Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ottawa vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Ottawa is 1.4% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 1.0% less in Ottawa
Groceries: pay 11.5% more in Ottawa
Transportation: pay 22.1% less in Ottawa
Housing: pay 4.7% less in Ottawa
Childcare: pay 36.1% more in Ottawa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.8% less in Ottawa
Clothing: pay 19.1% less in Ottawa

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

Ottawa vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.0% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Ottawa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$26.74	$17.96 CA$26.01	+20.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$16.04	$10.78 CA$15.61	+20.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.61	$2.17 CA$3.14	-15.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.86	$1.53 CA$2.22	-29.0%
Average			-1.0%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.5% more for groceries

	Wellington	Ottawa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.52	$2.65 CA$3.84	+34.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$7.43	$6.28 CA$9.09	+51.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$12.50	$9.92 CA$14.37	+42.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$12.25	$3.31 CA$4.80	-51.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$9.06	$5.89 CA$8.53	+16.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.50	$1.93 CA$2.80	+38.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.95	$0.64 CA$0.92	-41.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.64	$1.44 CA$2.09	-2.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.68	$1.69 CA$2.44	-35.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.82	$1.20 CA$1.74	+18.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.50	$1.31 CA$1.89	+55.8%
Average			+11.5%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Ottawa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.50	$4.15 CA$6.01	-35.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$228.47	$92.50 CA$133.96	-27.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$61,502.38	$24,412.64 CA$35,353.16	-28.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$32.62	$18.80 CA$27.22	+3.2%
Average			-22.1%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.7% less for housing

	Wellington	Ottawa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$97.19	$50.21 CA$72.72	-7.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,663.82	$1,425.51 CA$2,064.36	-4.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,391.28	$1,269.57 CA$1,838.52	-4.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$240.18	$131.33 CA$190.19	-2.1%
Average			-4.7%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of housing

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pay 36.1% more for childcare

	Wellington	Ottawa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,560.73	$999.72 CA$1,447.75	+14.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$22,655.60	$19,936.07 CA$28,870.42	+57.6%
Average			+36.1%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Ottawa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.84	$5.75 CA$8.32	-19.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$6.11	$3.71 CA$5.37	+8.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$43.80	$12.93 CA$18.73	-47.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$71.37	$46.27 CA$67.01	+16.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$21.93	$10.78 CA$15.61	-12.0%
Average			-10.8%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.1% less for clothing

	Wellington	Ottawa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$135.72	$57.20 CA$82.83	-24.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$98.67	$44.39 CA$64.28	-19.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$213.92	$97.78 CA$141.59	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$232.10	$110.86 CA$160.54	-14.5%
Average			-19.1%

Wellington vs. Ottawa - 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: January 2025

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