Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ottawa vs. Nelson Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 19.8% more expensive than Nelson.

Restaurants: pay 5.4% more in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 1.5% less in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 51.9% more in Ottawa
Housing: pay 41.7% more in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 76.4% more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.8% less in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 22.6% less in Ottawa

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, and restaurants in Ottawa are more expensive than in Nelson. Expenses including clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Ottawa. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Ottawa.

Ottawa vs. Nelson Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ottawa instead of Nelson, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.4% more for restaurants

	Nelson	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.00 NZ$25.97	$17.99 CA$24.87	+19.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.94 NZ$15.48	$11.01 CA$15.22	+23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.80 NZ$3.12	$2.00 CA$2.77	+11.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.31 NZ$3.99	$1.56 CA$2.15	-32.5%
Average			+5.4%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.5% less for groceries

	Nelson	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.17 NZ$3.76	$2.73 CA$3.77	+25.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.81 NZ$8.32	$5.85 CA$8.09	+21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.06 NZ$13.94	$8.65 CA$11.97	+7.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.85 NZ$10.12	$3.52 CA$4.86	-39.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.49 NZ$6.04	$5.74 CA$7.94	+64.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.67 NZ$2.89	$1.91 CA$2.64	+14.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.81	$0.60 CA$0.83	-42.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.60 NZ$2.77	$1.63 CA$2.25	+1.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.97 NZ$5.13	$1.67 CA$2.30	-43.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 NZ$2.49	$1.11 CA$1.53	-23.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.50 NZ$2.60	$1.46 CA$2.02	-3.0%
Average			-1.5%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 51.9% more for transportation

	Nelson	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.11 NZ$10.57	$4.05 CA$5.60	-33.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.85 NZ$49.93	$97.12 CA$134.31	+236.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,596.36 NZ$30,459.35	$24,444.83 CA$33,803.54	+38.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.50 NZ$38.95	$14.82 CA$20.49	-34.1%
Average			+51.9%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.7% more for housing

	Nelson	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$47.60 NZ$82.39	$49.93 CA$69.04	+4.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$817.32 NZ$1,414.78	$1,452.55 CA$2,008.67	+77.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$625.01 NZ$1,081.89	$1,228.71 CA$1,699.13	+96.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$135.71 NZ$234.91	$118.93 CA$164.46	-12.4%
Average			+41.7%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 76.4% more for childcare

	Nelson	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.54 NZ$798.93	$788.18 CA$1,089.93	+70.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,653.95 NZ$14,980.01	$15,753.32 CA$21,784.48	+82.0%
Average			+76.4%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Nelson	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.21 NZ$12.48	$5.76 CA$7.96	-20.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.27 NZ$5.66	$3.74 CA$5.18	+14.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.85 NZ$49.93	$12.95 CA$17.91	-55.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.54 NZ$80.56	$44.60 CA$61.68	-4.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.67 NZ$18.48	$10.79 CA$14.92	+1.1%
Average			-12.8%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.6% less for clothing

	Nelson	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.69 NZ$99.87	$52.82 CA$73.05	-8.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.46 NZ$109.85	$38.91 CA$53.81	-38.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.48 NZ$217.21	$87.10 CA$120.44	-30.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.16 NZ$183.75	$92.91 CA$128.48	-12.5%
Average			-22.6%

Nelson vs. Ottawa - 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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