Sarnen
Municipality in the canton of Obwalden · FSO no. 1407
Parcel data from Nov 2026, statistics computed on 29 Oct 2026.
Open map at the Sarnen centerThe parcel data lists 4’001 parcels in Sarnen, covering 77.1 km². 70.5% of them have at least one registered building. The median parcel measures 1’004 m².
Key figures
- Parcels
- 4’001
- 23.1% of the canton
- Total area
- 77.1 km²
- 15.7% of the canton
- Median area
- 1’004 m²
- Canton: 1’006 m²
- Switzerland: 881 m²
- Built share
- 70.5%
- Canton: 67.5%
- Switzerland: 51%
- Median year built
- 1982
- Canton: 1979
- Switzerland: 1975
About Sarnen
Sarnen has the most parcels of the 7 municipalities in the canton of Obwalden and holds 23.1% of the canton's parcels on 15.7% of its area. The median parcel in Sarnen measures 1’004 m², about the same as the canton median of 1’006 m². Sarnen is about as built-up as the canton as a whole: 70.5% of its parcels have a building, against 67.5% across the canton.
The zones with the most parcels are Landwirtschaftszone (32%), Zweigeschossige Wohnzone B (15.6%) and Zweigeschossige Wohnzone A (11.4%). In total, Sarnen uses 36 zone designations.
According to the building register, Sarnen has 4’690 buildings with 5’696 dwellings, 1.2 dwellings per building on average. Residential buildings mix single-family houses and buildings with several dwellings: single-family houses make up 50.6% of them. Non-residential buildings account for 44.3% of all buildings.
Built parcels most often have their newest building from 1981 to 2000 (24.5% of them), and 23.8% have one from 2001 or later. The median year built, 1982, is close to that of the canton as a whole (1979).
Built and unbuilt parcels
Built: 2’822 (70.5%)
Unbuilt: 1’179 (29.5%)
Parcels by zone
| Zone | Parcels | Area | Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landwirtschaftszone | 1’280 | 17.35 km² | 65.6% |
| Zweigeschossige Wohnzone B | 626 | 0.51 km² | 88.3% |
| Zweigeschossige Wohnzone A | 457 | 0.28 km² | 91.7% |
| Wald | 247 | 46.36 km² | 19.8% |
| Übriges Gebiet | 224 | 0.98 km² | 7.1% |
| Dreigeschossige Wohnzone A | 183 | 0.19 km² | 90.7% |
| Kernzone Dorf Sarnen | 167 | 0.11 km² | 88.6% |
| Dreigeschossige Gewerbe- und Wohnzone | 135 | 0.19 km² | 88.1% |
| Zone für öffentliche Bauten und Anlagen | 95 | 0.55 km² | 80.0% |
| Dreigeschossige Wohnzone B | 71 | 0.05 km² | 74.6% |
| Dorfzone | 70 | 0.04 km² | 90.0% |
| Grünzone | 65 | 0.10 km² | 55.4% |
| Other zones (24 labels) | 381 | 10.36 km² | 74.5% |
Zone names are the municipal designations. A canton lists each wording separately.
Building stock
The building register lists 4’690 buildings with 5’696 dwellings here; 1’081 of them are single-family houses.
- Buildings
- 4’690
- Dwellings
- 5’696
- Single-family houses
- 1’081
- Building volume
- 5.9 million m³
Buildings by category
Construction periods
Built parcels by construction period of their newest building
Maps and geodata for Sarnen
geopool works as a GIS and geoportal for Sarnen. Its parcel map shows the parcels of the official cadastral survey with their area, their zone from the municipal zoning plan and their buildings, on swisstopo maps. Building zones, the property map and the geodata of each parcel open on the geopool map. The ÖREB extract of a parcel (public-law restrictions on landownership) is in lookup.