Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Washington, USA

Washington vs. New Zealand Cost of Living Summary

Washington is 42.7% more expensive than New Zealand overall.

Restaurants: pay 47.4% more in Washington
Groceries: pay 32.3% more in Washington
Transportation: pay 1.9% less in Washington
Housing: pay 81.2% more in Washington
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Washington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.0% more in Washington
Clothing: pay 0.6% less in Washington

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

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Washington vs. New Zealand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 47.4% more for restaurants

	New Zealand	Washington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.26 NZ$23.46	$22.26	+67.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.99 NZ$15.90	$12.24	+36.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.04 NZ$3.61	$2.75	+34.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 NZ$3.24	$2.18	+19.0%
Average			+47.4%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.3% more for groceries

	New Zealand	Washington
Bread 1 loaf	$1.73 NZ$3.05	$4.04	+133.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.78 NZ$6.69	$7.06	+86.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.47 NZ$11.45	$4.15	-35.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.79 NZ$10.24	$4.91	-15.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 NZ$6.77	$6.11	+59.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.22 NZ$2.15	$2.34	+92.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 NZ$1.67	$0.83	-12.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 NZ$2.33	$1.87	+41.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.20 NZ$3.89	$2.03	-7.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 NZ$1.57	$1.24	+39.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 NZ$1.18	$1.24	+86.8%
Average			+32.3%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.9% less for transportation

	New Zealand	Washington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.34 NZ$11.21	$4.99	-21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$83.43 NZ$147.53	$70.32	-15.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,108.51 NZ$42,632.21	$34,567.40	+43.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.20 NZ$30.41	$17.13	-0.4%
Average			-1.9%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of transportation

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pay 81.2% more for housing

	New Zealand	Washington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.30 NZ$87.18	$77.56	+57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$976.74 NZ$1,727.21	$1,772.00	+81.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$843.74 NZ$1,492.02	$1,547.68	+83.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$95.64 NZ$169.12	$175.22	+83.2%
Average			+81.2%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	New Zealand	Washington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$716.92 NZ$1,267.75	$1,891.11	+163.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,937.81 NZ$29,951.92	$28,281.22	+67.0%
Average			+109.9%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.0% more for entertainment and sports

	New Zealand	Washington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.70 NZ$10.07	$6.38	+11.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.26 NZ$5.77	$5.43	+66.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.75 NZ$40.22	$11.44	-49.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.17 NZ$69.26	$55.23	+41.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.27 NZ$18.16	$15.12	+47.3%
Average			+27.0%

New Zealand vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.6% less for clothing

	New Zealand	Washington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$63.30 NZ$111.94	$54.08	-14.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.63 NZ$59.46	$40.93	+21.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.48 NZ$161.76	$89.87	-1.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$114.46 NZ$202.41	$109.43	-4.4%
Average			-0.6%

New Zealand vs. Washington - 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: New Zealand vs. Washington

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Quality of Life Comparison · 1 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

New Zealand is about 1.6 times bigger than Washington.

Moving from New Zealand to Washington · Cost, visas & climate

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City Size Comparison · See true size

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