Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Plymouth vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

New Plymouth is 0.9% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 8.7% less in New Plymouth
Groceries: pay 17.3% less in New Plymouth
Transportation: pay 4.1% more in New Plymouth
Housing: pay 34.0% less in New Plymouth
Childcare: pay 89.0% more in New Plymouth
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.6% less in New Plymouth
Clothing: pay 34.0% less in New Plymouth

The cost of childcare and transportation in New Plymouth are more expensive than in Wellington. Expenses including housing, clothing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in New Plymouth. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in New Plymouth.

New Plymouth vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Plymouth instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.7% less for restaurants

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$12.40 NZ$21.47	-14.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$8.65 NZ$14.98	-6.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$2.17 NZ$3.76	-11.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.92 NZ$3.33	-2.8%
Average			-8.7%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.3% less for groceries

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$1.27 NZ$2.19	-35.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$2.76 NZ$4.78	-31.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$5.42 NZ$9.38	-20.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$5.58 NZ$9.66	-17.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$3.40 NZ$5.89	-28.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$0.92 NZ$1.59	-32.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$0.87 NZ$1.51	-13.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.21 NZ$2.10	-9.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.87 NZ$4.96	+23.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$0.71 NZ$1.22	-21.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.65 NZ$1.13	-3.7%
Average			-17.3%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.1% more for transportation

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$6.11 NZ$10.57	-0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$23,077.19 NZ$39,946.69	-25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$20.19 NZ$34.95	+38.8%
Average			+4.1%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.0% less for housing

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$38.94 NZ$67.41	-20.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$696.16 NZ$1,205.06	-43.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$644.24 NZ$1,115.18	-41.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$75.96 NZ$131.48	-30.5%
Average			-34.0%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of housing

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pay 89.0% more for childcare

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$23,077.19 NZ$39,946.69	+89.0%
Average			+89.0%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$5.05 NZ$8.74	-23.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$3.51 NZ$6.08	-0.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$20.19 NZ$34.95	-21.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$43.27 NZ$74.90	+26.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$10.53 NZ$18.23	-8.8%
Average			-5.6%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.0% less for clothing

	Wellington	New Plymouth
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$59.14 NZ$102.36	-14.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$34.62 NZ$59.92	-25.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$69.23 NZ$119.84	-38.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$63.46 NZ$109.85	-56.6%
Average			-34.0%

Wellington vs. New Plymouth - 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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