Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

Switzerland

Lugano vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Lugano is 3.9% more expensive than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 83.1% more in Lugano
Groceries: pay 10.8% more in Lugano
Transportation: pay 11.0% more in Lugano
Housing: pay 21.0% less in Lugano
Childcare: pay 39.5% more in Lugano
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4% less in Lugano
Clothing: pay 15.1% more in Lugano

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

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Lugano vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lugano instead of Sydney, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 83.1% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Lugano
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$24.76	$34.20 CHF28.22	+96.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$16.84	$19.20 CHF15.84	+62.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.00	$5.40 CHF4.46	+92.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.15	$4.30 CHF3.55	+94.1%
Average			+83.1%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.8% more for groceries

	Sydney	Lugano
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.05	$3.62 CHF2.99	+27.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.44	$12.97 CHF10.70	+118.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.13	$8.34 CHF6.88	+29.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.90	$7.15 CHF5.90	+28.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.17	$12.95 CHF10.69	+198.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.57	$1.47 CHF1.21	-18.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.07	$0.75 CHF0.62	-48.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.22	$1.13 CHF0.93	-27.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.82	$2.88 CHF2.38	+45.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.10	$0.82 CHF0.68	-44.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.52	$0.96 CHF0.79	-10.0%
Average			+10.8%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.0% more for transportation

	Sydney	Lugano
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.68	$8.56 CHF7.06	+58.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$215.30	$61.20 CHF50.49	-59.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,100.95	$34,679.10 CHF28,612.96	+20.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.10	$51.36 CHF42.37	+216.3%
Average			+11.0%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.0% less for housing

	Sydney	Lugano
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$79.96	$48.75 CHF40.22	-13.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,580.82	$1,702.62 CHF1,404.80	-32.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,480.32	$1,289.97 CHF1,064.32	-26.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$239.63	$231.70 CHF191.17	+37.5%
Average			-21.0%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of housing

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pay 39.5% more for childcare

	Sydney	Lugano
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,123.34	$3,199.92 CHF2,640.18	+45.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,456.80	$37,999.01 CHF31,352.15	+33.6%
Average			+39.5%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Lugano
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$10.89	$9.60 CHF7.92	+25.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.65	$4.70 CHF3.88	+18.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$63.37	$10.80 CHF8.91	-75.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$107.09	$70.70 CHF58.33	-6.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$24.76	$21.60 CHF17.82	+24.1%
Average			-2.4%

Sydney vs. Lugano - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.1% more for clothing

	Sydney	Lugano
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$111.91	$108.00 CHF89.11	+37.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$99.04	$48.00 CHF39.60	-31.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$158.46	$164.00 CHF135.31	+47.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$189.52	$168.00 CHF138.61	+26.1%
Average			+15.1%

Sydney vs. Lugano - 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

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