Cost of living comparison

compared to

Switzerland vs. Iceland Cost of Living Summary

Switzerland is 67.4% more expensive than Iceland overall.

Restaurants: pay 38.7% more in Switzerland
Groceries: pay 9.0% more in Switzerland
Transportation: pay 24.0% more in Switzerland
Housing: pay 32.4% more in Switzerland
Childcare: pay 4.6 times more in Switzerland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.1% more in Switzerland
Clothing: pay 1.9% more in Switzerland

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, transportation, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Switzerland are more expensive than in Iceland. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Switzerland.

Switzerland vs. Iceland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Switzerland instead of Iceland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.7% more for restaurants

	Iceland	Switzerland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.52 ISK3,394	$32.37 CHF25.99	+22.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$21.32 ISK2,728	$18.82 CHF15.11	-11.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.11 ISK398	$5.26 CHF4.23	+69.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.72 ISK348	$4.76 CHF3.82	+75.1%
Average			+38.7%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.0% more for groceries

	Iceland	Switzerland
Bread 1 loaf	$3.80 ISK487	$3.73 CHF2.99	-2.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.44 ISK1,208	$14.66 CHF11.77	+55.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.78 ISK996	$8.19 CHF6.58	+5.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.71 ISK859	$7.43 CHF5.96	+10.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$11.22 ISK1,436	$14.43 CHF11.59	+28.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.50 ISK191	$1.69 CHF1.36	+13.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.15 ISK147	$1.10 CHF0.89	-3.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.41 ISK181	$1.35 CHF1.08	-4.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.34 ISK300	$2.94 CHF2.36	+25.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.65 ISK211	$1.16 CHF0.93	-29.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.09 ISK140	$1.10 CHF0.88	+0.7%
Average			+9.0%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.0% more for transportation

	Iceland	Switzerland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.65 ISK1,235	$8.41 CHF6.75	-12.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$79.56 ISK10,182	$119.36 CHF95.82	+50.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,144.25 ISK6,289,481	$40,637.10 CHF32,622.53	-17.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.55 ISK3,270	$45.06 CHF36.17	+76.3%
Average			+24.0%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.4% more for housing

	Iceland	Switzerland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$95.65 ISK12,241	$59.20 CHF47.52	-38.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,289.17 ISK292,968	$1,797.02 CHF1,442.60	-21.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,830.04 ISK234,209	$1,562.03 CHF1,253.96	-14.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.15 ISK8,338	$197.97 CHF158.93	+203.9%
Average			+32.4%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of housing

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pay 4.6 times more for childcare

	Iceland	Switzerland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$334.67 ISK42,830	$2,700.86 CHF2,168.19	+707.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,711.08 ISK3,930,404	$33,359.10 CHF26,779.92	+8.6%
Average			+357.8%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Iceland	Switzerland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.14 ISK1,426	$8.73 CHF7.00	-21.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.62 ISK720	$6.04 CHF4.85	+7.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.90 ISK1,778	$11.28 CHF9.06	-18.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$78.17 ISK10,004	$101.44 CHF81.43	+29.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.75 ISK2,144	$24.10 CHF19.35	+43.9%
Average			+8.1%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.9% more for clothing

	Iceland	Switzerland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$130.91 ISK16,753	$142.30 CHF114.24	+8.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.83 ISK7,913	$70.55 CHF56.63	+14.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$163.81 ISK20,965	$162.86 CHF130.74	-0.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$237.31 ISK30,371	$202.63 CHF162.67	-14.6%
Average			+1.9%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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