Cost of living comparison

Iowa, USA

compared to

Switzerland

Switzerland vs. Iowa Cost of Living Summary

Switzerland is 66.7% more expensive than Iowa.

Restaurants: pay 80.9% more in Switzerland
Groceries: pay 30.8% more in Switzerland
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Switzerland
Housing: pay 61.1% more in Switzerland
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Switzerland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.5% more in Switzerland
Clothing: pay 94.3% more in Switzerland

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

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Switzerland vs. Iowa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 80.9% more for restaurants

	Iowa	Switzerland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.44	$30.33 CHF25.05	+73.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.71	$18.14 CHF14.98	+69.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.66	$5.29 CHF4.37	+98.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93	$4.78 CHF3.95	+147.5%
Average			+80.9%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.8% more for groceries

	Iowa	Switzerland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.86	$3.50 CHF2.89	+22.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29	$12.96 CHF10.70	+145.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.19	$8.10 CHF6.69	+153.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.35	$7.57 CHF6.25	+126.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.87	$12.18 CHF10.06	+150.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.11	$1.60 CHF1.32	-24.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65	$0.91 CHF0.75	+39.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.01	$1.25 CHF1.03	-37.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93	$2.25 CHF1.85	+16.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07	$0.85 CHF0.70	-20.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.29	$0.94 CHF0.78	-26.8%
Average			+30.8%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Iowa	Switzerland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.52	$8.57 CHF7.08	+143.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.83	$118.70 CHF98.04	+240.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,592.26	$40,149.55 CHF33,160.79	+23.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.02	$42.12 CHF34.79	+180.4%
Average			+119.0%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.1% more for housing

	Iowa	Switzerland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$67.97	$58.17 CHF48.05	-14.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,095.70	$1,813.65 CHF1,497.95	+65.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$867.32	$1,535.97 CHF1,268.60	+77.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$143.75	$206.49 CHF170.54	+43.6%
Average			+61.1%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Iowa	Switzerland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,080.37	$2,648.71 CHF2,187.65	+145.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,409.87	$33,203.62 CHF27,423.94	+71.1%
Average			+104.8%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Iowa	Switzerland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.61	$8.68 CHF7.17	+88.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.52	$5.95 CHF4.92	+7.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.16	$10.85 CHF8.96	+18.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.55	$93.96 CHF77.60	+52.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.85	$22.75 CHF18.79	+64.3%
Average			+47.5%

Iowa vs. Switzerland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 94.3% more for clothing

	Iowa	Switzerland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.95	$135.00 CHF111.50	+159.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.14	$65.94 CHF54.46	+72.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.30	$152.86 CHF126.25	+73.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.49	$196.87 CHF162.60	+83.2%
Average			+94.3%

Iowa 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: Iowa vs. Switzerland

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Quality of Life Comparison · 5 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Iowa is about 3.5 times bigger than Switzerland.

Moving from Iowa to Switzerland · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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