Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

New Zealand

Auckland vs. Charlotte Cost of Living Summary

Auckland is 12.3% cheaper than Charlotte.

Restaurants: pay 21.1% less in Auckland
Groceries: pay 20.0% less in Auckland
Transportation: pay 21.1% more in Auckland
Housing: pay 19.1% less in Auckland
Childcare: pay 23.0% less in Auckland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.6% less in Auckland
Clothing: pay 6.3% more in Auckland

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

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Auckland vs. Charlotte Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.1% less for restaurants

	Charlotte	Auckland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$14.01 NZ$24.77	-22.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00	$8.96 NZ$15.85	-18.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67	$1.98 NZ$3.50	-25.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.21	$1.76 NZ$3.12	-20.1%
Average			-21.1%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.0% less for groceries

	Charlotte	Auckland
Bread 1 loaf	$4.07	$2.20 NZ$3.90	-45.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.29	$4.29 NZ$7.59	-48.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70	$7.26 NZ$12.84	+96.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.35	$6.26 NZ$11.08	+44.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.16	$4.51 NZ$7.97	-37.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.42	$1.30 NZ$2.29	-46.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66	$0.95 NZ$1.69	+44.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.10	$1.34 NZ$2.37	-36.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.09	$2.63 NZ$4.65	+26.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.70	$0.95 NZ$1.68	-44.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.41	$0.70 NZ$1.24	-50.5%
Average			-20.0%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% more for transportation

	Charlotte	Auckland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.79	$6.98 NZ$12.34	+83.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$88.00	$121.78 NZ$215.36	+38.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,535.00	$25,206.41 NZ$44,573.67	-29.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.91	$17.93 NZ$31.70	+0.1%
Average			+21.1%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.1% less for housing

	Charlotte	Auckland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$81.11	$50.70 NZ$89.65	-37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,898.22	$1,312.12 NZ$2,320.29	-30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,371.75	$1,217.10 NZ$2,152.26	-11.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.74	$138.93 NZ$245.68	+4.7%
Average			-19.1%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of housing

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pay 23.0% less for childcare

	Charlotte	Auckland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,481.94	$1,121.14 NZ$1,982.56	-24.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,700.00	$19,362.77 NZ$34,240.10	-21.6%
Average			-23.0%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Charlotte	Auckland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$6.72 NZ$11.89	+12.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.73	$3.41 NZ$6.02	-40.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.00	$27.17 NZ$48.05	+171.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.76	$44.47 NZ$78.65	-23.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.00	$12.88 NZ$22.78	-19.5%
Average			-9.6%

Charlotte vs. Auckland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.3% more for clothing

	Charlotte	Auckland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.70	$79.70 NZ$140.94	+57.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.28	$40.10 NZ$70.91	+7.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.83	$92.74 NZ$164.01	-2.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$141.77	$109.54 NZ$193.71	-22.7%
Average			+6.3%

Charlotte 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

Compare further: Charlotte vs. Auckland

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