Cost of living comparison

compared to

North Bay vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

North Bay is 2.7% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 15.9% less in North Bay
Groceries: pay 12.4% more in North Bay
Transportation: pay 25.5% less in North Bay
Housing: pay 8.9% more in North Bay
Childcare: pay 72.9% more in North Bay
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.9% less in North Bay
Clothing: pay 47.1% less in North Bay

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

North Bay vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in North Bay instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.9% less for restaurants

	Wellington	North Bay
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.13	$14.35 CA$19.93	-0.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.09	$9.33 CA$12.95	+1.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$1.83 CA$2.54	-25.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$1.22 CA$1.69	-38.4%
Average			-15.9%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.4% more for groceries

	Wellington	North Bay
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.44	$2.25 CA$3.13	+14.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.01	$10.10 CA$14.02	+151.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.83	$7.38 CA$10.24	+8.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.80	$3.27 CA$4.54	-51.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$5.11 CA$7.10	+7.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$1.70 CA$2.36	+25.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.76	$0.60 CA$0.83	-40.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$1.62 CA$2.24	+21.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$1.53 CA$2.12	-34.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$0.94 CA$1.30	+4.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$0.89 CA$1.23	+30.9%
Average			+12.4%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.5% less for transportation

	Wellington	North Bay
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.70	$4.00 CA$5.55	-34.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.01	$71.76 CA$99.64	-34.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,287.65	$24,382.26 CA$33,856.70	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.36	$12.97 CA$18.01	-10.9%
Average			-25.5%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.9% more for housing

	Wellington	North Bay
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.95	$57.85 CA$80.34	+18.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,161.75	$1,339.50 CA$1,860.00	+8.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,915.71	$1,219.90 CA$1,693.93	+11.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.58	$107.00 CA$148.58	-2.2%
Average			+8.9%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of housing

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pay 72.9% more for childcare

	Wellington	North Bay
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,339.10	$896.99 CA$1,245.54	+16.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,279.42	$27,986.00 CA$38,860.77	+129.2%
Average			+72.9%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	North Bay
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.56	$5.02 CA$6.98	-24.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$3.16 CA$4.38	-10.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.74	$12.92 CA$17.94	-49.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.46	$24.40 CA$33.88	-28.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.11	$10.23 CA$14.20	-11.4%
Average			-24.9%

Wellington vs. North Bay - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.1% less for clothing

	Wellington	North Bay
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.77	$43.06 CA$59.79	-37.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.26	$17.94 CA$24.91	-61.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.44	$62.79 CA$87.19	-44.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$254.81	$81.33 CA$112.93	-44.4%
Average			-47.1%

Wellington vs. North Bay - 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: April 2026

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