Washington vs Zurich - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Washington	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3149	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7865	$8076
🏠 One person rent	$2045	$1966
🏘️ Family rent	$4037	$3466
🍽️ Food expenses	$738	$863
🚐 Transport expenses	$167	$211
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5859	$7242
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	100	81
😀 Quality of life	94	98
🏙️ Population	690K	449K

The cost of living in Washington is 4% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 96th and 59th ($3149 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 86th and 2nd in the United States and Switzerland, respectively. Check the United States vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Washington compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. Washington ranked 5th best city to live in the United States vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 43rd and 5th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Washington vs Zurich infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Washington vs Zurich

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

	Washington	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.3	$26
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$86.7	$111
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$17.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.65	$8.89
☕ Cappuccino	$5.66	$6.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$5.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2298	$2155
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1750	$1671
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4716	$4080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3555	$2967
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$148
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$187	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$50.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.6%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7543	$24070
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6152	$5867
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$4.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$94.2	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.3	$41.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.91	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.54	$2.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.92	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.44	$7.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.2	$22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$22.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$45.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.25	$3.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$2.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$2.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.03	$5.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.21	$2.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.72	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.99	$3.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.4	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.25	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.6	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.31	$21.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.77	$5.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.98	$3.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.58	$4.01
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$105	$72.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.2	$21.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$114	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.9	$54.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$76	$120
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2464	$2498
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24653	$29610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979

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	$3233
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