Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Nuku'alofa Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 68.0% more expensive than Nuku'alofa.

Restaurants
pay 13.2% more in Wellington
Groceries
pay 9.9% more in Wellington
Transportation
pay 2.1 times more in Wellington
Housing
pay 47.2% more in Wellington
Childcare
pay 18.6 times more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.7% more in Wellington
Clothing
pay 3.8 times more in Wellington

The cost of childcare, clothing, transportation, housing, restaurants, and groceries in Wellington are more expensive than in Nuku'alofa. Notably, childcare, clothing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Wellington.

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Wellington vs. Nuku'alofa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Nuku'alofa, you would:

pay 13.2% more for restaurants

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $8.31
TOP20.00
$13.73
NZ$24.27
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $10.38
TOP25.00
$9.02
NZ$15.95
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.84
TOP6.83
$2.42
NZ$4.28
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pay 9.9% more for groceries

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Bread
1 loaf
 $1.04
TOP2.50
$2.16
NZ$3.82
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.50
TOP10.83
$4.62
NZ$8.18
Milk (1 gallon) $5.92
TOP14.26
$7.12
NZ$12.59
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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.50
TOP13.25
$7.03
NZ$12.44
Monthly public transit pass $41.53
TOP100.00
$101.23
NZ$179.01
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $5,814.53
TOP14,000.00
$25,203.61
NZ$44,568.72
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pay 47.2% more for housing

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $124.60
TOP300.00
$53.32
NZ$94.29
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $622.99
TOP1,500.00
$1,215.08
NZ$2,148.69
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $1,141.32
NZ$2,018.26
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pay 18.6 times more for childcare

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $157.82
TOP380.00
$1,055.30
NZ$1,866.14
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $249.19
TOP600.00
$12,899.11
NZ$22,810.11
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pay 1.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.32
TOP8.00
$7.28
NZ$12.88
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
TOP7.00
$3.34
NZ$5.91
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $10.18
TOP24.50
$25.18
NZ$44.53
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pay 3.8 times more for clothing

 
Nuku'alofa
Wellington
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $14.54
TOP35.00
$77.76
NZ$137.50
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $17.65
TOP42.50
$28.15
NZ$49.78
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $20.77
TOP50.00
$101.77
NZ$179.97
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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

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