Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

New Zealand

Queenstown vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Queenstown is 24.7% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 79.1% more in Queenstown
Groceries: pay 3.5% more in Queenstown
Transportation: pay 37.1% more in Queenstown
Housing: pay 32.8% more in Queenstown
Childcare: pay 45.4% less in Queenstown
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.7% more in Queenstown
Clothing: pay 40.5% more in Queenstown

The cost of restaurants, clothing, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Queenstown are more expensive than in Tokyo. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Queenstown.

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Queenstown vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Queenstown instead of Tokyo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 79.1% more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,200	$14.01 NZ$24.77	+84.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.06 ¥800	$8.96 NZ$15.85	+77.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ¥259	$2.07 NZ$3.67	+26.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ¥140	$2.04 NZ$3.62	+130.9%
Average			+79.1%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.5% more for groceries

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 ¥270	$1.96 NZ$3.46	+14.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29 ¥836	$4.17 NZ$7.37	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.75 ¥909	$8.05 NZ$14.24	+40.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 ¥358	$5.77 NZ$10.21	+155.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.08 ¥487	$4.50 NZ$7.96	+46.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 ¥340	$1.34 NZ$2.36	-37.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 ¥170	$1.05 NZ$1.86	-2.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 ¥309	$1.70 NZ$3.01	-13.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.39 ¥377	$2.44 NZ$4.32	+2.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 ¥241	$1.56 NZ$2.77	+2.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 ¥231	$0.82 NZ$1.45	-44.0%
Average			+3.5%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% more for transportation

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ¥645	$6.42 NZ$11.36	+57.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥9,997	$120.44 NZ$212.99	+90.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,725.38 ¥3M	$25,209.21 NZ$44,578.63	+16.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,499	$17.47 NZ$30.89	-38.6%
Average			+37.1%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.8% more for housing

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.33 ¥4,793	$51.87 NZ$91.73	+71.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,280.34 ¥202K	$1,488.74 NZ$2,632.62	+16.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$692.48 ¥109K	$1,267.18 NZ$2,240.82	+83.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.45 ¥17,926	$84.02 NZ$148.58	-25.9%
Average			+32.8%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of housing

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pay 45.4% less for childcare

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,341.43 ¥212K	$964.30 NZ$1,705.22	-28.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,252.10 ¥3M	$7,562.76 NZ$13,373.59	-58.6%
Average			-45.4%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.80 ¥600	$6.72 NZ$11.89	+77.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 ¥563	$3.22 NZ$5.70	-9.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 ¥620	$26.89 NZ$47.55	+585.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 ¥10,478	$55.32 NZ$97.83	-16.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 ¥1,999	$10.22 NZ$18.08	-19.2%
Average			+20.7%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.5% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Queenstown
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.50 ¥8,770	$58.26 NZ$103.03	+5.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.95 ¥5,207	$45.94 NZ$81.23	+39.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.04 ¥10,278	$91.03 NZ$160.98	+40.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.74 ¥11,178	$134.45 NZ$237.75	+90.1%
Average			+40.5%

Tokyo vs. Queenstown - 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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