Columbus vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Columbus	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2140	$3857
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5154	$9099
🏠 One person rent	$1207	$2413
🏘️ Family rent	$2066	$4235
🍽️ Food expenses	$667	$926
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$235
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3790	$8550
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	73	82
😀 Quality of life	88	97
🏙️ Population	906K	452K

The cost of living in Columbus is 45% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 1634th and 11th ($2140 vs $3857) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1324th and 2nd in the United States and Switzerland, respectively. Check the United States vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Columbus compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Columbus ranked 73rd best city to live in the United States vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 266th and 6th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Columbus vs Zurich

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

	Columbus	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$30.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.2	$79.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$18.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.36	$10
☕ Cappuccino	$5.1	$7.52
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$5.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1354	$2736
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$919	$2037
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2171	$5021
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1698	$3627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$178
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$213	$272
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$60.4	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.08%	1.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3423	$17464
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1817	$7981
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$5.72
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.7	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$44.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.92	$2.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$2.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.07	$3.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.49	$3.75
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.28	$9.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$24.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$27.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$43
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$4.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$2.98
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.1	$3.72
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$3.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$2.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$0.95
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.03	$3.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.5	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.77	$2.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.99	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.23	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.74	$5.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.09	$5.19
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$3.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$82.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.2	$24.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$86.1	$149
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.2	$55.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.5	$136
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90.8	$154
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1464	$2480
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20945	$26431

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2116
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2075
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$2088
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2120
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$2064
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2117
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1897
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$2021
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2018
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1928
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$2008
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1919
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1836
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1849
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1941
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1626
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1824
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1663
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1811
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1833
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1567
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1880
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1908
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1855
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1579
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1906
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1898
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1745
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1836
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1933
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1707
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1843
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1617
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2066
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1599
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1900
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1881
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1495
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1818
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1936

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3514
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3281
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3348
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3492
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3239
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3231
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3264
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3441
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3267
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3312
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3519
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$4491
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3286
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2641
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2611
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1679
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2644
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3288
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2638
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3321
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3199
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1703
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1751
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2986
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1807
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1695
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$3120
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1784
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1533
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3587
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1582
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1700
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1700
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$3034
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1385
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1507
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$2091
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2459
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3117