Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Fort Smith vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Fort Smith is 22.1% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 30.7% more in Fort Smith
Groceries: pay 18.8% less in Fort Smith
Transportation: pay 44.3% less in Fort Smith
Housing: pay 32.2% less in Fort Smith
Childcare: pay 25.3% more in Fort Smith
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.4% less in Fort Smith
Clothing: pay 17.4% less in Fort Smith

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

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Fort Smith vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.7% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.27	$20.00	+45.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.95	$11.50	+27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$2.33	-3.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$2.02	+18.0%
Average			+30.7%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.8% less for groceries

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$3.35	+55.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$3.74	-19.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$3.69	-48.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$2.94	-57.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$4.92	+12.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$2.22	+58.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$0.65	-34.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$1.13	-17.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$0.98	-66.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$0.88	-7.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$0.70	+22.9%
Average			-18.8%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.3% less for transportation

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$2.94	-58.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$179.01	$35.00	-65.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	$26,000.00	+3.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$12.75	-21.2%
Average			-44.3%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.2% less for housing

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$68.50	+28.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$679.75	-44.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$656.25	-42.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$213.32	+42.4%
Average			-32.2%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of housing

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pay 25.3% more for childcare

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$900.00	-14.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	$23,729.17	+84.0%
Average			+25.3%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$6.00	-17.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$5.26	+57.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$8.21	-67.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$26.67	-30.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$13.50	+12.1%
Average			-11.4%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Fort Smith
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$53.80	-30.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$41.20	+46.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$93.33	-8.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$76.66	-49.8%
Average			-17.4%

Wellington vs. Fort Smith - 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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