Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Traverse City vs. Queenstown Cost of Living Summary

Traverse City is 3.3% more expensive than Queenstown.

Restaurants: pay 35.3% more in Traverse City
Groceries: pay 7.5% more in Traverse City
Transportation: pay 37.9% less in Traverse City
Housing: pay 20.1% more in Traverse City
Childcare: pay 25.4% more in Traverse City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.3% less in Traverse City
Clothing: pay 9.7% less in Traverse City

The cost of restaurants, childcare, housing, and groceries in Traverse City are more expensive than in Queenstown. Expenses including transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Traverse City.

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Traverse City vs. Queenstown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Traverse City instead of Queenstown, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 35.3% more for restaurants

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.01 NZ$24.77	$21.60	+54.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.85	$11.38	+26.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.07 NZ$3.67	$2.51	+21.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.04 NZ$3.62	$2.14	+4.7%
Average			+35.3%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.5% more for groceries

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.46	$2.94	+50.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.17 NZ$7.37	$9.55	+129.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.05 NZ$14.24	$2.82	-64.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.77 NZ$10.21	$2.79	-51.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.50 NZ$7.96	$7.46	+65.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.34 NZ$2.36	$3.03	+126.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.86	$0.60	-43.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.70 NZ$3.01	$1.75	+2.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.44 NZ$4.32	$3.08	+26.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.77	$1.21	-22.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.45	$1.45	+76.8%
Average			+7.5%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.9% less for transportation

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.36	$3.76	-41.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$120.44 NZ$212.99	$30.00	-75.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,209.21 NZ$44,578.63	$35,866.37	+42.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.47 NZ$30.89	??
Average			-37.9%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.1% more for housing

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.87 NZ$91.73	$67.50	+30.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,488.74 NZ$2,632.62	$1,983.33	+33.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,267.18 NZ$2,240.82	$1,418.00	+11.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$84.02 NZ$148.58	$90.12	+7.3%
Average			+20.1%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of housing

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pay 25.4% more for childcare

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$964.30 NZ$1,705.22	$1,030.00	+6.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,562.76 NZ$13,373.59	$11,136.00	+47.2%
Average			+25.4%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.72 NZ$11.89	$5.00	-25.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.22 NZ$5.70	$4.67	+44.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$26.89 NZ$47.55	$6.00	-77.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.32 NZ$97.83	$63.33	+14.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.22 NZ$18.08	$9.50	-7.1%
Average			-11.3%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.7% less for clothing

	Queenstown	Traverse City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.26 NZ$103.03	$59.33	+1.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.94 NZ$81.23	$41.67	-9.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.03 NZ$160.98	$101.67	+11.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$134.45 NZ$237.75	$86.67	-35.5%
Average			-9.7%

Queenstown vs. Traverse City - Cost of clothing

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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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