Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wellington vs. Saint Paul Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 1.9% cheaper than Saint Paul.

Restaurants: pay 14.2% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 0.6% more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 17.3% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 15.6% less in Wellington
Childcare: pay 53.2% less in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.5% more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 34.3% more in Wellington

The cost of clothing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries in Wellington are more expensive than in Saint Paul. Expenses including childcare, housing, and restaurants are lower in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Saint Paul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Wellington instead of Saint Paul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.2% less for restaurants

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$14.42 NZ$24.85	-19.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$9.23 NZ$15.90	-7.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.74	$2.46 NZ$4.24	-10.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.43	$1.98 NZ$3.41	-18.7%
Average			-14.2%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.6% more for groceries

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$3.84	$1.98 NZ$3.41	-48.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.68	$4.02 NZ$6.93	-14.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.81	$6.79 NZ$11.70	+78.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.19	$6.77 NZ$11.67	+112.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.20	$4.77 NZ$8.22	-8.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.28	$1.36 NZ$2.35	-40.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.54	$1.01 NZ$1.74	+86.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.62	$1.33 NZ$2.29	-49.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.36	$2.32 NZ$3.99	-1.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.75	$0.90 NZ$1.54	-48.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.68	$0.68 NZ$1.17	-59.6%
Average			+0.6%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.3% more for transportation

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.04	$6.14 NZ$10.58	+101.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$120.00	$109.62 NZ$188.86	-8.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,165.86	$31,154.21 NZ$53,677.18	-13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.18	$14.55 NZ$25.07	-10.1%
Average			+17.3%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.6% less for housing

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$75.00	$48.75 NZ$83.99	-35.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,244.20	$1,240.57 NZ$2,137.45	-0.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,008.00	$1,099.37 NZ$1,894.16	+9.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$170.84	$109.37 NZ$188.43	-36.0%
Average			-15.6%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 53.2% less for childcare

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,453.33	$768.47 NZ$1,324.04	-47.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,000.00	$12,211.68 NZ$21,040.13	-59.3%
Average			-53.2%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$6.63 NZ$11.43	+10.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$3.54 NZ$6.10	-31.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.50	$25.67 NZ$44.23	+144.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.86	$34.12 NZ$58.79	-18.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.00	$11.54 NZ$19.88	-17.6%
Average			+17.5%

Saint Paul vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.3% more for clothing

	Saint Paul	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.00	$69.31 NZ$119.42	+77.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.00	$46.64 NZ$80.35	+11.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.60	$113.30 NZ$195.21	+33.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$127.50	$146.23 NZ$251.95	+14.7%
Average			+34.3%

Saint Paul 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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