Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Des Plaines Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 8.3% cheaper than Des Plaines.

Restaurants: pay 13.1% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 3.2% less in Wellington
Transportation: pay 39.6% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 28.5% less in Wellington
Childcare: pay 51.6% less in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.5% less in Wellington
Clothing: pay 9.1% more in Wellington

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

Wellington vs. Des Plaines Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Des Plaines, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 13.1% less for restaurants

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.50	$14.42 NZ$25.15	-6.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$9.23 NZ$16.10	-23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.75	$2.46 NZ$4.29	-10.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25	$1.98 NZ$3.45	-12.1%
Average			-13.1%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% less for groceries

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$3.90	$1.98 NZ$3.45	-49.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.05	$4.02 NZ$7.02	-42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.49	$6.79 NZ$11.84	+94.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.13	$6.77 NZ$11.81	+63.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.56	$4.77 NZ$8.32	-14.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.02	$1.36 NZ$2.37	-32.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77	$1.01 NZ$1.77	+32.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85	$1.33 NZ$2.32	-28.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.09	$2.32 NZ$4.04	+11.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16	$0.90 NZ$1.56	-22.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26	$0.68 NZ$1.18	-46.2%
Average			-3.2%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.6% more for transportation

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.46	$6.14 NZ$10.71	+77.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.00	$109.62 NZ$191.17	+82.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,500.00	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	+5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68	$14.55 NZ$25.38	-7.2%
Average			+39.6%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.5% less for housing

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.85	$48.75 NZ$85.02	-33.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,700.00	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	-27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,600.00	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	-31.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$141.41	$109.37 NZ$190.73	-22.7%
Average			-28.5%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 51.6% less for childcare

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,628.82	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	-52.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,601.00	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	-50.4%
Average			-51.6%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.50	$6.63 NZ$11.57	+2.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.53	$3.54 NZ$6.17	-36.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.50	$25.67 NZ$44.77	+77.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$124.50	$34.12 NZ$59.51	-72.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$11.54 NZ$20.12	-23.1%
Average			-10.5%

Des Plaines vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.1% more for clothing

	Des Plaines	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.24	$69.31 NZ$120.87	+7.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.33	$46.64 NZ$81.33	-3.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.48	$113.30 NZ$197.60	+13.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.00	$146.23 NZ$255.02	+17.9%
Average			+9.1%

Des Plaines 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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