Bern vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Bern	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2945	$2096
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7244	$4619
🏠 One person rent	$1636	$1231
🏘️ Family rent	$2802	$1937
🍽️ Food expenses	$912	$576
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$166
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$7481	$3333
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	80	50
😀 Quality of life	96	92
🏙️ Population	137K	1.02M

The cost of living in Bern is 41% more expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 237th and 1744th ($2945 vs $2096) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 35th and 24th in Switzerland and Canada, respectively. Check Switzerland vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.5 months in Bern compared to 1.6 months in Ottawa. Bern ranked 6th best city to live in Switzerland vs Ottawa ranked 11th in Canada, while ranked 27th and 129th 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	$26.7	$16.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$108	$63.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$20.2	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.74	$5.52
☕ Cappuccino	$6.4	$3.81
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$5.2	$2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1700	$1295
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1330	$1036
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3110	$2109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2315	$1647
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$173	$95.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$268	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.7	$47.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.57%	5.23%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$21955	$4937
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8426	$3196
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.58	$2.84
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$98.7	$95.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$44.2	$15.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.21	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.35	$2.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.7	$2.55
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.01	$2.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$8.24	$3.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$25.1	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$28.9	$13.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$40.8	$15.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$3.9
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$1.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.16	$3.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.41	$3.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$3.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.71	$0.99
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.29	$2.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$13.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.13	$2.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.4	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.1	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.95	$4.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.28	$1.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.33	$1.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$83	$42.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$25.8	$10.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$128	$66
💇 Haircut, simple	$51.5	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$132	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$163	$89
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2454	$783
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23412	$15527

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	$2956
25 km or 16 mi	Thun	$2725
26 km or 16 mi	Biel/Bienne	$2576
28 km or 17 mi	Fribourg	$2755
40 km or 25 mi	Neuchatel	$2732
43 km or 27 mi	Interlaken	$2865
48 km or 30 mi	Bulle	$2998
50 km or 31 mi	La Chaux-de-Fonds	$2567
64 km or 40 mi	Kriens	$3175
64 km or 40 mi	Yverdon-les-Bains	$3123
66 km or 41 mi	Lucerne	$3231
66 km or 41 mi	Emmen	$3197
67 km or 42 mi	Aarau	$2489
67 km or 42 mi	Allschwil	$3041
69 km or 43 mi	Basel	$2964
70 km or 44 mi	Montreux	$3399
71 km or 44 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
72 km or 45 mi	Riehen	$3565
73 km or 45 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
73 km or 45 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
76 km or 47 mi	Lorrach	$1694
77 km or 48 mi	Lausanne	$3069
80 km or 50 mi	Sion	$2397
80 km or 50 mi	Renens	$3040
85 km or 53 mi	Zug	$3836
86 km or 54 mi	Baar	$3381
87 km or 54 mi	Baden	$3240
88 km or 55 mi	Wettingen	$3207
88 km or 55 mi	Dietikon	$3239
88 km or 55 mi	Belfort	$1467
89 km or 56 mi	Mulhouse	$1400
92 km or 57 mi	Altstetten	$3392
94 km or 58 mi	Horgen	$3282
95 km or 59 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
95 km or 59 mi	Zurich	$3691
98 km or 61 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
102 km or 63 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
104 km or 65 mi	Bulach	$3153
106 km or 66 mi	Uster	$3249
109 km or 68 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1802
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1660
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1836
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1935
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1782
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1850
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1753
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1806
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1835
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1780
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1785
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1838
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1763
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1829
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1437
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1822
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1853
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1867
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1930
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1719
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1835
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1820
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1649
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1805
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1814
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1864
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1903
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1766
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1828
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1892
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1842
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1911
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2055
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1820
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1767
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1786
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1671
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1869
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1822