross-border workers.
A couple with children was the most common household profile for those with cross-border employment.
The average standard of living among cross-border workers was significantly higher than the French average. Half of these households were earning more than 39,700 Euros a year. Across France, only 10% of households had incomes this high.
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