Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 25.9% cheaper than Palo Alto.

Restaurants: pay 29.9% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 35.5% less in Wellington
Transportation: pay 2.4% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 49.7% less in Wellington
Childcare: pay 71.8% less in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.9% less in Wellington
Clothing: pay 12.2% more in Wellington

The cost of clothing and transportation in Wellington are more expensive than in Palo Alto. Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Palo Alto, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.9% less for restaurants

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$30.00	$14.42 NZ$25.15	-51.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$9.23 NZ$16.10	-23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.30	$2.46 NZ$4.29	-25.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.44	$1.98 NZ$3.45	-18.9%
Average			-29.9%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.5% less for groceries

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$5.06	$1.98 NZ$3.45	-61.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.39	$4.02 NZ$7.02	-64.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.85	$6.79 NZ$11.84	+16.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.26	$6.77 NZ$11.81	+8.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.63	$4.77 NZ$8.32	-28.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.22	$1.36 NZ$2.37	-57.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18	$1.01 NZ$1.77	-13.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.33 NZ$2.32	-43.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.01	$2.32 NZ$4.04	-23.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.94	$0.90 NZ$1.56	-53.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.19	$0.68 NZ$1.18	-69.1%
Average			-35.5%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4% more for transportation

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84	$6.14 NZ$10.71	+26.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.00	$109.62 NZ$191.17	+21.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,753.89	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	-15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.06	$14.55 NZ$25.38	-23.7%
Average			+2.4%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.7% less for housing

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.78	$48.75 NZ$85.02	-29.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,600.00	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	-65.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$3,148.75	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	-65.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$179.63	$109.37 NZ$190.73	-39.1%
Average			-49.7%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 71.8% less for childcare

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,823.00	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	-72.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$42,000.00	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	-70.9%
Average			-71.8%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$6.63 NZ$11.57	-17.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.83	$3.54 NZ$6.17	-39.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.50	$25.67 NZ$44.77	+123.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$206.33	$34.12 NZ$59.51	-83.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.00	$11.54 NZ$20.12	-27.9%
Average			-8.9%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.2% more for clothing

	Palo Alto	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50	$69.31 NZ$120.87	+2.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.00	$46.64 NZ$81.33	+1.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.89	$113.30 NZ$197.60	+27.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.00	$146.23 NZ$255.02	+17.0%
Average			+12.2%

Palo Alto vs. Wellington - 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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