Cost of living comparison

compared to

New York City vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

New York City is 96.4% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 42.9% more in New York City
Groceries: pay 73.4% more in New York City
Transportation: pay 11.9% more in New York City
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in New York City
Childcare: pay 4.4 times more in New York City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 93.8% more in New York City
Clothing: pay 5.6% more in New York City

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in New York City are more expensive than in Wellington. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in New York City.

New York City vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New York City instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.9% more for restaurants

	Wellington	New York City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$25.00	+73.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.10	$13.00	+40.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$3.09	+25.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$2.61	+31.8%
Average			+42.9%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 73.4% more for groceries

	Wellington	New York City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$4.75	+140.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.02	$8.89	+120.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.84	$6.05	-10.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.81	$7.20	+6.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$7.07	+48.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$3.29	+141.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.77	$1.08	+6.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$2.60	+95.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$2.68	+15.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.63	+81.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$1.78	+162.5%
Average			+73.4%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.9% more for transportation

	Wellington	New York City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.71	$3.47	-43.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.17	$132.00	+20.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	$36,344.69	+16.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.38	$22.39	+53.9%
Average			+11.9%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Wellington	New York City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$85.02	$67.59	+38.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	$4,037.06	+225.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	$2,496.67	+127.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.73	$151.98	+39.0%
Average			+107.5%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4 times more for childcare

	Wellington	New York City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	$3,154.10	+310.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	$57,250.00	+368.8%
Average			+339.6%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of childcare

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pay 93.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	New York City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$8.00	+20.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$5.71	+61.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.77	$19.00	-26.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.51	$150.04	+339.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$20.00	+73.3%
Average			+93.8%

Wellington vs. New York City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.6% more for clothing

	Wellington	New York City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.87	$67.80	-2.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.33	$49.94	+7.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.60	$115.58	+2.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$255.02	$168.76	+15.4%
Average			+5.6%

Wellington vs. New York City - 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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