Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lucerne vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Lucerne is 72.7% more expensive than Rome.

Restaurants
pay 86.3% more in Lucerne
Groceries
pay 44.8% more in Lucerne
Transportation
pay 46.0% more in Lucerne
Housing
pay 73.2% more in Lucerne
Childcare
pay 3.9 times more in Lucerne
Entertainment and Sports
pay 88.5% more in Lucerne
Clothing
pay 82.8% more in Lucerne

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

Lucerne vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lucerne instead of Rome, you would:

pay 86.3% more for restaurants

 
Rome
Lucerne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.80
€14.99
$33.00
CHF27.23
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€9.99
$16.20
CHF13.37
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.96
€2.64
$5.70
CHF4.70

Improve prices ·

pay 44.8% more for groceries

 
Rome
Lucerne
Bread
1 loaf
$2.22
€1.99
$3.34
CHF2.76
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.42
€6.63
$13.20
CHF10.89
Milk (1 gallon) $6.49
€5.79
$8.15
CHF6.72

Improve prices ·

pay 46.0% more for transportation

 
Rome
Lucerne
Gasoline (1 gallon) $8.04
€7.18
$8.39
CHF6.92
Monthly public transit pass $39.19
€34.98
$97.80
CHF80.69
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,551.60
€31,731.16
$42,358.90
CHF34,949.40

Improve prices ·

pay 73.2% more for housing

 
Rome
Lucerne
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$31.87
€28.44
$65.00
CHF53.63
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,208.81
€1,078.90
$2,097.95
CHF1,730.97
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $873.39
€779.54
$1,739.95
CHF1,435.60

Improve prices ·

pay 3.9 times more for childcare

 
Rome
Lucerne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $487.21
€434.85
$2,833.13
CHF2,337.55
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,862.20
€15,050.15
$43,921.86
CHF36,238.96

Improve prices ·

pay 88.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
Rome
Lucerne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.60
€5.00
$8.40
CHF6.93
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.07
€1.85
$6.24
CHF5.15
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.28
€6.50
$10.80
CHF8.91

Improve prices ·

pay 82.8% more for clothing

 
Rome
Lucerne
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$71.31
€63.65
$138.00
CHF113.86
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$36.31
€32.41
$87.00
CHF71.78
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$83.63
€74.64
$145.20
CHF119.80

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Italy vs. Switzerland. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Italy and Switzerland.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Lucerne or Rome. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.