Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Apia Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 53.8% more expensive than Apia.

Restaurants: pay 7.3% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 90.8% more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 73.0% more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 58.6% more in Wellington

The cost of groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Wellington are more expensive than in Apia. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Apia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Apia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.3% less for restaurants

	Apia	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$59.13 WST165.55	$14.93 NZ$26.06	-74.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.72 WST30.01	$8.96 NZ$15.63	-16.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 WST6.00	$2.57 NZ$4.49	+20.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.52 WST4.26	$2.15 NZ$3.76	+41.6%
Average			-7.3%

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 90.8% more for groceries

	Apia	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 WST1.98	$1.96 NZ$3.43	+177.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$4.15 NZ$7.24
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 WST18.76	$6.98 NZ$12.18	+4.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	??	$6.84 NZ$11.94
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$5.06 NZ$8.83
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.40 NZ$2.44
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.09 NZ$1.90
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.48 NZ$2.58
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.61 NZ$4.56
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.01 NZ$1.77
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.84 NZ$1.46
Average			+90.8%

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	Apia	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$6.42 NZ$11.20
Monthly public transit pass	??	$127.57 NZ$222.63
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$34,339.84 NZ$59,929.92
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$18.22 NZ$31.79

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay (unknown) more for housing

	Apia	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$54.27 NZ$94.71
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,487.35 NZ$2,595.72
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$1,335.17 NZ$2,330.14
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$134.11 NZ$234.04

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Apia	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$871.44 NZ$1,520.83
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$12,649.75 NZ$22,076.36

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 73.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Apia	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.36 WST15.00	$7.17 NZ$12.51	+33.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.61 WST4.50	$3.41 NZ$5.96	+112.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$24.46 NZ$42.68
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$39.85 NZ$69.54
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$12.24 NZ$21.37
Average			+73.0%

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 58.6% more for clothing

	Apia	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.56 WST127.56	$75.78 NZ$132.25	+66.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.45 WST102.05	$55.09 NZ$96.15	+51.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.34 WST191.34	$119.44 NZ$208.45	+74.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.11 WST255.12	$129.60 NZ$226.17	+42.2%
Average			+58.6%

Apia vs. Wellington - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2025

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