Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. East London Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 2.7 times more expensive than East London.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Wellington
Groceries: pay 98.1% more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Wellington
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 4.6 times more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.5 times more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 41.0% more in Wellington

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Wellington are more expensive than in East London. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. East London Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of East London, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	East London	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.20 ZAR121.91	$14.42 NZ$24.97	+100.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.61 ZAR78.02	$9.23 NZ$15.98	+100.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 ZAR17.55	$2.46 NZ$4.26	+137.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 ZAR15.36	$1.98 NZ$3.42	+117.9%
Average			+113.9%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 98.1% more for groceries

	East London	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$0.87 ZAR14.69	$1.98 NZ$3.42	+127.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.95 ZAR66.86	$4.02 NZ$6.96	+1.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.06 ZAR68.74	$6.79 NZ$11.75	+67.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.14 ZAR36.14	$6.77 NZ$11.73	+217.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.95 ZAR33.07	$4.77 NZ$8.26	+144.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR12.24	$1.36 NZ$2.36	+88.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR11.70	$1.01 NZ$1.75	+46.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR12.16	$1.33 NZ$2.30	+85.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 ZAR11.39	$2.32 NZ$4.01	+244.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 ZAR12.11	$0.90 NZ$1.55	+25.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 ZAR8.76	$0.68 NZ$1.17	+31.0%
Average			+98.1%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	East London	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.92 ZAR83.28	$6.14 NZ$10.63	+24.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.33 ZAR377.91	$109.62 NZ$189.75	+391.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,451.86 ZAR633,921.50	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	-16.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.84 ZAR81.92	$14.55 NZ$25.19	+200.7%
Average			+149.9%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	East London	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.80 ZAR775.17	$48.75 NZ$84.39	+6.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$273.69 ZAR4,632.50	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	+353.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$336.11 ZAR5,689.04	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	+227.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.03 ZAR1,540.73	$109.37 NZ$189.31	+20.1%
Average			+151.7%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 4.6 times more for childcare

	East London	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$121.96 ZAR2,064.31	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	+530.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,321.37 ZAR73,144.79	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	+182.6%
Average			+356.4%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	East London	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 ZAR43.89	$6.63 NZ$11.48	+155.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.21 ZAR37.45	$3.54 NZ$6.13	+60.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.77 ZAR46.81	$25.67 NZ$44.44	+828.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.55 ZAR584.83	$34.12 NZ$59.06	-1.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ZAR63.39	$11.54 NZ$19.97	+208.1%
Average			+250.2%

East London vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.0% more for clothing

	East London	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.99 ZAR913.82	$69.31 NZ$119.97	+28.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.75 ZAR503.56	$46.64 NZ$80.73	+56.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.87 ZAR1,690.46	$113.30 NZ$196.13	+13.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.33 ZAR1,495.08	$146.23 NZ$253.12	+65.6%
Average			+41.0%

East London 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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