Reykjavik vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Reykjavik	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3205	$3857
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6762	$9099
🏠 One person rent	$1954	$2413
🏘️ Family rent	$2956	$4235
🍽️ Food expenses	$904	$926
🚐 Transport expenses	$100	$235
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4423	$8550
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	53	82
😀 Quality of life	88	97
🏙️ Population	139K	452K

The cost of living in Reykjavik is 17% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 119th and 11th ($3205 vs $3857) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Iceland and Switzerland, respectively. Check Iceland vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Reykjavik compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Reykjavik ranked 1st best city to live in Iceland vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 258th and 6th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/reykjavik/zurich.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Reykjavik vs Zurich infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/reykjavik/zurich" target="_blank">Reykjavik vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Reykjavik vs Zurich

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

	Reykjavik	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$28.3	$30.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$97.9	$79.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$20	$18.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.4	$10
☕ Cappuccino	$6.5	$7.52
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.26	$5.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2129	$2736
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1743	$2037
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3328	$5021
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2660	$3627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.2	$178
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.3	$272
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$82	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.69%	1.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7748	$17464
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6175	$7981
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$5.38	$5.72
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$90.3	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$28.9	$44.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.12	$2.31
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.04	$2.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.21	$3.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.46	$3.75
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.99	$9.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.2	$24.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.8	$27.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$44.1	$43
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.41	$4.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.98
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$3.72
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$3.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$2.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$0.95
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3	$3.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$23.2	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.72	$2.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.5	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.76	$5.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.18	$5.19
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.63	$3.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$90.3	$82.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.2	$24.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$92.8	$149
💇 Haircut, simple	$47.2	$55.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$146	$136
👟 Brand Sneakers	$178	$154
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$472	$2480
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30029	$26431

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Reykjavik

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	Kopavogur	$3092
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Hafnarfjorur	$3106
38 km or 24 mi	Keflavik	$2581
247 km or 153 mi	Akureyri	$2921
795 km or 494 mi	Torshavn	$2017
1204 km or 748 mi	Inverness	$2005
1230 km or 764 mi	Elgin	$1523
1300 km or 808 mi	Derry	$1646
1309 km or 813 mi	Greenock	$1647
1321 km or 821 mi	Aberdeen	$1806
1325 km or 823 mi	Perth	$1640
1328 km or 825 mi	Stirling	$1835
1331 km or 827 mi	Paisley	$1885
1333 km or 828 mi	Alloa	$1842
1337 km or 831 mi	Glasgow	$2114
1339 km or 832 mi	Dundee	$1593
1340 km or 833 mi	Omagh	$1763
1341 km or 833 mi	Cumbernauld	$1611
1342 km or 834 mi	Irvine	$1704
1348 km or 838 mi	East Kilbride	$1878
1349 km or 838 mi	Kilmarnock	$1600
1351 km or 839 mi	Dunfermline	$1750
1353 km or 841 mi	Hamilton	$1831
1357 km or 843 mi	Ayr	$1586
1360 km or 845 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1794
1365 km or 848 mi	Livingston	$1760
1372 km or 852 mi	Edinburgh	$2295
1382 km or 859 mi	Newtownabbey	$1820
1387 km or 862 mi	Belfast	$1878
1390 km or 864 mi	Bangor	$1485
1391 km or 864 mi	Lisburn	$1923
1401 km or 871 mi	Alesund	$2021
1413 km or 878 mi	Galway	$3003
1425 km or 886 mi	Dundalk	$2264
1431 km or 889 mi	Dumfries	$1456
1433 km or 891 mi	Nuuk	$2508
1441 km or 895 mi	Molde	$2101
1454 km or 903 mi	Kristiansund	$1944
1455 km or 904 mi	Drogheda	$2518
1455 km or 904 mi	Bergen	$2336

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