Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Helena vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Helena is 23.8% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 54.9% more in Helena
Groceries: pay 2.9% more in Helena
Transportation: pay 14.7% less in Helena
Housing: pay 48.8% more in Helena
Childcare: pay 98.5% more in Helena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.1% more in Helena
Clothing: pay 23.0% more in Helena

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Helena are more expensive than in Wellington. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Helena.

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Helena vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 54.9% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Helena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.46	$21.50	+56.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$16.07	$18.00	+99.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.31	$2.22	-8.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.04	$1.75	+2.1%
Average			+54.9%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9% more for groceries

	Wellington	Helena
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.85	$3.78	+74.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.24	$9.00	+94.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.69	$3.96	-44.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.29	$3.67	-46.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.79	$4.08	-6.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.49	$2.14	+53.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.76	$0.81	-18.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.44	$2.04	+49.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.23	$1.84	-37.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.70	$0.99	+3.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$0.68	+19.4%
Average			+2.9%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.7% less for transportation

	Wellington	Helena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.53	$3.77	-46.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$180.40	$60.00	-40.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,914.21	$35,850.00	+42.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.85	$37.34	+130.6%
Average			-14.7%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.8% more for housing

	Wellington	Helena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$95.02	$91.74	+72.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,165.35	$1,786.67	+47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,033.90	$1,533.33	+34.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$267.00	$287.72	+92.0%
Average			+48.8%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of housing

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pay 98.5% more for childcare

	Wellington	Helena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,880.60	$1,937.00	+83.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,986.93	$27,700.00	+114.7%
Average			+98.5%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Helena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.98	$5.00	-31.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.96	$5.12	+53.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.87	$10.38	-58.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.89	$52.50	+37.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.46	$12.00	-0.4%
Average			+0.1%

Wellington vs. Helena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.0% more for clothing

	Wellington	Helena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$138.57	$64.75	-16.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$50.16	$118.33	+320.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$181.36	$82.25	-19.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$272.04	$123.50	-19.1%
Average			+23.0%

Wellington vs. Helena - 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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Wellington is about 10 times bigger than Helena.

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