Cost of living comparison

compared to

Palmerston North vs. Quito Cost of Living Summary

Palmerston North is 76.8% more expensive than Quito.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Palmerston North
Groceries: pay 63.6% more in Palmerston North
Transportation: pay 86.2% more in Palmerston North
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Palmerston North
Childcare: pay 95.6% more in Palmerston North
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.8% more in Palmerston North
Clothing: pay 8.8% less in Palmerston North

The cost of restaurants, housing, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Palmerston North are more expensive than in Quito. Notably, restaurants, housing, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Palmerston North.

Palmerston North vs. Quito Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Quito	Palmerston North
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00	$14.42 NZ$24.97	+188.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.38	$9.91 NZ$17.16	+34.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13	$2.36 NZ$4.08	+108.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.73	$2.01 NZ$3.48	+174.3%
Average			+126.3%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of restaurants

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pay 63.6% more for groceries

	Quito	Palmerston North
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62	$1.99 NZ$3.45	+22.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18	$3.89 NZ$6.74	-6.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.06	$7.12 NZ$12.32	+75.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43	$5.13 NZ$8.88	+110.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52	$3.99 NZ$6.91	+13.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98	$1.07 NZ$1.86	+9.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51	$0.80 NZ$1.39	+57.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.48	$1.08 NZ$1.87	+127.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59	$1.48 NZ$2.55	+152.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68	$0.91 NZ$1.58	+34.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47	$0.95 NZ$1.65	+103.2%
Average			+63.6%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of groceries

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pay 86.2% more for transportation

	Quito	Palmerston North
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.63	$6.11 NZ$10.57	+132.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.00	$70.50 NZ$122.03	+161.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,000.00	$22,211.80 NZ$38,448.69	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.50	$18.92 NZ$32.76	+40.2%
Average			+86.2%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Quito	Palmerston North
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$28.44	$45.43 NZ$78.65	+59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$448.12	$807.70 NZ$1,398.13	+80.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$317.19	$663.47 NZ$1,148.47	+109.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.07	$64.71 NZ$112.00	+158.1%
Average			+101.8%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of housing

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pay 95.6% more for childcare

	Quito	Palmerston North
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$283.25	$961.55 NZ$1,664.45	+239.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,360.00	$4,843.04 NZ$8,383.31	-48.3%
Average			+95.6%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Quito	Palmerston North
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38	$6.44 NZ$11.14	+171.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.96	$3.32 NZ$5.74	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.00	$17.88 NZ$30.96	+198.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.55	$22.69 NZ$39.28	-41.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.00	$8.65 NZ$14.98	+23.6%
Average			+72.8%

Quito vs. Palmerston North - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.8% less for clothing

	Quito	Palmerston North
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.15	$66.35 NZ$114.85	+10.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.83	$36.06 NZ$62.42	-23.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.42	$87.26 NZ$151.05	-17.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.78	$87.98 NZ$152.30	-5.2%
Average			-8.8%

Quito 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: December 2025

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