Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. Austin Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 7.3% cheaper than Austin.

Restaurants: pay 17.4% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 10.1% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 47.0% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 38.2% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 45.9% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.3% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 4.5% more in New Zealand

The cost of transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in New Zealand are more expensive than in Austin. Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, and groceries are lower in New Zealand.

New Zealand vs. Austin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Austin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.4% less for restaurants

	Austin	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00	$14.45 NZ$25.01	-27.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00	$9.14 NZ$15.82	-16.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67	$2.11 NZ$3.65	-21.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.09	$2.02 NZ$3.49	-3.7%
Average			-17.4%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.1% less for groceries

	Austin	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40	$1.74 NZ$3.01	-48.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.17	$3.88 NZ$6.72	-37.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.93	$6.34 NZ$10.97	+61.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85	$5.96 NZ$10.31	+22.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.15	$4.01 NZ$6.93	-22.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20	$1.18 NZ$2.04	-46.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70	$0.95 NZ$1.65	+36.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96	$1.29 NZ$2.24	-33.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.75	$2.11 NZ$3.65	+20.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.18	$0.85 NZ$1.47	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.24	$0.80 NZ$1.38	-35.5%
Average			-10.1%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 47.0% more for transportation

	Austin	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79	$6.08 NZ$10.52	+118.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.38	$74.52 NZ$128.99	+80.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,900.00	$24,777.66 NZ$42,890.20	-11.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.67	$17.81 NZ$30.83	+0.8%
Average			+47.0%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.2% less for housing

	Austin	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.20	$50.00 NZ$86.54	-26.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,134.75	$978.36 NZ$1,693.54	-54.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,434.41	$810.06 NZ$1,402.22	-43.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.86	$95.66 NZ$165.59	-28.5%
Average			-38.2%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 45.9% less for childcare

	Austin	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,343.18	$635.34 NZ$1,099.78	-52.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,093.75	$13,463.91 NZ$23,306.07	-39.1%
Average			-45.9%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Austin	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$6.04 NZ$10.46	+0.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.56	$3.35 NZ$5.80	-39.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.00	$23.12 NZ$40.03	+156.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.33	$37.72 NZ$65.30	-43.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$10.72 NZ$18.56	-28.5%
Average			+9.3%

Austin vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.5% more for clothing

	Austin	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.74	$65.22 NZ$112.90	+23.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.79	$39.23 NZ$67.91	-10.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.55	$90.28 NZ$156.27	+3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.47	$119.43 NZ$206.73	+1.7%
Average			+4.5%

Austin vs. New Zealand - 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: December 2025

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