Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Zürich vs Singapore

One person needs about €3,790 a month in Zürich and €3,070 in Singapore, rent included — Singapore is 19% cheaper overall.

🇨🇭
Zürich
Switzerland · 440K pop
vs
🇸🇬
Singapore
Singapore · 5.9M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€2,600€2,300
12% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€600€420
30% cheaper
Eating out (meal)
€30€10
67% cheaper
Internet (100mbps)
€60€40
33% cheaper
Avg salary (tech)
€9,000€6,000
33% lower
Coworking / mo
€450€380
16% cheaper
ZürichSingapore
Rent€2,600€2,300
Groceries€600€420
Transport€90€80
Utilities€200€150

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 Singapore the way you live in Zürich on €3,000, you need

€2,430/ month net

19% less than today (-€570)

Zürich today
Basket €3,790 · left over -€790 (-26%)
Singapore at the matched salary
Basket €3,070 · left over -€640 (-26%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 195% over in Singapore (strong) vs 237% in Zürich. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇨🇭 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

🇸🇬 Singapore

Low tax and a great base for Asia, undone by rent and car costs.

Monthly budget: €3,070

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

Should you move to Zürich or Singapore?

On salary, Zürich pays more for tech roles (€9,000 versus €6,000 a month), so the money left over after costs is €5,210 in Zürich at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €2,600 in Zürich against €2,300 in Singapore. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Zürich at 66 and Singapore at 68 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Zürich comparisons

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