Cost of living comparison

Switzerland

compared to

Chile

Santiago vs. Zurich Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 68.4% cheaper than Zurich.

Restaurants: pay 65.7% less in Santiago
Groceries: pay 53.8% less in Santiago
Transportation: pay 55.3% less in Santiago
Housing: pay 78.7% less in Santiago
Childcare: pay 82.2% less in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.8% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 61.3% less in Santiago

Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Santiago.

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Santiago vs. Zurich Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santiago instead of Zurich, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.7% less for restaurants

	Zurich	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$34.80 CHF28.74	$10.23 CLF0.2600	-70.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$18.00 CHF14.87	$8.70 CLF0.2200	-51.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.76 CHF4.76	$1.71 CLF0.0400	-70.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$5.27 CHF4.35	$1.25 CLF0.0300	-76.3%
Average			-65.7%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.8% less for groceries

	Zurich	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$3.88 CHF3.20	$1.81 CLF0.0500	-53.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.44 CHF11.10	$5.64 CLF0.1400	-58.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.14 CHF6.73	$4.81 CLF0.1200	-40.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$8.45 CHF6.98	$4.18 CLF0.1000	-50.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.65 CHF10.45	$3.11 CLF0.0800	-75.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.86 CHF1.54	$0.90 CLF0.0200	-51.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.25 CHF1.03	$0.70 CLF0.0200	-44.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 CHF1.29	$0.74 CLF0.0200	-52.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.06 CHF1.70	$0.78 CLF0.0200	-62.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.14 CHF0.94	$0.49 CLF0.0100	-56.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 CHF0.82	$0.68 CLF0.0200	-31.5%
Average			-53.8%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.3% less for transportation

	Zurich	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.85 CHF7.31	$5.77 CLF0.1400	-34.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$105.60 CHF87.22	$40.93 CLF1.0200	-61.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$39,298.98 CHF32,458.28	$17,743.12 CLF443.5100	-54.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$44.58 CHF36.82	$7.37 CLF0.1800	-83.5%
Average			-55.3%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.7% less for housing

	Zurich	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.12 CHF45.52	$19.07 CLF0.4800	-65.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,960.13 CHF2,444.87	$552.81 CLF13.8200	-81.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,334.69 CHF1,928.29	$376.90 CLF9.4200	-83.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$211.70 CHF174.85	$113.86 CLF2.8500	-46.2%
Average			-78.7%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 82.2% less for childcare

	Zurich	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$3,558.83 CHF2,939.35	$432.52 CLF10.8100	-87.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$42,145.57 CHF34,809.38	$10,959.69 CLF273.9500	-74.0%
Average			-82.2%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Zurich	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$9.60 CHF7.93	$4.09 CLF0.1000	-57.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.99 CHF5.77	$3.25 CLF0.0800	-53.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.80 CHF8.92	$5.22 CLF0.1300	-51.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.03 CHF74.36	$33.92 CLF0.8500	-62.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$24.60 CHF20.32	$7.52 CLF0.1900	-69.4%
Average			-60.8%

Zurich vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 61.3% less for clothing

	Zurich	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$141.16 CHF116.59	$50.25 CLF1.2600	-64.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$58.43 CHF48.26	$28.71 CLF0.7200	-50.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$163.33 CHF134.90	$66.29 CLF1.6600	-59.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$255.33 CHF210.88	$80.84 CLF2.0200	-68.3%
Average			-61.3%

Zurich vs. Santiago - 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: Zurich vs. Santiago

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Size Comparison · See true size

Zurich is about 23 times smaller than Santiago.

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