Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sandnes vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Sandnes is 17.5% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 52.4% more in Sandnes
Groceries: pay 18.2% more in Sandnes
Transportation: pay 25.5% more in Sandnes
Housing: pay 21.1% more in Sandnes
Childcare: pay 42.8% less in Sandnes
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.4% more in Sandnes
Clothing: pay 17.7% more in Sandnes

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, housing, groceries, and clothing in Sandnes are more expensive than in Wellington.

Sandnes vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.4% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Sandnes
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$25.89 NOK261.68	+79.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.98	$14.72 NOK148.74	+59.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.26	$3.48 NOK35.15	+41.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$2.55 NOK25.81	+29.2%
Average			+52.4%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.2% more for groceries

	Wellington	Sandnes
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.42	$3.25 NOK32.84	+64.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.96	$5.62 NOK56.81	+39.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.75	$8.69 NOK87.80	+28.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.73	$4.22 NOK42.66	-37.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.26	$6.29 NOK63.58	+31.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.36	$1.57 NOK15.89	+15.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.75	$1.12 NOK11.28	+10.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.30	$1.36 NOK13.72	+2.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.01	$2.10 NOK21.21	-9.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.55	$1.00 NOK10.14	+11.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$0.97 NOK9.83	+43.5%
Average			+18.2%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.5% more for transportation

	Wellington	Sandnes
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.63	$8.06 NOK81.50	+31.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$189.75	$69.84 NOK705.87	-36.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,928.03	$33,923.05 NOK342,853.44	+8.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.19	$28.83 NOK291.43	+98.1%
Average			+25.5%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.1% more for housing

	Wellington	Sandnes
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.39	$76.53 NOK773.44	+57.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,147.43	$1,230.54 NOK12,436.84	-0.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,903.02	$856.39 NOK8,655.37	-22.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$189.31	$164.64 NOK1,664.00	+50.5%
Average			+21.1%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.8% less for childcare

	Wellington	Sandnes
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,330.22	$314.66 NOK3,180.22	-59.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,138.46	$8,979.63 NOK90,755.32	-26.5%
Average			-42.8%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Sandnes
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$9.98 NOK100.84	+50.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.13	$5.14 NOK51.93	+45.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.44	$14.97 NOK151.26	-41.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.06	$48.64 NOK491.59	+42.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$17.96 NOK181.51	+55.6%
Average			+30.4%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.7% more for clothing

	Wellington	Sandnes
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.97	$110.57 NOK1,117.47	+59.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.73	$54.54 NOK551.25	+17.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.13	$98.78 NOK998.31	-12.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$253.12	$156.64 NOK1,583.18	+7.1%
Average			+17.7%

Wellington vs. Sandnes - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Wellington vs.

Hong Kong

Wellington vs.

Reykjavik

Wellington vs.

Washington

Wellington vs.

Nairobi

Wellington vs.

Dublin

Wellington vs.

Athens

Wellington vs.

Ottawa

Wellington vs.

Rome

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in New Zealand vs. Norway. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within New Zealand and Norway.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Wellington

Add prices for Sandnes

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sandnes or Wellington. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.