Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. South Dakota Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 13.3% more expensive than South Dakota.

Restaurants: pay 1.1% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 13.7% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 59.6% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 14.1% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 30.7% more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.4% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 6.4% more in New Zealand

The cost of transportation, childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing in New Zealand are more expensive than in South Dakota. Expenses including housing, groceries, and restaurants are lower in New Zealand.

New Zealand vs. South Dakota Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of South Dakota, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.1% less for restaurants

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.33	$14.45 NZ$25.14	+17.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.19	$9.14 NZ$15.90	-10.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.03	$2.11 NZ$3.67	-30.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69	$2.02 NZ$3.51	+19.2%
Average			-1.1%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.7% less for groceries

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.01	$1.74 NZ$3.02	-42.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.97	$3.88 NZ$6.76	-34.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.68	$6.34 NZ$11.03	+72.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.88	$5.96 NZ$10.37	+22.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.68	$4.01 NZ$6.97	-14.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.07	$1.18 NZ$2.05	-43.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89	$0.95 NZ$1.66	+6.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.78	$1.29 NZ$2.25	-27.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$2.11 NZ$3.67	-4.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41	$0.85 NZ$1.48	-39.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46	$0.80 NZ$1.39	-45.3%
Average			-13.7%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 59.6% more for transportation

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.00	$6.08 NZ$10.58	+102.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00	$74.52 NZ$129.67	+148.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,568.55	$24,777.66 NZ$43,117.83	-30.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.14	$17.81 NZ$31.00	+17.6%
Average			+59.6%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.1% less for housing

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.40	$50.00 NZ$87.00	+1.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.00	$978.36 NZ$1,702.53	-7.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$974.82	$810.06 NZ$1,409.66	-16.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$144.28	$95.66 NZ$166.47	-33.7%
Average			-14.1%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 30.7% more for childcare

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$715.00	$635.34 NZ$1,105.62	-11.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,800.00	$13,463.91 NZ$23,429.76	+72.6%
Average			+30.7%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.4% more for entertainment and sports

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.42	$6.04 NZ$10.52	+36.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.69	$3.35 NZ$5.83	-28.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.38	$23.12 NZ$40.24	+146.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.44	$37.72 NZ$65.64	-20.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.56	$10.72 NZ$18.65	-7.3%
Average			+25.4%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% more for clothing

	South Dakota	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.89	$65.22 NZ$113.50	+36.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.78	$39.23 NZ$68.27	-8.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$89.39	$90.28 NZ$157.10	+1.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.62	$119.43 NZ$207.83	-3.4%
Average			+6.4%

South Dakota vs. New Zealand - 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: March 2026

Compare further: South Dakota vs. New Zealand

Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

Be 55.8% more likely to be unemployed in New Zealand

Size Comparison · See true size

South Dakota is about 1.4 times smaller than New Zealand.

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