Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lugano vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Lugano is 72.8% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Lugano
Groceries: pay 64.4% more in Lugano
Transportation: pay 79.6% more in Lugano
Housing: pay 26.2% more in Lugano
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Lugano
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.3% more in Lugano
Clothing: pay 42.2% more in Lugano

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

Lugano vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Wellington	Lugano
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$31.28 CHF25.11	+116.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.10	$22.52 CHF18.08	+144.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$4.90 CHF3.93	+99.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$4.07 CHF3.26	+105.6%
Average			+116.5%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of restaurants

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pay 64.4% more for groceries

	Wellington	Lugano
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$3.58 CHF2.88	+81.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.02	$13.76 CHF11.05	+242.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.84	$8.68 CHF6.97	+27.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.81	$6.99 CHF5.62	+3.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$17.11 CHF13.73	+258.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$1.43 CHF1.14	+4.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.77	$0.88 CHF0.71	-12.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$1.22 CHF0.98	-8.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$3.33 CHF2.67	+43.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.03 CHF0.83	+14.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$1.04 CHF0.84	+53.8%
Average			+64.4%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of groceries

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pay 79.6% more for transportation

	Wellington	Lugano
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.71	$8.39 CHF6.74	+36.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.17	$89.88 CHF72.16	-18.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	$41,041.86 CHF32,947.46	+31.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.38	$53.55 CHF42.99	+268.0%
Average			+79.6%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.2% more for housing

	Wellington	Lugano
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$85.02	$53.80 CHF43.19	+10.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	$1,699.65 CHF1,364.44	+37.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	$1,272.13 CHF1,021.24	+15.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.73	$155.01 CHF124.44	+41.7%
Average			+26.2%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Wellington	Lugano
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	$1,251.28 CHF1,004.50	+62.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	$35,452.83 CHF28,460.72	+190.3%
Average			+126.6%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Lugano
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$7.51 CHF6.03	+13.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$4.55 CHF3.65	+28.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.77	$11.07 CHF8.89	-56.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.51	$110.53 CHF88.73	+223.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$18.77 CHF15.07	+62.7%
Average			+54.3%

Wellington vs. Lugano - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.2% more for clothing

	Wellington	Lugano
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.87	$151.72 CHF121.80	+118.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.33	$52.14 CHF41.85	+11.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.60	$150.15 CHF120.54	+32.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$255.02	$154.32 CHF123.89	+5.5%
Average			+42.2%

Wellington vs. Lugano - 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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