Cost of living comparison

compared to

Fort Collins vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Fort Collins is 19.2% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 24.9% more in Fort Collins
Groceries: pay 7.7% more in Fort Collins
Transportation: pay 4.8% less in Fort Collins
Housing: pay 32.9% more in Fort Collins
Childcare: pay 50.4% more in Fort Collins
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.6% more in Fort Collins
Clothing: pay 9.7% more in Fort Collins

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries in Fort Collins are more expensive than in Wellington.

Fort Collins vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Fort Collins instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.9% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$18.00	+24.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$12.00	+30.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$2.60	+5.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$2.75	+39.1%
Average			+24.9%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.7% more for groceries

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$3.09	+56.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$5.51	+37.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$3.89	-42.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$4.33	-36.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$3.90	-18.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$1.76	+29.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$0.70	-31.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.95	+46.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.28	-1.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$1.05	+17.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.87	+28.7%
Average			+7.7%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.8% less for transportation

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$3.09	-49.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$36,029.12	+15.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$17.41	+19.7%
Average			-4.8%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.9% more for housing

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$76.67	+57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$1,783.33	+43.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$1,250.00	+13.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$127.72	+16.8%
Average			+32.9%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of housing

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pay 50.4% more for childcare

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$1,525.00	+98.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$12,500.00	+2.4%
Average			+50.4%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$7.00	+5.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$5.17	+45.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$9.50	-63.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$60.00	+75.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$12.00	+4.0%
Average			+13.6%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.7% more for clothing

	Wellington	Fort Collins
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$67.50	-2.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$91.67	+96.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$80.00	-29.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$108.33	-25.9%
Average			+9.7%

Wellington vs. Fort Collins - 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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