Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bendigo vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Bendigo is 7.8% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 18.7% more in Bendigo
Groceries: pay 3.8% more in Bendigo
Transportation: pay 25.1% less in Bendigo
Housing: pay 22.3% less in Bendigo
Childcare: pay 69.7% more in Bendigo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.5% more in Bendigo
Clothing: pay 5.4% less in Bendigo

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

Bendigo vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bendigo instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.7% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Bendigo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$19.63 A$29.50	+36.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.90	$10.47 A$15.73	+13.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.24	$2.69 A$4.05	+9.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$2.29 A$3.44	+15.8%
Average			+18.7%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.8% more for groceries

	Wellington	Bendigo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$2.73 A$4.11	+38.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.93	$4.60 A$6.91	+14.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.70	$4.13 A$6.20	-39.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.67	$4.36 A$6.55	-35.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.22	$4.11 A$6.18	-13.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.35	$1.52 A$2.28	+11.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.74	$1.36 A$2.04	+33.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.29	$1.40 A$2.10	+4.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$3.99	$1.87 A$2.82	-19.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.54	$1.04 A$1.56	+15.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.89 A$1.34	+31.3%
Average			+3.8%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Bendigo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.58	$4.31 A$6.48	-29.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$188.86	$53.97 A$81.13	-50.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,677.18	$25,324.04 A$38,069.81	-18.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.07	$14.39 A$21.64	-1.1%
Average			-25.1%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.3% less for housing

	Wellington	Bendigo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$83.99	$47.97 A$72.12	-1.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,137.45	$637.82 A$958.84	-48.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,894.16	$490.63 A$737.57	-55.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$188.43	$127.27 A$191.33	+16.4%
Average			-22.3%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of housing

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pay 69.7% more for childcare

	Wellington	Bendigo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,324.04	$1,177.51 A$1,770.16	+53.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,040.13	$22,736.38 A$34,179.76	+86.2%
Average			+69.7%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Bendigo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$7.85 A$11.80	+18.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.10	$3.69 A$5.55	+4.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.23	$23.55 A$35.40	-8.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.79	$58.88 A$88.51	+72.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$10.47 A$15.73	-9.3%
Average			+15.5%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Bendigo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.42	$65.42 A$98.34	-5.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.35	$53.21 A$80.00	+14.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$195.21	$107.56 A$161.70	-5.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$251.95	$109.31 A$164.33	-25.2%
Average			-5.4%

Wellington vs. Bendigo - 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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