Cost of living comparison
compared to
Zurich vs. Seattle Cost of Living Summary
Zurich is 17.7% more expensive than Seattle.
Zurich vs. Seattle Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Zurich instead of Seattle, you would:
pay 38.4% more for restaurants
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$34.80
CHF28.74
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$18.00
CHF14.87
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.19
|
$5.76
CHF4.76
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$3.08
|
$5.27
CHF4.35
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of restaurants
pay 0.9% more for groceries
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$3.88
CHF3.20
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.46
|
$13.44
CHF11.10
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.51
|
$8.14
CHF6.73
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.04
|
$8.45
CHF6.98
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.43
|
$12.65
CHF10.45
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.70
|
$1.86
CHF1.54
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.87
|
$1.25
CHF1.03
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.36
|
$1.56
CHF1.29
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$2.06
CHF1.70
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.60
|
$1.14
CHF0.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.47
|
$0.99
CHF0.82
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of groceries
pay 33.3% more for transportation
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.48
|
$8.85
CHF7.31
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$108.00
|
$105.60
CHF87.22
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,318.00
|
$39,298.98
CHF32,458.28
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.12
|
$44.58
CHF36.82
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of transportation
pay 11.3% more for housing
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$89.33
|
$55.12
CHF45.52
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,454.06
|
$2,960.13
CHF2,444.87
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,955.80
|
$2,334.69
CHF1,928.29
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$233.08
|
$211.70
CHF174.85
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of housing
pay 26.5% more for childcare
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,012.40
|
$3,558.83
CHF2,939.35
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,129.44
|
$42,145.57
CHF34,809.38
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of childcare
pay 16.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$9.60
CHF7.93
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.66
|
$6.99
CHF5.77
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.56
|
$10.80
CHF8.92
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$78.87
|
$90.03
CHF74.36
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$24.60
CHF20.32
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 40.4% more for clothing
|
Seattle
|
Zurich
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$77.77
|
$141.16
CHF116.59
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$54.88
|
$58.43
CHF48.26
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$127.75
|
$163.33
CHF134.90
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$162.20
|
$255.33
CHF210.88
|
|
Seattle vs. Zurich - Cost of clothing
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
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Compare further: Seattle vs. Zurich
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cost of living in United States vs. Switzerland.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Switzerland.
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