Cost of living comparison

compared to

Port Alberni vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Port Alberni is 11.5% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 7.5% less in Port Alberni
Groceries: pay 14.8% less in Port Alberni
Transportation: pay 27.2% less in Port Alberni
Housing: pay 6.2% less in Port Alberni
Childcare: pay 7.2% more in Port Alberni
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.8% less in Port Alberni
Clothing: pay 10.9% less in Port Alberni

Expenses including transportation, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, restaurants, and housing are lower in Port Alberni.

Port Alberni vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Alberni instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.5% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.06	$16.50 CA$22.77	+14.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.04	$10.76 CA$14.85	+16.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.27	$2.08 CA$2.87	-15.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.44	$1.08 CA$1.48	-45.6%
Average			-7.5%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.8% less for groceries

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.43	$1.79 CA$2.47	-9.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.99	$2.87 CA$3.96	-28.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.79	$9.84 CA$13.57	+45.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.77	$3.46 CA$4.78	-48.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.29	$1.95 CA$2.69	-59.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$1.30 CA$1.80	-4.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.76	$0.49 CA$0.67	-51.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.31	$1.34 CA$1.85	+1.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.02	$1.39 CA$1.92	-40.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$0.98 CA$1.35	+8.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$0.85 CA$1.17	+24.8%
Average			-14.8%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.2% less for transportation

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.67	$4.72 CA$6.51	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$190.44	$34.44 CA$47.51	-68.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,124.77	$24,382.26 CA$33,631.67	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.28	$15.21 CA$20.97	+4.5%
Average			-27.2%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.2% less for housing

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.70	$67.57 CA$93.20	+38.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,155.27	$717.59 CA$989.81	-42.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,909.96	$717.59 CA$989.81	-34.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.00	$124.31 CA$171.47	+13.7%
Average			-6.2%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of housing

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pay 7.2% more for childcare

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,335.08	$879.05 CA$1,212.51	+14.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,215.57	$12,199.02 CA$16,826.73	-0.1%
Average			+7.2%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.53	$3.59 CA$4.95	-45.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.15	$3.96 CA$5.46	+11.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.60	$10.76 CA$14.85	-58.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.28	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.05	$12.56 CA$17.32	+8.8%
Average			-20.8%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.9% less for clothing

	Wellington	Port Alberni
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.41	$60.42 CA$83.34	-12.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.02	$56.51 CA$77.95	+21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.84	$98.43 CA$135.77	-13.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$254.05	$89.70 CA$123.73	-38.7%
Average			-10.9%

Wellington vs. Port Alberni - 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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