Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

New Zealand

Palmerston North vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Palmerston North is 18.1% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.0% less in Palmerston North
Groceries: pay 18.8% less in Palmerston North
Transportation: pay 15.5% more in Palmerston North
Housing: pay 48.9% less in Palmerston North
Childcare: pay 54.9% less in Palmerston North
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.4% less in Palmerston North
Clothing: pay 1.4% less in Palmerston North

Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Palmerston North.

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Palmerston North vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palmerston North instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.0% less for restaurants

	United States	Palmerston North
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.45	$14.42 NZ$25.03	-25.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.12	$9.91 NZ$17.20	-10.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.56	$2.36 NZ$4.09	-7.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$2.01 NZ$3.49	+0.4%
Average			-11.0%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.8% less for groceries

	United States	Palmerston North
Bread 1 loaf	$3.56	$1.99 NZ$3.46	-44.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50	$3.89 NZ$6.76	-40.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.97	$7.12 NZ$12.35	+79.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.27	$5.13 NZ$8.91	+20.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.41	$3.99 NZ$6.92	-26.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.07 NZ$1.86	-54.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78	$0.80 NZ$1.39	+2.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.04	$1.08 NZ$1.87	-47.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$1.48 NZ$2.56	-33.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.91 NZ$1.59	-32.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.38	$0.95 NZ$1.66	-31.1%
Average			-18.8%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.5% more for transportation

	United States	Palmerston North
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.41	$6.11 NZ$10.59	+78.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.85	$70.50 NZ$122.34	+7.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,336.38	$22,211.80 NZ$38,545.42	-31.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.61	$18.92 NZ$32.84	+7.4%
Average			+15.5%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.9% less for housing

	United States	Palmerston North
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.97	$45.43 NZ$78.84	-34.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,664.59	$807.70 NZ$1,401.65	-51.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,416.15	$663.47 NZ$1,151.36	-53.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$150.19	$64.71 NZ$112.29	-56.9%
Average			-48.9%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of housing

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pay 54.9% less for childcare

	United States	Palmerston North
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,387.27	$961.55 NZ$1,668.63	-30.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,196.46	$4,843.04 NZ$8,404.40	-79.1%
Average			-54.9%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.4% less for entertainment and sports

	United States	Palmerston North
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.84	$6.44 NZ$11.17	+10.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$3.32 NZ$5.76	-35.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.90	$17.88 NZ$31.04	+80.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.45	$22.69 NZ$39.38	-55.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.64	$8.65 NZ$15.02	-36.5%
Average			-7.4%

United States vs. Palmerston North - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.4% less for clothing

	United States	Palmerston North
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.08	$66.35 NZ$115.14	+29.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.81	$36.06 NZ$62.57	-13.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.56	$87.26 NZ$151.43	-0.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.04	$87.98 NZ$152.68	-21.5%
Average			-1.4%

United States vs. Palmerston North - 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: July 2026

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