Bern vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Bern	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2512	$2236
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6867	$4945
🏠 One person rent	$1268	$1327
🏘️ Family rent	$2589	$2038
🍽️ Food expenses	$860	$603
🚐 Transport expenses	$116	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6657	$3150
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	80	50
😀 Quality of life	95	89
🏙️ Population	135K	1.02M

The cost of living in Bern is 12% more expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 743rd and 1290th ($2512 vs $2236) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 44th and 23rd in Switzerland and Canada, respectively. Check Switzerland vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.6 months in Bern compared to 1.4 months in Ottawa. Bern ranked 6th best city to live in Switzerland vs Ottawa ranked 12th in Canada, while ranked 33rd and 167th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bern vs Ottawa infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/bern/ottawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bern vs Ottawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bern/ottawa" target="_blank">Bern vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bern vs Ottawa

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

	Bern	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$88.7	$74.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$17.7	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.39	$5.89
☕ Cappuccino	$5.76	$3.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.78	$2.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1341	$1288
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$956	$1129
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2706	$2131
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2140	$1732
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$185	$113
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$286	$173
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50	$53.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.54%	6.47%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14168	$5242
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12333	$4784
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.57	$2.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$93.3	$94.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$42.3	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.14	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$2.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.14	$2.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$3.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.71	$3.47
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$25.9	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$29.8	$12.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$45.5	$14.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.89	$4.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$3.26
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.69	$4.06
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.79
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$2.98
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.67	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.01	$2.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.7	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.03	$2.56
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.4	$13.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$14	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.66	$4.37
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.08	$2.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.04	$1.54
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$76.3	$44.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$22.9	$11.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$151	$63.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$40.9	$15.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$138	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$165	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2516	$1037
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22088	$20100

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bern

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.5 km or 2.2 mi	Koniz	$2592
25 km or 16 mi	Thun	$2646
26 km or 16 mi	Biel/Bienne	$2517
28 km or 17 mi	Fribourg	$2738
40 km or 25 mi	Neuchatel	$2424
43 km or 27 mi	Interlaken	$2746
48 km or 30 mi	Bulle	$2823
50 km or 31 mi	La Chaux-de-Fonds	$2373
64 km or 40 mi	Kriens	$2989
64 km or 40 mi	Yverdon-les-Bains	$2940
66 km or 41 mi	Lucerne	$3068
66 km or 41 mi	Emmen	$3020
67 km or 42 mi	Aarau	$2207
67 km or 42 mi	Allschwil	$2843
69 km or 43 mi	Basel	$2741
70 km or 44 mi	Montreux	$3257
71 km or 44 mi	Saint-Louis	$1399
72 km or 45 mi	Riehen	$3415
73 km or 45 mi	Rheinfelden	$1551
73 km or 45 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1538
76 km or 47 mi	Lorrach	$1531
77 km or 48 mi	Lausanne	$2890
80 km or 50 mi	Sion	$2052
80 km or 50 mi	Renens	$2871
85 km or 53 mi	Zug	$3627
86 km or 54 mi	Baar	$3320
87 km or 54 mi	Baden	$3206
88 km or 55 mi	Wettingen	$3135
88 km or 55 mi	Dietikon	$3048
88 km or 55 mi	Belfort	$1384
89 km or 56 mi	Mulhouse	$1366
92 km or 57 mi	Altstetten	$3139
94 km or 58 mi	Horgen	$3163
95 km or 59 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1559
95 km or 59 mi	Zurich	$3392
98 km or 61 mi	Wadenswil	$3145
102 km or 63 mi	Dubendorf	$3129
104 km or 65 mi	Bulach	$3013
106 km or 66 mi	Uster	$3057
109 km or 68 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3011

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1542
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2336
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1677
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$2004
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$2002
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1828
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1921
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1805
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1839
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1897
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1799
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1785
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1908
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1751
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1898
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1791
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1828
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1912
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1964
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1996
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1773
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1890
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1871
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1686
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1849
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1861
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1912
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1954
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1821
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1873
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1927
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1896
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2057
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1878
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1823
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1845
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1740
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1912
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1884