Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santa Monica vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Santa Monica is 38.2% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 31.2% more in Santa Monica
Groceries: pay 34.4% more in Santa Monica
Transportation: pay 8.1% less in Santa Monica
Housing: pay 92.5% more in Santa Monica
Childcare: pay 76.1% more in Santa Monica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.1% more in Santa Monica
Clothing: pay 6.5% less in Santa Monica

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

Santa Monica vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santa Monica instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 31.2% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$25.00	+73.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.10	$12.50	+35.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$2.83	+14.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$2.00	+1.1%
Average			+31.2%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.4% more for groceries

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$4.41	+123.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.02	$6.67	+65.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.84	$4.71	-30.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.81	$5.00	-26.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$6.33	+32.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$2.00	+46.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.77	$0.87	-13.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$1.84	+38.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$2.53	+9.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.38	+53.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$1.22	+80.0%
Average			+34.4%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.71	$4.74	-22.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.17	$67.50	-38.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	$32,727.50	+5.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.38	$18.01	+23.8%
Average			-8.1%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of transportation

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pay 92.5% more for housing

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$85.02	$69.00	+41.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	$3,175.00	+155.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	$2,533.33	+130.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.73	$155.53	+42.2%
Average			+92.5%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of housing

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pay 76.1% more for childcare

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	$1,762.50	+129.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	$15,000.00	+22.8%
Average			+76.1%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$8.00	+20.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$5.58	+57.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.77	$11.00	-57.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.51	$90.00	+163.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$18.00	+56.0%
Average			+48.1%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.5% less for clothing

	Wellington	Santa Monica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.87	$61.25	-11.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.33	$44.15	-5.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.60	$100.09	-11.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$255.02	$149.85	+2.5%
Average			-6.5%

Wellington vs. Santa Monica - 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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