Cost of living comparison

compared to

Medicine Hat vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Medicine Hat is 10.1% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 4.3% less in Medicine Hat
Groceries: pay 15.4% less in Medicine Hat
Transportation: pay 27.9% less in Medicine Hat
Housing: pay 1.8% less in Medicine Hat
Childcare: pay 18.9% more in Medicine Hat
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.5% more in Medicine Hat
Clothing: pay 40.4% less in Medicine Hat

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

Medicine Hat vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Medicine Hat instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$15.07 CA$20.76	+4.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.90	$10.05 CA$13.84	+8.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.24	$2.00 CA$2.76	-18.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$1.75 CA$2.41	-11.7%
Average			-4.3%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.4% less for groceries

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$1.82 CA$2.51	-7.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.93	$4.07 CA$5.61	+1.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.70	$5.58 CA$7.70	-17.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.67	$3.24 CA$4.46	-52.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.22	$4.94 CA$6.81	+3.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.35	$1.70 CA$2.34	+24.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.74	$0.59 CA$0.82	-41.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.29	$1.12 CA$1.54	-15.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$3.99	$1.49 CA$2.05	-35.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.54	$0.65 CA$0.89	-27.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.67 CA$0.93	-0.7%
Average			-15.4%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.9% less for transportation

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.58	$3.71 CA$5.11	-39.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$188.86	$50.59 CA$69.71	-53.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,677.18	$24,382.26 CA$33,597.54	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.07	$15.07 CA$20.76	+3.5%
Average			-27.9%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.8% less for housing

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$83.99	$60.15 CA$82.88	+23.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,137.45	$801.31 CA$1,104.16	-35.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,894.16	$717.59 CA$988.80	-34.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$188.43	$152.49 CA$210.12	+39.4%
Average			-1.8%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.9% more for childcare

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,324.04	$841.80 CA$1,159.96	+9.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,040.13	$15,667.38 CA$21,588.86	+28.3%
Average			+18.9%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$5.74 CA$7.91	-13.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.10	$3.72 CA$5.12	+5.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.23	$11.48 CA$15.82	-55.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.79	$54.78 CA$75.48	+60.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$12.20 CA$16.81	+5.7%
Average			+0.5%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Medicine Hat
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.42	$51.67 CA$71.19	-25.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.35	$26.91 CA$37.08	-42.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$195.21	$67.45 CA$92.95	-40.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$251.95	$68.17 CA$93.94	-53.4%
Average			-40.4%

Wellington vs. Medicine Hat - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Wellington vs.

Bangkok

Wellington vs.

London

Wellington vs.

Dodoma

Wellington vs.

Vienna

Wellington vs.

Paris

Wellington vs.

Kiev

Wellington vs.

Mexico City

Wellington vs.

Phnom Penh

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in New Zealand vs. Canada. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within New Zealand and Canada.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Wellington

Add prices for Medicine Hat

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Medicine Hat or Wellington. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.