Cost of living comparison
compared to
Wellington vs. East Lansing Cost of Living Summary
Wellington is 3.2% more expensive than East Lansing.
Wellington vs. East Lansing Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Wellington instead of East Lansing, you would:
pay 19.0% less for restaurants
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.50
|
$13.73
NZ$24.27
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$9.02
NZ$15.95
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.51
|
$2.42
NZ$4.28
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.17
|
$1.71
NZ$3.02
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants
pay 18.3% less for groceries
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.95
|
$2.16
NZ$3.82
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.51
|
$4.62
NZ$8.18
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.06
|
$7.12
NZ$12.59
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.79
|
$6.89
NZ$12.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.75
|
$4.37
NZ$7.73
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.45
|
$1.40
NZ$2.47
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$0.99
NZ$1.75
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$1.37
NZ$2.42
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.62
|
$2.93
NZ$5.18
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$0.95
NZ$1.69
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.54
|
$0.57
NZ$1.01
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries
pay 26.0% more for transportation
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.74
|
$7.03
NZ$12.44
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$50.00
|
$101.23
NZ$179.01
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$25,203.61
NZ$44,568.72
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.85
|
$16.19
NZ$28.63
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation
pay 4.6% more for housing
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.33
|
$53.32
NZ$94.29
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,207.50
|
$1,215.08
NZ$2,148.69
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,045.75
|
$1,141.32
NZ$2,018.26
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$134.29
|
$149.83
NZ$264.95
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of housing
pay 37.3% more for childcare
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$648.50
|
$1,055.30
NZ$1,866.14
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,136.00
|
$12,899.11
NZ$22,810.11
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare
pay 11.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$7.28
NZ$12.88
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.40
|
$3.34
NZ$5.91
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.52
|
$25.18
NZ$44.53
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$36.67
|
$38.09
NZ$67.36
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.00
|
$12.04
NZ$21.30
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 29.0% more for clothing
|
East Lansing
|
Wellington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$77.76
NZ$137.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$37.50
|
$28.15
NZ$49.78
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$70.00
|
$101.77
NZ$179.97
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$85.00
|
$152.66
NZ$269.95
|
|
East Lansing vs. Wellington - Cost of clothing
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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