Cost of living comparison
compared to
Chicago vs. Queenstown Cost of Living Summary
Chicago is 28.7% more expensive than Queenstown.
Chicago vs. Queenstown Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Chicago instead of Queenstown, you would:
pay 42.5% more for restaurants
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.01
NZ$24.77
|
$21.25
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$8.96
NZ$15.85
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.07
NZ$3.67
|
$2.66
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.04
NZ$3.62
|
$2.30
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of restaurants
pay 14.8% more for groceries
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.96
NZ$3.46
|
$3.92
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.17
NZ$7.37
|
$7.07
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$8.05
NZ$14.24
|
$4.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.77
NZ$10.21
|
$4.78
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.50
NZ$7.96
|
$6.65
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.34
NZ$2.36
|
$2.39
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.05
NZ$1.86
|
$0.89
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.70
NZ$3.01
|
$1.87
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.44
NZ$4.32
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.56
NZ$2.77
|
$1.24
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.82
NZ$1.45
|
$1.23
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of groceries
pay 12.9% less for transportation
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.42
NZ$11.36
|
$4.66
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$120.44
NZ$212.99
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$25,209.21
NZ$44,578.63
|
$36,531.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.47
NZ$30.89
|
$14.45
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of transportation
pay 48.7% more for housing
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$51.87
NZ$91.73
|
$61.13
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,488.74
NZ$2,632.62
|
$2,400.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,267.18
NZ$2,240.82
|
$1,679.31
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$84.02
NZ$148.58
|
$147.87
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of housing
pay 2.6 times more for childcare
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$964.30
NZ$1,705.22
|
$1,536.88
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,562.76
NZ$13,373.59
|
$31,537.78
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of childcare
pay 22.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.72
NZ$11.89
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.22
NZ$5.70
|
$5.70
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$26.89
NZ$47.55
|
$16.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$55.32
NZ$97.83
|
$53.47
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.22
NZ$18.08
|
$18.00
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.9% more for clothing
|
Queenstown
|
Chicago
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$58.26
NZ$103.03
|
$66.94
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$45.94
NZ$81.23
|
$51.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.03
NZ$160.98
|
$99.58
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$134.45
NZ$237.75
|
$143.78
|
|
Queenstown vs. Chicago - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Queenstown vs. Chicago
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