Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Richards Bay Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 2.9 times more expensive than Richards Bay.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Wellington
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 60.3% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 6.5 times more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9 times more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 76.2% more in Wellington

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, groceries, and clothing in Wellington are more expensive than in Richards Bay. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Richards Bay Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Richards Bay, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.17 ZAR121.31	$14.42 NZ$24.97	+101.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 ZAR87.35	$9.23 NZ$15.98	+78.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 ZAR15.66	$2.46 NZ$4.26	+165.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 ZAR12.36	$1.98 NZ$3.42	+170.8%
Average			+129.2%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$0.94 ZAR15.86	$1.98 NZ$3.42	+110.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.67 ZAR62.15	$4.02 NZ$6.96	+9.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.64 ZAR61.54	$6.79 NZ$11.75	+86.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 ZAR36.91	$6.77 NZ$11.73	+210.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.10 ZAR35.51	$4.77 NZ$8.26	+127.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.74 ZAR12.47	$1.36 NZ$2.36	+84.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 ZAR11.20	$1.01 NZ$1.75	+53.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR10.75	$1.33 NZ$2.30	+109.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 ZAR10.66	$2.32 NZ$4.01	+267.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.52 ZAR8.80	$0.90 NZ$1.55	+72.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ZAR8.36	$0.68 NZ$1.17	+37.2%
Average			+106.4%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.3% more for transportation

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 ZAR85.27	$6.14 NZ$10.63	+21.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$97.47 ZAR1,649.87	$109.62 NZ$189.75	+12.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,354.81 ZAR344,531.64	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	+53.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.73 ZAR97.05	$14.55 NZ$25.19	+153.8%
Average			+60.3%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.68 ZAR603.91	$48.75 NZ$84.39	+36.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$401.36 ZAR6,793.58	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	+209.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.02 ZAR5,095.19	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	+265.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$101.94 ZAR1,725.51	$109.37 NZ$189.31	+7.3%
Average			+129.5%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 6.5 times more for childcare

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$93.17 ZAR1,577.08	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	+724.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,537.18 ZAR42,945.14	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	+381.3%
Average			+553.0%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.43 ZAR24.26	$6.63 NZ$11.48	+362.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR33.92	$3.54 NZ$6.13	+76.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.47 ZAR41.73	$25.67 NZ$44.44	+941.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.97 ZAR558.04	$34.12 NZ$59.06	+3.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.17 ZAR121.31	$11.54 NZ$19.97	+61.0%
Average			+289.1%

Richards Bay vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 76.2% more for clothing

	Richards Bay	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.39 ZAR785.28	$69.31 NZ$119.97	+49.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.30 ZAR326.74	$46.64 NZ$80.73	+141.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.44 ZAR1,480.03	$113.30 NZ$196.13	+29.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$79.31 ZAR1,342.46	$146.23 NZ$253.12	+84.4%
Average			+76.2%

Richards Bay 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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