Dubai vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dubai	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2379	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5357	$8076
🏠 One person rent	$1601	$1966
🏘️ Family rent	$2918	$3466
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$863
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$211
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3975	$7242
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	65	81
😀 Quality of life	87	98
🏙️ Population	3.33M	449K

The cost of living in Dubai is 28% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 989th and 59th ($2379 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 288th and 5th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dubai vs Zurich infographic

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Prices in Dubai vs Zurich

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

	Dubai	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$26
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$58.4	$111
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.28	$17.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$12.6	$8.89
☕ Cappuccino	$6.1	$6.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$5.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1909	$2155
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1243	$1671
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3782	$4080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2332	$2967
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$134	$148
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$91.5	$50.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.45%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6638	$24070
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3507	$5867
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$4.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.2	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$41.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$2.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.22	$7.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.52	$22.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$45.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$3.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$2.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$2.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$5.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.17	$3.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.1	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.03	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.1	$21.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.68	$5.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.63	$3.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.41	$4.01
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.1	$72.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$21.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$77.2	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.79	$54.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.6	$120
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$903	$2498
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13241	$29610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dubai

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8 mi	Sharjah	$1494
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2240
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1239
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1844
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$967
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$780
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$1779
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1090
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1709
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$547
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$548
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$518
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$514
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1280
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1223
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1243
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$515
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$1068
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$585
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1056
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$589
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$897
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$563
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$605
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$464
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$901
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$546
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$557
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$551
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$529
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$829
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$573
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$536

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3037
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$2988
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$2934
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$2976
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$2974
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$2873
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$2970
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$2960
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3032
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$2893
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3059
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3099
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3426
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$2861
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2379
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2419
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1472
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2252
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$2897
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2262
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$2931
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$2891
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1555
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1609
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2614
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1731
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1447
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2464
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1641
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1382
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3234
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1453
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1434
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1442
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2643
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1267
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1286
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1656
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2352
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$2717