Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. North Carolina Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 5.6% cheaper than North Carolina.

Restaurants: pay 6.3% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 16.1% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 22.5% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 32.3% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 47.5% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.1% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 11.5% more in New Zealand

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

New Zealand vs. North Carolina Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of North Carolina, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.3% less for restaurants

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.06	$14.45 NZ$25.01	-15.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.47	$9.14 NZ$15.82	-12.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28	$2.11 NZ$3.65	-7.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.82	$2.02 NZ$3.49	+10.5%
Average			-6.3%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.1% less for groceries

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.79	$1.74 NZ$3.01	-54.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.80	$3.88 NZ$6.72	-42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.73	$6.34 NZ$10.97	+70.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.98	$5.96 NZ$10.31	+49.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.20	$4.01 NZ$6.93	-22.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.47	$1.18 NZ$2.04	-52.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71	$0.95 NZ$1.65	+35.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.20	$1.29 NZ$2.24	-41.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.38	$2.11 NZ$3.65	-11.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.74	$0.85 NZ$1.47	-51.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.80	$0.80 NZ$1.38	-55.7%
Average			-16.1%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.5% more for transportation

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.98	$6.08 NZ$10.52	+104.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.67	$74.52 NZ$128.99	+22.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,588.64	$24,777.66 NZ$42,890.20	-26.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.99	$17.81 NZ$30.83	-10.9%
Average			+22.5%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.3% less for housing

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.77	$50.00 NZ$86.54	-31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,488.15	$978.36 NZ$1,693.54	-34.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.77	$810.06 NZ$1,402.22	-35.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.31	$95.66 NZ$165.59	-27.7%
Average			-32.3%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 47.5% less for childcare

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,261.89	$635.34 NZ$1,099.78	-49.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,633.15	$13,463.91 NZ$23,306.07	-45.3%
Average			-47.5%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.1% more for entertainment and sports

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.12	$6.04 NZ$10.46	+17.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.82	$3.35 NZ$5.80	-30.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.77	$23.12 NZ$40.03	+197.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.40	$37.72 NZ$65.30	-22.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.98	$10.72 NZ$18.56	-17.4%
Average			+29.1%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.5% more for clothing

	North Carolina	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.30	$65.22 NZ$112.90	+32.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.76	$39.23 NZ$67.91	+3.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.37	$90.28 NZ$156.27	+2.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.01	$119.43 NZ$206.73	+7.6%
Average			+11.5%

North Carolina vs. New Zealand - 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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