Open Data Insight of the Day

Nestled in the Bezirk Laufen, the municipality of Wahlen sits at an altitude of 407 meters above sea level and covers a total area of 541 hectares. Figure 1 shows the municipality on the map, and Table 2 summarizes these key geographic features.

The available historical summary from Wikipedia does not provide specific details about Wahlen's past, noting only that the name may refer to geographical locations or associated individuals. For more information, the German Wikipedia page can be accessed at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahlen.

Wahlen is home to 1,597 residents as of 2024. The population is composed of 82.2% Swiss citizens and 17.8% foreign nationals. The age structure shows a balanced distribution, with 19.2% of residents aged 0-17, 62.2% in the working-age bracket of 18-65, and 18.6% aged over 65. The gender ratio is nearly equal, with 800 men and 797 women. In terms of total population, Wahlen ranks 39th among the 86 municipalities in the canton. Table 2 shows the population by age groups since 2005.

Land use in Wahlen is predominantly agricultural, with 54.2% of its surface dedicated to farming. Forests cover 33.8% of the area, while settlement areas account for 12.0% of the total land.

In fiscal matters, Wahlen ranks 44th in the canton for total tax revenue. The municipal tax multiplier and its corresponding rank among the 86 municipalities are not provided in the available data.

The municipality's energy consumption in 2022 was led by heating oil at 6,302.51 MWh, followed by electricity at 4,382.94 MWh. Other significant sources included environmental heat (2,771.47 MWh), wood (1,599.17 MWh), photovoltaics (309.36 MWh), and thermal solar energy (162.35 MWh). Electricity is a useful energy carrier for comparison across municipalities. Wahlen's per capita electricity consumption of 2.8 MWh places it 69th in the canton, indicating a relatively low consumption level that could be influenced by a lower presence of industrial activity. This rank is outside the top or bottom 10 municipalities.

The local vehicle stock in 2026 consisted of 1,027 passenger cars and delivery vans. Of these, 901 vehicles run on petrol, diesel, or other combustion engines, while 126 are electric, representing an electric vehicle share of 12.3%. These figures are detailed in Table 3.

In waste recycling for 2024, Wahlen shows strong performance in specific categories. The municipality recycled 177 kg of green waste per capita, ranking 10th in the canton, and 1 kg of oils per capita, ranking 6th. With two categories in the top 10, Wahlen is overall among the leading municipalities in recycling performance. For other materials, the per capita recycling figures and ranks are 19 kg for glass (rank 55), 99 kg for household and bulky waste (rank 76), 7 kg for paper and cardboard (rank 82), and 1 kg for tinplate and aluminum (rank 52). The total recycled amounts and canton-wide comparisons are available in Table 4.