Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

New Zealand

Auckland vs. Birmingham Cost of Living Summary

Auckland is 9.1% cheaper than Birmingham.

Restaurants: pay 14.8% less in Auckland
Groceries: pay 22.2% less in Auckland
Transportation: pay 29.9% more in Auckland
Housing: pay 17.5% less in Auckland
Childcare: pay 5.6% less in Auckland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0% more in Auckland
Clothing: pay 1.0% less in Auckland

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

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Auckland vs. Birmingham Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Auckland instead of Birmingham, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.8% less for restaurants

	Birmingham	Auckland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.50	$14.01 NZ$24.77	-20.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.00	$8.96 NZ$15.85	-0.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.70	$1.98 NZ$3.50	-26.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.33	$1.76 NZ$3.12	-24.5%
Average			-14.8%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.2% less for groceries

	Birmingham	Auckland
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04	$2.20 NZ$3.90	-27.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.76	$4.29 NZ$7.59	-9.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.99	$7.26 NZ$12.84	+82.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.16	$6.26 NZ$11.08	+50.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.04	$4.51 NZ$7.97	-10.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.94	$1.30 NZ$2.29	-55.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.61	$0.95 NZ$1.69	+55.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.58	$1.34 NZ$2.37	-62.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.49	$2.63 NZ$4.65	+5.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.92	$0.95 NZ$1.68	-50.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.40	$0.70 NZ$1.24	-70.9%
Average			-22.2%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.9% more for transportation

	Birmingham	Auckland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53	$6.98 NZ$12.34	+97.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.00	$121.78 NZ$215.36	+52.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,617.00	$25,206.41 NZ$44,573.67	-27.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.73	$17.93 NZ$31.70	+14.0%
Average			+29.9%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.5% less for housing

	Birmingham	Auckland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$70.00	$50.70 NZ$89.65	-27.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,706.33	$1,312.12 NZ$2,320.29	-23.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,224.50	$1,217.10 NZ$2,152.26	-0.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$218.90	$138.93 NZ$245.68	-36.5%
Average			-17.5%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of housing

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pay 5.6% less for childcare

	Birmingham	Auckland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,350.00	$1,121.14 NZ$1,982.56	-17.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,061.33	$19,362.77 NZ$34,240.10	+7.2%
Average			-5.6%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Birmingham	Auckland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.00	$6.72 NZ$11.89	+34.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.74	$3.41 NZ$6.02	-40.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.79	$27.17 NZ$48.05	+177.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.00	$44.47 NZ$78.65	+11.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.00	$12.88 NZ$22.78	-19.5%
Average			+3.0%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.0% less for clothing

	Birmingham	Auckland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.50	$79.70 NZ$140.94	+36.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.75	$40.10 NZ$70.91	+3.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.75	$92.74 NZ$164.01	-14.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$137.25	$109.54 NZ$193.71	-20.2%
Average			-1.0%

Birmingham vs. Auckland - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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