Cost of living comparison

compared to

Palmerston North vs. Invercargill Cost of Living Summary

Palmerston North is 18.0% more expensive than Invercargill.

Restaurants: pay 36.0% more in Palmerston North
Groceries: pay 1.0% more in Palmerston North
Transportation: pay 4.5% more in Palmerston North
Housing: pay 8.0% more in Palmerston North
Childcare: pay 71.8% more in Palmerston North
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.4% less in Palmerston North
Clothing: pay 10.4% more in Palmerston North

The cost of childcare, restaurants, clothing, housing, transportation, and groceries in Palmerston North are more expensive than in Invercargill.

Palmerston North vs. Invercargill Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palmerston North instead of Invercargill, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.0% more for restaurants

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$14.42 NZ$24.97
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.37 NZ$14.48	$9.91 NZ$17.16	+18.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 NZ$2.83	$2.36 NZ$4.08	+44.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 NZ$2.40	$2.01 NZ$3.48	+45.3%
Average			+36.0%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.0% more for groceries

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Bread 1 loaf	$1.80 NZ$3.11	$1.99 NZ$3.45	+10.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.12 NZ$7.13	$3.89 NZ$6.74	-5.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.10 NZ$10.55	$7.12 NZ$12.32	+16.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.84 NZ$10.10	$5.13 NZ$8.88	-12.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.89	$3.99 NZ$6.91	+17.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 NZ$2.04	$1.07 NZ$1.86	-8.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.72	$0.80 NZ$1.39	-19.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 NZ$2.04	$1.08 NZ$1.87	-8.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 NZ$2.79	$1.48 NZ$2.55	-8.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 NZ$1.49	$0.91 NZ$1.58	+5.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 NZ$1.34	$0.95 NZ$1.65	+22.9%
Average			+1.0%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.5% more for transportation

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.09 NZ$10.55	$6.11 NZ$10.57	+0.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$57.69 NZ$99.87	$70.50 NZ$122.03	+22.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,519.23 NZ$42,442.86	$22,211.80 NZ$38,448.69	-9.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.00 NZ$31.16	$18.92 NZ$32.76	+5.1%
Average			+4.5%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.0% more for housing

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$47.54 NZ$82.29	$45.43 NZ$78.65	-4.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$615.39 NZ$1,065.25	$807.70 NZ$1,398.13	+31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$561.55 NZ$972.04	$663.47 NZ$1,148.47	+18.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$74.34 NZ$128.68	$64.71 NZ$112.00	-13.0%
Average			+8.0%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of housing

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pay 71.8% more for childcare

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$559.62 NZ$968.71	$961.55 NZ$1,664.45	+71.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$4,843.04 NZ$8,383.31
Average			+71.8%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.77 NZ$9.99	$6.44 NZ$11.14	+11.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 NZ$5.56	$3.32 NZ$5.74	+3.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$21.29 NZ$36.85	$17.88 NZ$30.96	-16.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.27 NZ$48.93	$22.69 NZ$39.28	-19.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$8.65 NZ$14.98	-6.3%
Average			-5.4%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.4% more for clothing

	Invercargill	Palmerston North
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$63.46 NZ$109.85	$66.35 NZ$114.85	+4.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.65 NZ$58.26	$36.06 NZ$62.42	+7.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.12 NZ$124.83	$87.26 NZ$151.05	+21.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.77 NZ$139.81	$87.98 NZ$152.30	+8.9%
Average			+10.4%

Invercargill vs. Palmerston North - 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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