Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 24.7% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 54.3% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 6.3% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 7.0% less in Japan
Housing: pay 36.5% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 26.8% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.5% less in Japan
Clothing: pay 39.1% less in Japan

Expenses including restaurants, clothing, housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Japan.

Japan vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 54.3% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$6.60 ¥1,026	-54.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$5.10 ¥792	-44.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$1.07 ¥166	-56.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$0.76 ¥118	-61.5%
Average			-54.3%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.3% more for groceries

	Wellington	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.50 ¥233	-24.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$5.07 ¥787	+25.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$5.67 ¥880	-16.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$2.08 ¥323	-69.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$2.93 ¥455	-38.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$2.14 ¥332	+56.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$1.12 ¥174	+10.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.69 ¥263	+27.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.13 ¥331	-8.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$1.22 ¥189	+35.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$1.15 ¥179	+70.1%
Average			+6.3%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.0% less for transportation

	Wellington	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$4.39 ¥682	-28.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	$59.14 ¥9,189	-46.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$22,599.51 ¥3,511,060	-27.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$25.32 ¥3,934	+74.0%
Average			-7.0%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.5% less for housing

	Wellington	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$33.91 ¥5,269	-30.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$543.18 ¥84,389	-56.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$353.61 ¥54,937	-67.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$118.72 ¥18,444	+8.5%
Average			-36.5%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 26.8% less for childcare

	Wellington	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$296.89 ¥46,124	-61.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$13,159.48 ¥2,044,457	+7.8%
Average			-26.8%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$2.60 ¥405	-60.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$3.03 ¥470	-14.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$3.89 ¥604	-84.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$59.54 ¥9,250	+74.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$12.46 ¥1,936	+8.0%
Average			-15.5%

Wellington vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.1% less for clothing

	Wellington	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$44.79 ¥6,959	-35.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$32.04 ¥4,978	-31.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$57.37 ¥8,913	-49.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$87.37 ¥13,574	-40.3%
Average			-39.1%

Wellington vs. Japan - 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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