Panama City vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Panama City	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1583	$3784
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3567	$9038
🏠 One person rent	$976	$2349
🏘️ Family rent	$1633	$4207
🍽️ Food expenses	$432	$934
🚐 Transport expenses	$69.1	$216
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$936	$6864
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	42	82
😀 Quality of life	69	96
🏙️ Population	410K	449K

The cost of living in Panama City is 58% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 3744th and 13th ($1583 vs $3784) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Panama and Switzerland, respectively. Check Panama vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Panama City compared to 1.8 months in Zurich. Panama City ranked 1st best city to live in Panama vs Zurich ranked 2nd in Switzerland, while ranked 4400th 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 Panama City vs Zurich

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

	Panama City	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$29.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$45.3	$93.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.39	$19.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.97	$9.85
☕ Cappuccino	$3.94	$7.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.71	$5.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1062	$2745
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$794	$1974
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1911	$5005
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1347	$3621
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$165
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$128	$254
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.4	$55.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.26%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3048	$20786
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1725	$8412
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$4.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.2	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.4	$38.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.93	$2.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.84	$2.3
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.23	$3.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$3.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.26	$9.26
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$25.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.57	$24.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$45.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$4.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$3.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$5.15
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$2.34
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.12
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$3.73
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.6	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.44	$2.77
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.04	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.16	$22.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.03	$5.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.96	$5.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.04	$3.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.8	$88
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.3	$24.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50.2	$144
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.5	$56.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.6	$146
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.3	$157
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$503	$2506
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13402	$24322

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Panama City

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Balboa	$1425
16 km or 9.9 mi	Tocumen	$1403
26 km or 16 mi	Pacora	$1395
34 km or 21 mi	La Chorrera	$977
59 km or 37 mi	Colon	$1179
108 km or 67 mi	Penonome	$1153
154 km or 96 mi	Chitre	$1154
190 km or 118 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
321 km or 199 mi	Turbo	$764
329 km or 204 mi	David	$922
398 km or 247 mi	Monteria	$703
403 km or 250 mi	Limon	$1332
406 km or 252 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$764
452 km or 281 mi	Sincelejo	$572
463 km or 288 mi	Cartagena	$1155
483 km or 300 mi	Quibdo	$757
494 km or 307 mi	Cartago	$1290
513 km or 319 mi	San Jose	$1454
518 km or 322 mi	Heredia	$1378
521 km or 324 mi	Magangue	$707
526 km or 327 mi	Bello	$915
529 km or 329 mi	Alajuela	$1323
530 km or 329 mi	Medellin	$1071
534 km or 332 mi	Envigado	$992
558 km or 347 mi	Soledad	$950
559 km or 348 mi	Barranquilla	$909
595 km or 370 mi	Puntarenas	$825
617 km or 383 mi	Cartago	$738
617 km or 383 mi	Cienaga	$874
623 km or 387 mi	Manizales	$717
627 km or 390 mi	Santa Teresa	$1273
627 km or 390 mi	Pereira	$789
631 km or 392 mi	Santa Marta	$971
632 km or 393 mi	Buenaventura	$825
636 km or 395 mi	Minca	$887
651 km or 404 mi	Salento	$709
652 km or 405 mi	Armenia	$719
657 km or 408 mi	Tulua	$537
658 km or 409 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1040
675 km or 419 mi	Liberia	$957

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