Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Las Cruces vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Las Cruces is 15.4% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% more in Las Cruces
Groceries: pay 2.7% more in Las Cruces
Transportation: pay 36.1% less in Las Cruces
Housing: pay 4.7% less in Las Cruces
Childcare: pay 42.3% less in Las Cruces
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.5% less in Las Cruces
Clothing: pay 34.9% less in Las Cruces

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

Las Cruces vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Las Cruces instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.34	$20.00	+38.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.22	$12.00	+30.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.32	$2.67	+8.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.47	$1.68	-14.8%
Average			+15.7%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7% more for groceries

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.47	$2.47	+24.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.07	$5.63	+39.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.93	$2.82	-58.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.90	$3.20	-52.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.38	$4.69	-1.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.39	$1.55	+13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.78	$0.61	-39.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.34	$1.77	+33.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.07	$1.97	-14.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.58	$1.05	+17.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.19	$1.14	+68.6%
Average			+2.7%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.79	$2.76	-55.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$192.58	$32.00	-70.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,733.34	$29,000.00	-6.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.57	$12.85	-11.7%
Average			-36.1%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.7% less for housing

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$85.65	$69.17	+41.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,179.50	$980.00	-21.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,931.43	$775.00	-29.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$192.14	$98.14	-10.3%
Average			-4.7%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of housing

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pay 42.3% less for childcare

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,350.09	$450.00	-41.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,454.12	$6,930.00	-43.3%
Average			-42.3%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.66	$5.00	-24.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.22	$5.27	+48.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$45.10	$8.29	-67.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.95	$39.00	+14.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.27	$10.00	-13.3%
Average			-8.5%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.9% less for clothing

	Wellington	Las Cruces
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$121.76	$41.00	-40.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.93	$32.00	-31.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$199.06	$73.00	-35.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$256.90	$99.67	-31.8%
Average			-34.9%

Wellington vs. Las Cruces - 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: April 2026

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