Rio de Janeiro vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Rio de Janeiro	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$940	$3691
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2347	$8778
🏠 One person rent	$458	$2299
🏘️ Family rent	$770	$4069
🍽️ Food expenses	$258	$919
🚐 Transport expenses	$137	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$442	$8151
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	95	81
😀 Quality of life	67	100
🏙️ Population	6.21M	449K

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 75% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 6006th and 23rd ($940 vs $3691) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Brazil and Switzerland, respectively. Check Brazil vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd best city to live in Brazil vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 4818th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Rio de Janeiro vs Zurich infographic

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

Prices in Rio de Janeiro vs Zurich

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

	Rio de Janeiro	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.45	$27.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.1	$90.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.48	$20.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.85	$9.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.36	$7.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.31	$5.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$501	$2543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$324	$1977
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$881	$4563
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$563	$3579
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.9	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.1	$52.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	2.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1966	$24740
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1150	$9963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$4.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.5	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.88	$33.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$2.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.48	$3.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$3.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.09	$8.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.65	$24.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$23.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.22	$53.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$3.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$5.27
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$1.11
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$3.93
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.11	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.99	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.4	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.18	$5.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.06	$4.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.98	$3.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.7	$83.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.37	$23.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.04	$55.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.1	$138
👟 Brand Sneakers	$74.6	$150
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$531	$2616
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12076	$22875

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$739
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$653
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$648
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$810
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$590
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$706
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$498
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$564
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$445
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$539
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$557
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$530
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$683
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$525
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$550
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$506
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$603
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$625
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$631
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$540
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$673
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$632
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$643
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$613
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$541
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$518
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$620
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$536
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$625
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$611
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$618
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$633
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$559
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$644
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$657
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$530
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$492
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$819
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$586

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3392
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3239
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3282
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3249
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3153
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3207
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3207
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3180
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3381
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3836
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2747
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2699
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2489
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3197
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2650
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3231
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3175
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1705
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1766
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2924
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2694
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1810
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1537
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3565
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1593
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1694
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2964
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1397
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1839
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2443
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3041