Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United States

Lincoln vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Lincoln is 6.2% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 30.8% more in Lincoln
Groceries: pay 18.8% more in Lincoln
Transportation: pay 29.7% less in Lincoln
Housing: pay 14.4% less in Lincoln
Childcare: pay 21.8% less in Lincoln
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.0% more in Lincoln
Clothing: pay 15.3% less in Lincoln

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

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Lincoln vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.8% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Lincoln
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	$12.00	+33.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$2.32	-4.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$1.76	+2.9%
Average			+30.8%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.8% more for groceries

	Wellington	Lincoln
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$3.12	+44.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$5.79	+25.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$3.23	-54.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$4.58	-33.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$3.84	-12.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$3.10	+121.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$0.97	-2.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$2.69	+96.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$1.94	-34.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$1.58	+65.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$1.70	+198.5%
Average			+18.8%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.7% less for transportation

	Wellington	Lincoln
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$3.81	-45.8%
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	$36,054.00	+43.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$19.91	+23.0%
Average			-29.7%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.4% less for housing

	Wellington	Lincoln
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$65.33	+22.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$1,071.67	-11.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$957.80	-16.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$110.50	-26.2%
Average			-14.4%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of housing

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pay 21.8% less for childcare

	Wellington	Lincoln
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$825.00	-21.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	??
Average			-21.8%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Lincoln
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$5.00	-31.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$5.50	+64.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$9.80	-61.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$55.00	+44.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$15.00	+24.5%
Average			+8.0%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% less for clothing

	Wellington	Lincoln
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$48.00	-38.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$35.00	+24.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$89.00	-12.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$117.25	-23.2%
Average			-15.3%

Wellington vs. Lincoln - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Wellington is about 1.7 times bigger than Lincoln.

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