Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Christchurch Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 30.8% more expensive than Christchurch.

Restaurants: pay 11.0% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 30.5% less in Wellington
Transportation: pay 36.6% less in Wellington
Housing: pay 32.0% more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 88.1% more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 55.9% more in Wellington

The cost of entertainment and sports, childcare, clothing, and housing in Wellington are more expensive than in Christchurch. Expenses including transportation, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Wellington. Notably, entertainment and sports and childcare are significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Christchurch Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.0% less for restaurants

	Christchurch	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$50.00 BBD100.00	$14.42 NZ$24.97	-71.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.50 BBD25.00	$9.23 NZ$15.98	-26.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.97 BBD3.93	$2.46 NZ$4.26	+25.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.54 BBD3.08	$1.98 NZ$3.42	+28.3%
Average			-11.0%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.5% less for groceries

	Christchurch	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$2.62 BBD5.25	$1.98 NZ$3.42	-24.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.00 BBD7.99	$4.02 NZ$6.96	+0.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.15 BBD26.31	$6.79 NZ$11.75	-48.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.90 BBD9.80	$6.77 NZ$11.73	+38.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.16 BBD16.33	$4.77 NZ$8.26	-41.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 BBD2.77	$1.36 NZ$2.36	-1.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.25 BBD2.49	$1.01 NZ$1.75	-18.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.63 BBD7.26	$1.33 NZ$2.30	-63.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.79 BBD7.58	$2.32 NZ$4.01	-38.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.72 BBD5.44	$0.90 NZ$1.55	-67.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.27 BBD4.54	$0.68 NZ$1.17	-70.1%
Average			-30.5%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.6% less for transportation

	Christchurch	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.76 BBD15.52	$6.14 NZ$10.63	-20.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$109.62 NZ$189.75
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.50 BBD61.00	$14.55 NZ$25.19	-52.3%
Average			-36.6%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.0% more for housing

	Christchurch	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 BBD110.00	$48.75 NZ$84.39	-11.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$825.00 BBD1,650.00	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	+50.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$700.00 BBD1,400.00	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	+57.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$109.37 NZ$189.31
Average			+32.0%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 88.1% more for childcare

	Christchurch	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$445.00 BBD890.00	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	+72.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00 BBD12,000.00	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	+103.5%
Average			+88.1%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Christchurch	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.50 BBD5.00	$6.63 NZ$11.48	+165.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.00 BBD10.00	$3.54 NZ$6.13	-29.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.10 BBD16.20	$25.67 NZ$44.44	+217.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$34.12 NZ$59.06
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$11.54 NZ$19.97
Average			+117.7%

Christchurch vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.9% more for clothing

	Christchurch	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.50 BBD115.00	$69.31 NZ$119.97	+20.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$46.64 NZ$80.73
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.00 BBD200.00	$113.30 NZ$196.13	+13.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.50 BBD125.00	$146.23 NZ$253.12	+134.0%
Average			+55.9%

Christchurch 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: December 2025

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