City comparison
Cost of living in New York vs Zürich
One person needs about €4,270 a month in New York and €3,790 in Zürich, rent included — Zürich is 11% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Zürich the way you live in New York on €3,000, you need
€2,663/ month net
11% less than today (-€337)
- New York today
- Basket €4,270 · left over -€1,270 (-42%)
- Zürich at the matched salary
- Basket €3,790 · left over -€1,127 (-42%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 237% over in Zürich (very strong) vs 192% in New York. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇺🇸 New York
Extreme on both sides of the ledger: top-of-market pay, top-of-market burn rate.
Monthly budget: €4,270
Sources: US BLS + Census ACS, CPI-U (NY area) & ACS median gross rent (2024) · 502 community reports
🇨🇭 Zürich
Highest salaries anywhere, and a grocery bill that will still shock you.
Monthly budget: €3,790
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to New York or Zürich?
On salary, Zürich pays more for tech roles (€9,000 versus €8,200 a month), so the money left over after costs is €5,210 in Zürich at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €3,200 in New York against €2,600 in Zürich. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores New York at 61 and Zürich at 66 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.