Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Japan

Okinawa vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Okinawa is 23.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 45.8% less in Okinawa
Groceries: pay 24.9% more in Okinawa
Transportation: pay 3.3% more in Okinawa
Housing: pay 37.4% less in Okinawa
Childcare: pay 56.5% less in Okinawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.1% less in Okinawa
Clothing: pay 36.9% less in Okinawa

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

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Okinawa vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.8% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Okinawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.92	$8.02 ¥1,314	-44.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.95	$5.78 ¥947	-37.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.25	$1.34 ¥220	-45.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$0.87 ¥143	-55.8%
Average			-45.8%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.9% more for groceries

	Wellington	Okinawa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$2.22 ¥364	+12.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.95	$7.94 ¥1,300	+97.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.73	$6.98 ¥1,144	+2.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.70	$1.99 ¥326	-70.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.25	$4.83 ¥791	+1.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.35	$2.24 ¥367	+64.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$1.15 ¥189	+13.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.34 ¥220	+1.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.00	$2.54 ¥416	+9.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$1.57 ¥258	+75.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$1.13 ¥185	+66.9%
Average			+24.9%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.3% more for transportation

	Wellington	Okinawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.61	$4.43 ¥726	-27.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.39	$33.41 ¥5,475	-69.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,825.54	$22,332.63 ¥4M	-28.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.14	$34.75 ¥5,694	+138.8%
Average			+3.3%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.4% less for housing

	Wellington	Okinawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.23	$30.74 ¥5,037	-36.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,143.35	$429.01 ¥70,296	-65.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,899.40	$384.24 ¥62,959	-65.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$188.95	$128.60 ¥21,072	+17.6%
Average			-37.4%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of housing

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pay 56.5% less for childcare

	Wellington	Okinawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,327.70	$334.12 ¥54,747	-56.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,098.28	??
Average			-56.5%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Okinawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.46	$3.34 ¥547	-49.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.12	$3.47 ¥568	-2.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.36	$4.68 ¥766	-81.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.95	$50.79 ¥8,322	+48.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.94	$12.03 ¥1,971	+4.2%
Average			-16.1%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.9% less for clothing

	Wellington	Okinawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.75	$46.43 ¥7,608	-33.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.57	$29.70 ¥4,867	-36.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$195.75	$69.50 ¥11,387	-38.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$252.64	$88.54 ¥14,508	-39.4%
Average			-36.9%

Wellington vs. Okinawa - 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: July 2026

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