Cost of Living in Zurich

Summary of cost of living in Zurich, Switzerland:

Restaurants
Edit Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 25.00 Fr. 20.00-45.00
Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 120.00 Fr. 100.00-240.00
McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) 16.00 Fr. 15.00-19.50
Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) 8.00 Fr. 6.00-10.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 7.00 Fr. 6.00-10.00
Cappuccino (regular) 5.41 Fr. 4.00-8.00
Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) 4.91 Fr. 4.00-6.00
Water (12 oz small bottle) 4.41 Fr. 4.00-6.00
Markets
Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon) 6.52 Fr. 4.54-7.57
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) 3.06 Fr. 1.42-4.54
Rice (white), (1 lb) 1.45 Fr. 0.91-2.04
Eggs (regular) (12) 6.42 Fr. 4.20-10.70
Local Cheese (1 lb) 11.41 Fr. 6.80-25.85
Chicken Fillets (1 lb) 10.41 Fr. 5.44-15.88
Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 24.46 Fr. 11.34-36.29
Apples (1 lb) 1.65 Fr. 0.91-2.27
Banana (1 lb) 1.07 Fr. 0.68-2.04
Oranges (1 lb) 1.37 Fr. 0.68-2.13
Tomato (1 lb) 1.81 Fr. 1.09-3.04
Potato (1 lb) 1.01 Fr. 0.45-1.59
Onion (1 lb) 1.17 Fr. 0.73-1.81
Lettuce (1 head) 2.14 Fr. 1.30-3.50
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 1.47 Fr. 0.62-2.40
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 12.00 Fr. 9.00-25.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 2.18 Fr. 1.30-3.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 2.76 Fr. 1.40-5.00
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) 9.00 Fr. 8.40-10.00
Transportation
Edit
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 4.45 Fr. 3.50-6.80
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 87.00 Fr. 80.00-224.00
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 8.00 Fr. 5.00-10.00
Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) 8.05 Fr. 6.44-8.05
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 80.00 Fr. 73.80-100.00
Gasoline (1 gallon) 7.00 Fr. 6.66-7.53
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 32,800.00 Fr. 32,000.00-37,100.00
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) 33,656.36 Fr. 32,000.00-37,100.00
Utilities (Monthly)
Edit
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment 275.81 Fr. 180.00-442.00
Mobile Phone Monthly Plan with Calls and 10GB+ Data 32.85 Fr. 20.00-69.00
Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 46.38 Fr. 40.00-90.00
Sports And Leisure
Edit
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 86.07 Fr. 50.00-175.00
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 44.90 Fr. 35.00-50.00
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 20.00 Fr. 18.00-25.00
Childcare
Edit
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child 2,814.62 Fr. 2,500.00-3,500.00
International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child 33,166.67 Fr. 30,000.00-50,000.00
Clothing And Shoes
Edit
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 129.96 Fr. 90.00-169.00
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 71.27 Fr. 35.00-125.00
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) 128.88 Fr. 75.00-199.00
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes 214.73 Fr. 100.00-300.00
Rent Per Month
Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 2,415.47 Fr. 1,800.00-3,500.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 1,675.31 Fr. 1,150.00-2,500.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 3,900.74 Fr. 2,800.00-6,000.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 2,720.88 Fr. 2,000.00-4,200.00
Buy Apartment Price
Edit
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre 2,213.41 Fr. 1,486.44-3,065.77
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 1,466.93 Fr. 1,114.83-2,322.56
Salaries And Financing
Edit
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 7,006.72 Fr.
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate 2.38 1.45-3.60

Prices in Zurich

This city had 2431 entries in the past 12 months by 306 different contributors.
Last update: March 2024
Distribution of Expenses Using Our Statistical Model:
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13 Comments so far
Dave on Nov 30, 2023:
Interesting. Not easy to build such statistics.
Reveals some about my Zurich and... a lot on the average US consumer: beer seems to be soooo important.... Chocolate,sugar, flour, oil do not at all ? Does the US consumer never goes to the doctor, the dentist, or has a plumber or electrician expense ?
In Switzerland, dental expenses, correction glasses, are not covered by state welfare like in France or Germany. And they cost a fortune. A visit to the doctor costs never less than 200 CHF. 20 mn by the specialist cost you easily 400. Don't even mention roentgen. Actually, healthcare is the second burden of swiss families after housing.
A plumber or electrician visit for a minor repair will cost you at least 100 CHF per hour, plus parts. You easily end up with 500 CHF for 2 guys replacing a defect tap or repairing a defect electric installation.
You do not want to know what a flat move costs..
Now a detail on "market". Your prices correspond to standard food. If you purchase organic (a lot of swiss people do then you pay between 30% more (dairy products) and 400% more (yes, that much). Organic apples are NEVER under 6,20. In summer, you only find swiss tomatoes. They cost at least 8, often more... but they have no taste. So people rather purchase cherry tomatoes which easily cost.... 30. Or 45 when they are "prime quality" and "organic". That's real Switzerland.
Werner A. on Sep 29, 2023:
Switzerland is not about spending your money, but about wasting your money. It's just not worth it, for what you get.
Anonymous on Nov 11, 2022:
As usual swiss visiting ie working in the u s complaining about their accounts being seized in Switzerland for not following the rules in the u s concerning taxation.FBAR IRS leaves no stone unturned that's a given.I seriously doubt the IRS is finished with you yet since you tried to defraud the u s. Enjoy your freedom for the moment extradition is the next step it happens often rest assured.
Anonymous on Nov 01, 2022:
No foreigners are ever appreciated or needed in the USA.It was your choice not the USA who asked you to move there in the first place.You should've stayed in your motherland as you call it since you didn't report over $10,000 USD in your bank accounts in Switzerland.You're lucky the U S government didn't throw you in prison for 5 years and fine you $250,000 usd.
You paying taxes working in the USA is something everyone does.Consider it a payment just to live in the richest place in the world and the most powerful too.
brandmarkt on Oct 28, 2022:
Brandmarkt.store ist ein Multimarkengeschäft in St. Gallen mit einer erstaunlichen Kollektion an Damenmode, die zu jedem Stil und Budget passt.
Anonymous on Aug 31, 2022:
Instead of appreciating foreigner who worked and contributed in US and holds merely either US permanent resident visa(green card) or US work visa before but they are not a US citizen and still hold the citizenship from their motherland.

Now the zombielike US thief government is brazenly punishing and scamming all of the aforementioned foreigner in their own motherland outrageously for not declaring/reporting their own bank accounts from their motherland with the least punishment of whopping 10,000 US dollar for each of their motherland bank account to the extent of confiscating half of their life savings outrageously and inhumanely.

Even worse, instead of standing with their people, their respective inhumane government from their own motherland supports the zombielike US thief government to not only freeze their own bank accounts but also rob ten of thousand of US dollar from their accounts outrageously in their own motherland.

The greatest tragedy for the humankind is happening now under the manipulation of the US thief government, thanks for all of the hypocrite countries who made it happen now by supporting the US thief government against their own blood brother and blood sister and bringing the worse future without justice for their respective future descendants.

The wealth of the people is as much as the same as the wealth of the country but allowing the zombielike US thief government to rob the wealth of your people is the greatest treason against the holy blood of your own that you share with your people.

The greatest injustice inflicted to the aforementioned foreigner by the zombielike US thief government is unforgivable until the day the US thief government is toppled.

It's time for all countries to be united to protect the interest of the citizen of their own respective country by destroying the zombielike US thief government by banning the most untrustworthy US dollar which is good for nothing but dragging the rest of the world for getting worse and worse with the most untrustworthy US dollar printer which overprints the most untrustworthy US dollar paper without any accountability to the extent of creating the most unsustainable debt of over 30 trillions US dollar for the most immoral US thief government until so far.
Anonymous on Dec 14, 2020:
Save your money and move onward through the fog,Zurich is a mess avoid it.
Geller on Sep 30, 2020:
how much is the rent for an apartment in the centre? (minimum of 90 square meters). Is 16K CHF enough to live there with high quality life? how much I can save from this?
f77741@aol.com on Jul 23, 2020:
Hello Everyone, why wasting your precious time online looking for a loan? Invest with $500 and get a return of $5,000 within 3-4 business days. Contact now
Monica on Jun 30, 2020:
Hello, I’m transferring from our Japan office Switzerland (Zurich office) in March 2021. I’m UE citizen.
The salary will be 83-86K gross + bonuses.

I’m rather cheap person and even here in Japan I was saving 50% of my salary. In Switzerland it will be difficult.

I was planning to spend:
1,7K flat
1,6K living costs (food, spending, weekly cycling / hiking trips)
1,1K investment
1,1K savings

What are your thoughts of that? Is is possible to life well like that? Or should I prepare that I will not be able to save as much?

Cheers,
anonimousss on Jun 05, 2020:
@#Anonymous, 3400 in Bratislava means you can save half of that, in Zurich with 10.000 you can save half of that, it means much better life, and when you go retired, you will have much higher pension, and home of 1 million, while in Bratislava you will have 10 times less. I could not compare Bratislava to Zurich, it is pointless in any sense. By the way I live not too far from you.
Anonymous on May 31, 2020:
UBS or Credit Suisse?

I'm considering applying for a job in either of these 2, but I'm honestly finding it difficult to "translate" my current income in Central Europe to the salaries and costs of living in Switzerland. I'm earning around 3400 EUR per month (net) here which is a pretty good salary, around 3x times the local net salary where I live (Bratislava).
Looking on Glassdoor and other sites I see salaries ranging between 110 - 170 000 CHF/year including bonus, for a position I would be looking at, but I'm guessing this is gross? Considering that, do you think I would be better or worse off in Zurich or Geneva vs. Bratislava?
Jay on Mar 01, 2020:
I am a masters in physics looking forward to, get my phd at eth zurich and research and live in Switzerland. How much would I be able to save?