Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 11.4% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.1% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 15.2% less in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 17.2% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 37.0% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 48.1% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.8% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 7.8% more in New Zealand

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

New Zealand vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.1% less for restaurants

	United States	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.45	$14.45 NZ$25.74	-25.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.12	$9.14 NZ$16.28	-17.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.56	$2.11 NZ$3.76	-17.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$2.02 NZ$3.59	+0.6%
Average			-15.1%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.2% less for groceries

	United States	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$3.56	$1.74 NZ$3.10	-51.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50	$3.88 NZ$6.92	-40.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.97	$6.34 NZ$11.29	+59.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.27	$5.96 NZ$10.62	+39.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.41	$4.01 NZ$7.14	-25.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.18 NZ$2.10	-50.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78	$0.95 NZ$1.70	+21.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.04	$1.29 NZ$2.31	-36.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$2.11 NZ$3.76	-4.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.85 NZ$1.51	-36.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.38	$0.80 NZ$1.42	-42.4%
Average			-15.2%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.2% more for transportation

	United States	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.41	$6.08 NZ$10.83	+78.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.85	$74.52 NZ$132.78	+13.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,336.38	$24,777.66 NZ$44,151.21	-23.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.61	$17.81 NZ$31.74	+1.1%
Average			+17.2%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.0% less for housing

	United States	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.97	$50.00 NZ$89.09	-27.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,664.59	$978.36 NZ$1,743.33	-41.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,416.15	$810.06 NZ$1,443.44	-42.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$150.19	$95.66 NZ$170.46	-36.3%
Average			-37.0%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 48.1% less for childcare

	United States	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,387.27	$635.34 NZ$1,132.12	-54.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,196.46	$13,463.91 NZ$23,991.29	-42.0%
Average			-48.1%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.8% more for entertainment and sports

	United States	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.84	$6.04 NZ$10.77	+3.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$3.35 NZ$5.97	-34.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.90	$23.12 NZ$41.21	+133.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.45	$37.72 NZ$67.22	-26.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.64	$10.72 NZ$19.10	-21.4%
Average			+10.8%

United States vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.8% more for clothing

	United States	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.08	$65.22 NZ$116.22	+27.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.81	$39.23 NZ$69.91	-6.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.56	$90.28 NZ$160.87	+3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.04	$119.43 NZ$212.81	+6.6%
Average			+7.8%

United States 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: November 2025

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