Cost of living comparison

Iceland

compared to

Switzerland

Switzerland vs. Iceland Cost of Living Summary

Switzerland is 2.9% more expensive than Iceland overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.7% more in Switzerland
Groceries: pay 4.2% less in Switzerland
Transportation: pay 11.1% more in Switzerland
Housing: pay 3.8% less in Switzerland
Childcare: pay 95.0% more in Switzerland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.2% more in Switzerland
Clothing: pay 4.4% less in Switzerland

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

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Switzerland vs. Iceland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.7% more for restaurants

	Iceland	Switzerland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$28.88 ISK3,499	$30.33 CHF25.05	+5.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$22.83 ISK2,767	$18.14 CHF14.98	-20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.25 ISK393	$5.29 CHF4.37	+62.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.01 ISK365	$4.78 CHF3.95	+58.8%
Average			+3.7%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.2% less for groceries

	Iceland	Switzerland
Bread 1 loaf	$3.55 ISK431	$3.50 CHF2.89	-1.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.11 ISK1,226	$12.96 CHF10.70	+28.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ISK944	$8.10 CHF6.69	+4.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.92 ISK839	$7.57 CHF6.25	+9.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$11.01 ISK1,334	$12.18 CHF10.06	+10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 ISK173	$1.60 CHF1.32	+12.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.23 ISK148	$0.91 CHF0.75	-25.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.42 ISK172	$1.25 CHF1.03	-11.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.60 ISK315	$2.25 CHF1.85	-13.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.71 ISK207	$0.85 CHF0.70	-50.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.76 ISK92	$0.94 CHF0.78	+24.8%
Average			-4.2%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.1% more for transportation

	Iceland	Switzerland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.09 ISK980	$8.57 CHF7.08	+6.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.58 ISK9,765	$118.70 CHF98.04	+47.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$48,967.53 ISK6M	$40,149.55 CHF33,160.79	-18.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.24 ISK3,179	$42.12 CHF34.79	+60.5%
Average			+11.1%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.8% less for housing

	Iceland	Switzerland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$98.24 ISK11,905	$58.17 CHF48.05	-40.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,335.24 ISK283K	$1,813.65 CHF1,497.95	-22.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,824.40 ISK221K	$1,535.97 CHF1,268.60	-15.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.34 ISK8,766	$206.49 CHF170.54	+185.4%
Average			-3.8%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of housing

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pay 95.0% more for childcare

	Iceland	Switzerland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$833.66 ISK101K	$2,648.71 CHF2,187.65	+217.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,752.37 ISK3M	$33,203.62 CHF27,423.94	+19.6%
Average			+95.0%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Iceland	Switzerland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.37 ISK1,378	$8.68 CHF7.17	-23.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.90 ISK715	$5.95 CHF4.92	+0.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.85 ISK1,679	$10.85 CHF8.96	-21.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$83.64 ISK10,136	$93.96 CHF77.60	+12.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.92 ISK2,171	$22.75 CHF18.79	+27.0%
Average			+1.2%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.4% less for clothing

	Iceland	Switzerland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$134.47 ISK16,295	$135.00 CHF111.50	+0.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.25 ISK7,664	$65.94 CHF54.46	+4.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$159.03 ISK19,271	$152.86 CHF126.25	-3.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$237.19 ISK28,742	$196.87 CHF162.60	-17.0%
Average			-4.4%

Iceland vs. Switzerland - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Iceland vs. Switzerland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 34.5% more likely to be unemployed in Switzerland

Size Comparison · See true size

Iceland is about 2.5 times bigger than Switzerland.

Moving from Iceland to Switzerland · OECD 2023

50 people moved from Iceland to Switzerland.

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