Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lower Hutt vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Lower Hutt is 8.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 3.4% more in Lower Hutt
Groceries: pay 1.8% less in Lower Hutt
Transportation: pay 73.7% less in Lower Hutt
Housing: pay 6.2% more in Lower Hutt
Childcare: pay 7.7% less in Lower Hutt
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.3% less in Lower Hutt
Clothing: pay 17.5% more in Lower Hutt

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

Lower Hutt vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lower Hutt instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$14.42 NZ$24.97
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$10.30 NZ$17.83	+11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$2.25 NZ$3.89	-8.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$2.12 NZ$3.66	+7.0%
Average			+3.4%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.8% less for groceries

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.98 NZ$3.42
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$4.02 NZ$6.96
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$6.79 NZ$11.75
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$6.77 NZ$11.73
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$3.99 NZ$6.91	-16.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$1.24 NZ$2.15	-8.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$0.92 NZ$1.59	-9.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.33 NZ$2.30
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.32 NZ$4.01
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$0.91 NZ$1.58	+2.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.84 NZ$1.45	+23.5%
Average			-1.8%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of groceries

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pay 73.7% less for transportation

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$6.14 NZ$10.63
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	$28.85 NZ$49.93	-73.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$14.55 NZ$25.19
Average			-73.7%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.2% more for housing

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$48.75 NZ$84.39
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$1,442.32 NZ$2,496.67	+16.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$1,057.70 NZ$1,830.89	-3.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$109.37 NZ$189.31
Average			+6.2%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of housing

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pay 7.7% less for childcare

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$692.32 NZ$1,198.40	-9.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$11,538.60 NZ$19,973.35	-5.5%
Average			-7.7%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$6.63 NZ$11.48
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$3.46 NZ$5.99	-2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$19.62 NZ$33.95	-23.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$41.83 NZ$72.40	+22.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$10.38 NZ$17.98	-10.0%
Average			-3.3%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.5% more for clothing

	Wellington	Lower Hutt
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$69.31 NZ$119.97
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$54.81 NZ$94.87	+17.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$113.30 NZ$196.13
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$146.23 NZ$253.12
Average			+17.5%

Wellington vs. Lower Hutt - 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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