Cost of living comparison

Massachusetts, USA

compared to

New Zealand

New Zealand vs. Massachusetts Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 33.8% cheaper than Massachusetts.

Restaurants: pay 30.4% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 28.6% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 10.1% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 53.3% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 55.1% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.0% less in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 1.3% more in New Zealand

The cost of transportation and clothing in New Zealand are more expensive than in Massachusetts. Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in New Zealand.

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New Zealand vs. Massachusetts Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.38	$13.26 NZ$23.46	-37.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.97	$8.99 NZ$15.90	-24.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.74	$2.04 NZ$3.61	-25.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20	$1.83 NZ$3.24	-16.8%
Average			-30.4%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.6% less for groceries

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.86	$1.73 NZ$3.05	-55.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.01	$3.78 NZ$6.69	-46.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.07	$6.47 NZ$11.45	+58.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.58	$5.79 NZ$10.24	+26.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.52	$3.83 NZ$6.77	-30.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.55	$1.22 NZ$2.15	-52.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91	$0.94 NZ$1.67	+4.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.13	$1.32 NZ$2.33	-38.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.43	$2.20 NZ$3.89	-9.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.54	$0.89 NZ$1.57	-42.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.47	$0.67 NZ$1.18	-54.7%
Average			-28.6%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.1% more for transportation

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.83	$6.34 NZ$11.21	+65.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$71.50	$83.43 NZ$147.53	+16.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,766.23	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	-32.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.36	$17.20 NZ$30.41	-0.9%
Average			+10.1%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.3% less for housing

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.63	$49.30 NZ$87.18	-33.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,181.37	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	-55.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,944.96	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02	-56.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$170.22	$95.64 NZ$169.12	-43.8%
Average			-53.3%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 55.1% less for childcare

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,041.15	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	-64.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$29,539.47	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	-42.7%
Average			-55.1%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.35	$5.70 NZ$10.07	-10.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.18	$3.26 NZ$5.77	-37.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.90	$22.75 NZ$40.22	+76.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.54	$39.17 NZ$69.26	-28.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.30	$10.27 NZ$18.16	-28.2%
Average			-20.0%

Massachusetts vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.3% more for clothing

	Massachusetts	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.91	$63.30 NZ$111.94	+21.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.86	$33.63 NZ$59.46	-8.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.15	$91.48 NZ$161.76	-0.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.99	$114.46 NZ$202.41	-4.6%
Average			+1.3%

Massachusetts 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: Massachusetts vs. New Zealand

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