Hamilton vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Hamilton	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2089	$3784
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4653	$9038
🏠 One person rent	$1278	$2349
🏘️ Family rent	$2143	$4207
🍽️ Food expenses	$570	$934
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2852	$6864
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	73	82
😀 Quality of life	92	96
🏙️ Population	569K	449K

The cost of living in Hamilton is 45% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 1801st and 13th ($2089 vs $3784) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 3rd in Canada and Switzerland, respectively. Check Canada vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Hamilton compared to 1.8 months in Zurich. Hamilton ranked 9th best city to live in Canada vs Zurich ranked 2nd in Switzerland, while ranked 111th and 9th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Hamilton vs Zurich

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

	Hamilton	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.2	$29.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.8	$93.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.3	$19.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.07	$9.85
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$7.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.18	$5.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1132	$2745
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1133	$1974
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2089	$5005
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1911	$3621
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.2	$165
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$254
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$53.4	$55.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.48%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10419	$20786
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3967	$8412
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.63	$4.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.6	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.1	$38.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$2.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.2	$2.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.19	$3.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$3.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.65	$9.26
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.59	$25.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$24.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$45.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$4.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.03	$3.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$5.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$2.34
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1	$1.12
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.17	$3.73
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.1	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2.77
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.4	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$22.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.78	$5.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.34	$5.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.52	$3.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.9	$88
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.8	$24.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$46.8	$144
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$56.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.9	$146
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90.5	$157
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$634	$2506
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17166	$24322

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Hamilton

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.9 mi	Burlington	$2237
26 km or 16 mi	Oakville	$2360
32 km or 20 mi	Brantford	$1901
38 km or 23 mi	Cambridge	$2087
42 km or 26 mi	Mississauga	$2357
42 km or 26 mi	Halton Hills	$2079
45 km or 28 mi	Guelph	$2073
48 km or 30 mi	Brampton	$2151
52 km or 32 mi	St. Catharines	$2046
54 km or 34 mi	Kitchener	$2144
57 km or 36 mi	Waterloo	$1999
60 km or 37 mi	Welland	$1801
60 km or 37 mi	Toronto	$2493
67 km or 42 mi	Niagara Falls	$1897
71 km or 44 mi	Vaughan	$2309
71 km or 44 mi	Niagara Falls	$1950
76 km or 47 mi	Orangeville	$1910
78 km or 49 mi	Richmond Hill	$2520
79 km or 49 mi	Grand Island	$2073
85 km or 53 mi	North Tonawanda	$2075
86 km or 53 mi	Markham	$2222
90 km or 56 mi	Stratford	$1735
92 km or 57 mi	Buffalo	$2277
92 km or 57 mi	Amherst	$2136
92 km or 57 mi	New Tecumseth	$2039
95 km or 59 mi	Ajax	$2246
97 km or 60 mi	Lockport	$2083
98 km or 61 mi	West Seneca	$2173
99 km or 62 mi	Cheektowaga	$2182
100 km or 62 mi	Hamburg	$1870
107 km or 67 mi	Orchard Park	$2035
108 km or 67 mi	Lancaster	$2136
108 km or 67 mi	Clarence	$2115
109 km or 68 mi	Oshawa	$1605
116 km or 72 mi	London	$1916
127 km or 79 mi	Erie	$1804
127 km or 79 mi	Barrie	$1480
139 km or 86 mi	Jamestown	$2036
154 km or 96 mi	Orillia	$1992
169 km or 105 mi	Owen Sound	$1680

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3494
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3353
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3367
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3457
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3345
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3281
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3328
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3414
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3305
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3310
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3360
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3556
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$4151
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3318
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2731
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2740
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1711
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2546
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3367
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2721
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3380
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3331
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1740
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1794
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$3046
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1872
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1726
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2978
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1837
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1550
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3677
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1604
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1721
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1731
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$3080
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1393
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1498
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1966
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2543
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3171