Cost of living comparison

Maine, USA

compared to

New Zealand

New Zealand vs. Maine Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 23.9% cheaper than Maine.

Restaurants: pay 27.4% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 29.6% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 31.5% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 35.4% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 55.2% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.8% less in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 13.3% less in New Zealand

Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in New Zealand.

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New Zealand vs. Maine Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Maine, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.4% less for restaurants

	Maine	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.33	$13.26 NZ$23.46	-34.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.42	$8.99 NZ$15.90	-21.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.73	$2.04 NZ$3.61	-25.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15	$1.83 NZ$3.24	-14.6%
Average			-27.4%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.6% less for groceries

	Maine	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$4.62	$1.73 NZ$3.05	-62.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.97	$3.78 NZ$6.69	-52.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.08	$6.47 NZ$11.45	+58.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.98	$5.79 NZ$10.24	+45.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.09	$3.83 NZ$6.77	-24.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.64	$1.22 NZ$2.15	-54.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68	$0.94 NZ$1.67	+38.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.30	$1.32 NZ$2.33	-42.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75	$2.20 NZ$3.89	-20.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.65	$0.89 NZ$1.57	-46.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.55	$0.67 NZ$1.18	-57.1%
Average			-29.6%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.5% more for transportation

	Maine	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.62	$6.34 NZ$11.21	+75.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.00	$83.43 NZ$147.53	+85.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,208.33	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	-25.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.58	$17.20 NZ$30.41	+10.4%
Average			+31.5%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.4% less for housing

	Maine	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.00	$49.30 NZ$87.18	-31.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,503.33	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	-35.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,236.67	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02	-31.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$176.74	$95.64 NZ$169.12	-45.9%
Average			-35.4%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 55.2% less for childcare

	Maine	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,748.20	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	-59.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$34,668.85	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	-51.1%
Average			-55.2%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Maine	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$5.70 NZ$10.07	-5.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.92	$3.26 NZ$5.77	-33.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.85	$22.75 NZ$40.22	+109.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.56	$39.17 NZ$69.26	-14.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.96	$10.27 NZ$18.16	-20.7%
Average			-10.8%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.3% less for clothing

	Maine	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.46	$63.30 NZ$111.94	+4.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.79	$33.63 NZ$59.46	-37.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.08	$91.48 NZ$161.76	-7.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$122.60	$114.46 NZ$202.41	-6.6%
Average			-13.3%

Maine vs. New Zealand - Cost of clothing

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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

Compare further: Maine vs. New Zealand

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Size Comparison · See true size

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