Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cham and Cebu

For one person, living is cheaper in Cebu: $915 a month against $3,527 in Cham, rent and utilities included – about $31,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

171

Cost of Living Index in Cham
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Cham Living Index
44

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index

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Cham

🇨🇭 Switzerland

$3,527

/mo nomad

Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$915

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cham and in Cebu

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Cham and in Cebu actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,527 in Cham versus $915 in Cebu.

Cham $3,527
Cebu $915

Estimated couple costs with rent: $5,432 in Cham versus $1,418 in Cebu.

Cham $5,432
Cebu $1,418

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $7,337 in Cham versus $1,921 in Cebu.

Cham $7,337
Cebu $1,921

Living in Cham is roughly 286% more expensive than in Cebu, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cham is 160% above, Cebu is 33% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$30.40 CHF 25.04

$3.05 ₱192

896.72%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$122 CHF 101

$24.00 ₱1,511

409.71%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$18.19 CHF 14.98

$3.99 ₱251

355.89%

Cappuccino

$6.17 CHF 5.09

$2.50 ₱157

146.80%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.52 CHF 4.55

$1.54 ₱97.1

258.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.81 CHF 3.96

$0.50 ₱31.37

862.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$8.62 CHF 7.10

$1.78 ₱112

384.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.60 CHF 5.44

$2.17 ₱136

204.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.14 CHF 1.76

$2.00 ₱126

7.00%

White Bread (500g)

$3.80 CHF 3.13

$1.37 ₱86.2

177.37%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.86 CHF 3.18

$1.03 ₱64.9

274.76%

Eggs

$7.26 CHF 5.98

$2.03 ₱128

257.64%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$26.70 CHF 21.99

$10.20 ₱642

161.76%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$28.37 CHF 23.37

$4.45 ₱280

537.53%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$42.48 CHF 34.98

$7.67 ₱483

453.85%

Apples (1kg)

$4.22 CHF 3.48

$3.31 ₱208

27.49%

Banana (1kg)

$2.12 CHF 1.75

$1.46 ₱91.8

45.21%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.28 CHF 2.70

$2.32 ₱146

41.38%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.59 CHF 3.78

$1.49 ₱94.0

208.05%

Potato (1kg)

$2.42 CHF 1.99

$2.34 ₱147

3.42%

Onion (1kg)

$2.16 CHF 1.78

$1.94 ₱122

11.34%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.46 CHF 2.03

$1.16 ₱73.0

112.07%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 CHF 0.95

$0.68 ₱42.89

70.59%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$10.98 CHF 9.05

$2.99 ₱188

267.22%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.73 CHF 10.48

$6.24 ₱393

104.01%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.78 CHF 2.29

$1.23 ₱77.3

126.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.14 CHF 2.59

$1.73 ₱109

81.50%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.95 CHF 4.08

$0.23 ₱14.36

2052.17%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$149 CHF 122

$12.34 ₱777

1104.70%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.29 CHF 4.36

$0.79 ₱49.96

569.62%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.40 CHF 2.80

$0.22 ₱13.86

1445.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$61.7 CHF 50.8

$4.54 ₱286

1258.37%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.32 CHF 1.91

$1.32 ₱82.9

75.76%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$39.0K CHF 32.1K

$21.0K ₱1.3M

85.81%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$39.1K CHF 32.2K

$19.4K ₱1.2M

101.29%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$279 CHF 230

$119 ₱7,464

135.34%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$30.94 CHF 25.48

$14.22 ₱896

117.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$55.9 CHF 46.04

$27.47 ₱1,730

103.49%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$90.5 CHF 74.5

$32.31 ₱2,034

180.10%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$49.67 CHF 40.90

$6.50 ₱409

664.15%

Cinema Ticket

$25.71 CHF 21.18

$5.40 ₱340

376.11%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$1,791 CHF 1,475

$276 ₱17.4K

548.89%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$32.2K CHF 26.5K

$7,866 ₱495.3K

308.99%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$143 CHF 118

$49.37 ₱3,108

190.42%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$58.7 CHF 48.31

$24.58 ₱1,548

138.61%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$168 CHF 138

$76.6 ₱4,825

119.06%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$253 CHF 208

$58.9 ₱3,706

328.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,739 CHF 1,432

$503 ₱31.7K

245.33%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,475 CHF 1,214

$305 ₱19.2K

384.23%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,977 CHF 2,452

$1,075 ₱67.7K

176.96%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,600 CHF 2,142

$632 ₱39.8K

311.39%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$16.9K CHF 13.9K

$2,870 ₱180.7K

487.30%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$13.3K CHF 10.9K

$1,877 ₱118.2K

607.31%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$336 ₱21.1K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.07

7.2

-71.25%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cham: October 19, 2026

Last update for Cebu: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cham

$1.5K 41.8%

Cebu

$305 33.3% 79.3% $1.2K

Groceries & Markets

Cham

$604 17.1%

Cebu

$210 22.9% 65.3% $394

Eating Out

Cham

$470 13.3%

Cebu

$88 9.6% 81.3% $382

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cham

$366 10.4%

Cebu

$160 17.5% 56.2% $206

Clothing & Footwear

Cham

$280 7.9%

Cebu

$94 10.3% 66.4% $186

Getting Around

Cham

$191 5.4%

Cebu

$15 1.7% 92.1% $176

Sport & Entertainment

Cham

$142 4%

Cebu

$43 4.7% 69.6% $99

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,739 in Cham and $503 in Cebu. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $122 in Cham vs $24.00 in Cebu for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $604 vs $210 per month, with Cebu cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇭 Cham

🇵🇭 Cebu

🕒 Local time

20:25 8:25 PM

02:25 2:25 AM

6 h ahead of Cham

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

17,060

964,169

💱 Currency

Swiss Franc CHF Fr

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

📈 Exchange rate

1 CHF = 1.21 USD

1 CHF = 1.08 EUR

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

PHP, USD, EUR to CHF – Swiss Franc Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇭 Swiss Franc (Fr)

Swiss Franc exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.824 CHF (1 CHF = 1.21 USD). 1 EUR = 0.926 CHF (1 CHF = 1.08 EUR).

Philippine Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 62.96 PHP (100 PHP = 1.59 USD). 1 EUR = 70.78 PHP (100 PHP = 1.41 EUR).

USD to CHF in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cham Cebu 11,010 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Cham
Cebu

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Cham vs Cebu: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cebu is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 286% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You'd need roughly $5,290 in Cham and $1,372 in Cebu to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,739 in Cham versus $503 in Cebu. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $3,527 per month in Cham versus $915 in Cebu – a 286% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cebu runs roughly 1105% less than in Cham. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $915 in Cebu versus $3,527 in Cham, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cebu but tight or insufficient in Cham. The gap between the two cities makes Cebu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Cebu is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Cham, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Cham and Cebu are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Cebu gentler on the wallet – expenses run 286% less than in Cham. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.