Beijing vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Beijing	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1029	$3691
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2645	$8778
🏠 One person rent	$589	$2299
🏘️ Family rent	$1040	$4069
🍽️ Food expenses	$246	$919
🚐 Transport expenses	$98	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$658	$8151
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	100	81
😀 Quality of life	73	100
🏙️ Population	21.9M	449K

The cost of living in Beijing is 72% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 5355th and 23rd ($1029 vs $3691) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 3rd in China and Switzerland, respectively. Check China vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Beijing compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 2546th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs Zurich infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs Zurich

Prices for goods and services in Beijing and Zurich are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Beijing	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.24	$27.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.8	$90.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.16	$20.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$9.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.82	$7.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.49	$5.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$850	$2543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$469	$1977
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1549	$4563
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$3579
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.5	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.5	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.3	$52.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	2.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14720	$24740
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6180	$9963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$4.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.61	$33.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$2.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$3.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$3.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$8.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$24.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$23.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$53.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$2.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$3.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$5.27
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$2.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$1.11
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.18	$3.93
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.33	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.79	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.04	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.55	$5.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.7	$4.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$3.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.4	$83.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.35	$23.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.7	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.03	$55.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$138
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.2	$150
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$713	$2616
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22823	$22875

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$707
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$724
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$750
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$634
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$634
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$646
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$565
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$660
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$456
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$641
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$688
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$652
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$558
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$694
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$638
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$619
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$533
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$574
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$616
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$614
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$564
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$505
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$535
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$615
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$527
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$523
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$527
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$454
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$580
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$505
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$748
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$499
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$558
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$480
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$642
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$654
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$601
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$550
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$629
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$741

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3392
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3239
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3282
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3249
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3153
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3207
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3207
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3180
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3381
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3836
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2747
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2699
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2489
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3197
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2650
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3231
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3175
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1705
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1766
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2924
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2694
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1810
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1537
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3565
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1593
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1694
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2964
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1397
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1839
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2443
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3041