Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boston vs. Zurich Cost of Living Summary
Boston is 9.8% cheaper than Zurich.
Boston vs. Zurich Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boston instead of Zurich, you would:
pay 29.9% less for restaurants
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$34.80
CHF28.74
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$18.00
CHF14.87
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$5.76
CHF4.76
|
$3.09
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$5.27
CHF4.35
|
$2.27
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.9% more for groceries
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.88
CHF3.20
|
$4.49
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$13.44
CHF11.10
|
$7.82
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$8.14
CHF6.73
|
$4.68
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$8.45
CHF6.98
|
$6.09
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$12.65
CHF10.45
|
$6.71
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.86
CHF1.54
|
$3.36
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.25
CHF1.03
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.56
CHF1.29
|
$2.48
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.06
CHF1.70
|
$3.43
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.14
CHF0.94
|
$2.01
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.99
CHF0.82
|
$1.85
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of groceries
pay 34.2% less for transportation
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.85
CHF7.31
|
$4.24
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$105.60
CHF87.22
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$39,298.98
CHF32,458.28
|
$36,584.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$44.58
CHF36.82
|
$16.60
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of transportation
pay 10.9% more for housing
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$55.12
CHF45.52
|
$86.64
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,960.13
CHF2,444.87
|
$3,347.20
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,334.69
CHF1,928.29
|
$2,653.85
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$211.70
CHF174.85
|
$186.11
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of housing
pay 16.6% less for childcare
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,558.83
CHF2,939.35
|
$2,900.09
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,145.57
CHF34,809.38
|
$36,004.38
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of childcare
pay 18.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$9.60
CHF7.93
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.99
CHF5.77
|
$5.26
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.80
CHF8.92
|
$12.54
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$90.03
CHF74.36
|
$85.75
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$24.60
CHF20.32
|
$16.00
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 30.7% less for clothing
|
Zurich
|
Boston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$141.16
CHF116.59
|
$76.37
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$58.43
CHF48.26
|
$52.38
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$163.33
CHF134.90
|
$118.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$255.33
CHF210.88
|
$167.81
|
|
Zurich vs. Boston - 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: Zurich vs. Boston
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cost of living in Switzerland vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Switzerland and United States.
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