Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 24.6% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 3.6% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 28.7% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 25.3% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 36.5% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 18.7% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.0% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 14.1% more in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.6% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.10	$13.77 HUF4,507.66	+0.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.84	$10.17 HUF3,330.66	+12.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.25	$2.08 HUF681.95	-13.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.00	$1.83 HUF598.62	+7.0%
Average			+3.6%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.7% less for groceries

	Wellington	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.79	$1.80 HUF587.96	-16.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.12	$5.57 HUF1,824.77	+20.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.50	$4.40 HUF1,438.95	-38.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.10	$3.88 HUF1,268.77	-43.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.68	$3.10 HUF1,015.60	-29.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.45	$0.85 HUF278.07	-39.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.73	$0.94 HUF306.85	-5.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.40	$1.06 HUF345.80	-22.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.15	$1.73 HUF565.40	-41.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.67	$0.45 HUF146.39	-53.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.00	$0.46 HUF149.37	-19.9%
Average			-28.7%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.3% less for transportation

	Wellington	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.35	$7.07 HUF2,313.65	+0.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$177.74	$27.54 HUF9,015.33	-72.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,251.79	$29,374.56 HUF10M	+16.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.43	$14.14 HUF4,627.87	-12.7%
Average			-25.3%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.5% less for housing

	Wellington	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$93.62	$23.57 HUF7,717.28	-55.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,133.41	$817.66 HUF268K	-32.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,003.90	$631.44 HUF207K	-44.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$263.06	$132.77 HUF43,465.25	-11.4%
Average			-36.5%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 18.7% less for childcare

	Wellington	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,852.87	$539.65 HUF177K	-48.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,647.90	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+29.3%
Average			-18.7%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.79	$3.67 HUF1,202.04	-49.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.87	$3.35 HUF1,095.17
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.21	$7.96 HUF2,604.43	-68.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$66.88	$67.07 HUF21,957.33	+76.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.15	$9.33 HUF3,055.19	-22.5%
Average			-16.0%

Wellington vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.1% more for clothing

	Wellington	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$136.52	$100.01 HUF32,739.87	+28.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.42	$42.98 HUF14,069.47	+52.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$178.69	$113.36 HUF37,110.71	+11.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$268.03	$118.19 HUF38,690.78	-22.6%
Average			+14.1%

Wellington vs. Budapest - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Wellington is about 1.2 times smaller than Budapest.

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