Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

New Zealand

Palmerston North vs. Queens Cost of Living Summary

Palmerston North is 25.2% cheaper than Queens.

Restaurants: pay 1.7% less in Palmerston North
Groceries: pay 28.4% less in Palmerston North
Transportation: pay 0.7% less in Palmerston North
Housing: pay 47.8% less in Palmerston North
Childcare: pay 57.4% less in Palmerston North
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.7% less in Palmerston North
Clothing: pay 11.0% less in Palmerston North

Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Palmerston North.

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Palmerston North vs. Queens Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palmerston North instead of Queens, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.7% less for restaurants

	Queens	Palmerston North
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$14.42 NZ$25.03	-19.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$9.91 NZ$17.20	-17.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28	$2.36 NZ$4.09	+3.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.58	$2.01 NZ$3.49	+27.2%
Average			-1.7%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.4% less for groceries

	Queens	Palmerston North
Bread 1 loaf	$4.05	$1.99 NZ$3.46	-50.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.73	$3.89 NZ$6.76	-55.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83	$7.12 NZ$12.35	+47.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$7.06	$5.13 NZ$8.91	-27.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.66	$3.99 NZ$6.92	-14.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.75	$1.07 NZ$1.86	-60.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.29	$0.80 NZ$1.39	-37.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.94	$1.08 NZ$1.87	-44.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76	$1.48 NZ$2.56	-16.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.39	$0.91 NZ$1.59	-34.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.18	$0.95 NZ$1.66	-18.8%
Average			-28.4%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.7% less for transportation

	Queens	Palmerston North
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.30	$6.11 NZ$10.59	+85.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$132.00	$70.50 NZ$122.34	-46.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,344.69	$22,211.80 NZ$38,545.42	-38.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.40	$18.92 NZ$32.84	-2.5%
Average			-0.7%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.8% less for housing

	Queens	Palmerston North
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$58.33	$45.43 NZ$78.84	-22.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,276.67	$807.70 NZ$1,401.65	-64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,025.00	$663.47 NZ$1,151.36	-67.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$103.54	$64.71 NZ$112.29	-37.5%
Average			-47.8%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of housing

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pay 57.4% less for childcare

	Queens	Palmerston North
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,750.00	$961.55 NZ$1,668.63	-45.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,000.00	$4,843.04 NZ$8,404.40	-69.7%
Average			-57.4%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Queens	Palmerston North
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00	$6.44 NZ$11.17	-8.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.91	$3.32 NZ$5.76	-43.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$17.50	$17.88 NZ$31.04	+2.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.00	$22.69 NZ$39.38	-49.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.00	$8.65 NZ$15.02	-49.1%
Average			-29.7%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.0% less for clothing

	Queens	Palmerston North
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.00	$66.35 NZ$115.14	+32.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.33	$36.06 NZ$62.57	-43.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.67	$87.26 NZ$151.43	+0.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.75	$87.98 NZ$152.68	-34.2%
Average			-11.0%

Queens vs. Palmerston North - 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: July 2026

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