Bern vs Philadelphia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bern	Philadelphia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2381	$2597
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6677	$6395
🏠 One person rent	$1185	$1516
🏘️ Family rent	$2375	$2783
🍽️ Food expenses	$829	$737
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$188
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6312	$4131
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	80	99
😀 Quality of life	94	90
🏙️ Population	135K	1.6M

The cost of living in Bern is 8% less expensive than in Philadelphia. Cities ranked 987th and 664th ($2381 vs $2597) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 42nd and 610th in Switzerland and the United States, respectively. Check Switzerland vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.7 months in Bern compared to 1.6 months in Philadelphia. Bern ranked 8th best city to live in Switzerland vs Philadelphia ranked 28th in the United States, while ranked 36th and 138th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bern vs Philadelphia infographic

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Prices in Bern vs Philadelphia

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

	Bern	Philadelphia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$23.7	$20.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$88.2	$94.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$16.9	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.52	$5.96
☕ Cappuccino	$5.64	$5.09
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.62	$2.56
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1326	$1616
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$889	$1200
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2668	$3231
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1931	$2273
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$163	$161
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$252	$247
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.3	$71.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	2.51%	6.74%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$13401	$3404
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11590	$2379
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.31	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$89.3	$95.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$41	$15.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$0.94
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.94	$4.25
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$9.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.88	$4.09
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.7	$19.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$29.9	$12.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$42.1	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.57	$6.02
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$5.12
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.34	$5.41
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$3.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$3.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.74	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$3.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.6	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$1.93
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$13.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$9.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.41	$5.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.83	$3.89
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.8	$2.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.2	$50.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$21.8	$14.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$102
💇 Haircut, simple	$46.7	$24.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$131	$52.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$156	$89.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2981	$2066
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27477	$19774

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	$2457
25 km or 16 mi	Thun	$2481
26 km or 16 mi	Biel/Bienne	$2331
28 km or 17 mi	Fribourg	$2470
40 km or 25 mi	Neuchatel	$2308
43 km or 27 mi	Interlaken	$2637
48 km or 30 mi	Bulle	$2658
50 km or 31 mi	La Chaux-de-Fonds	$2287
64 km or 40 mi	Kriens	$2891
64 km or 40 mi	Yverdon-les-Bains	$2776
66 km or 41 mi	Lucerne	$2931
66 km or 41 mi	Emmen	$2897
67 km or 42 mi	Aarau	$2252
67 km or 42 mi	Allschwil	$2717
69 km or 43 mi	Basel	$2643
70 km or 44 mi	Montreux	$3088
71 km or 44 mi	Saint-Louis	$1286
72 km or 45 mi	Riehen	$3234
73 km or 45 mi	Rheinfelden	$1447
73 km or 45 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1442
76 km or 47 mi	Lorrach	$1434
77 km or 48 mi	Lausanne	$2732
80 km or 50 mi	Sion	$1950
80 km or 50 mi	Renens	$2738
85 km or 53 mi	Zug	$3426
86 km or 54 mi	Baar	$3099
87 km or 54 mi	Baden	$3059
88 km or 55 mi	Wettingen	$2970
88 km or 55 mi	Dietikon	$2934
88 km or 55 mi	Belfort	$1360
89 km or 56 mi	Mulhouse	$1249
92 km or 57 mi	Altstetten	$3037
94 km or 58 mi	Horgen	$2976
95 km or 59 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1472
95 km or 59 mi	Zurich	$3296
98 km or 61 mi	Wadenswil	$2960
102 km or 63 mi	Dubendorf	$2988
104 km or 65 mi	Bulach	$2873
106 km or 66 mi	Uster	$2974
109 km or 68 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$2861

Cities near Philadelphia

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Camden	$2625
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2596
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2683
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2621
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2415
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2610
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2574
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2604
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2477
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2567
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2600
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2591
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2608
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2368
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2600
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2611
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2787
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2493
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2423
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2582
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2541
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2353
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2683
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2676
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2085
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2653
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$2901
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2642
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2739
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2919
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2819
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2723
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2782
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2849
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2303
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2264
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2880
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2320
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2557
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2693