Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sarnia vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Sarnia is 11.6% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 9.4% less in Sarnia
Groceries: pay 35.0% more in Sarnia
Transportation: pay 12.4% less in Sarnia
Housing: pay 5.3% more in Sarnia
Childcare: pay 62.6% less in Sarnia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.1% less in Sarnia
Clothing: pay 8.7% less in Sarnia

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

Sarnia vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.4% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Sarnia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.13	$14.35 CA$19.93	-0.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.09	$9.51 CA$13.20	+3.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$1.85 CA$2.57	-24.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$1.67 CA$2.33	-15.3%
Average			-9.4%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.0% more for groceries

	Wellington	Sarnia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.44	$2.90 CA$4.03	+46.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.01	$9.55 CA$13.26	+137.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.83	$7.35 CA$10.21	+8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.80	$3.46 CA$4.81	-48.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$5.25 CA$7.29	+10.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$1.91 CA$2.65	+40.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.76	$0.89 CA$1.24	-12.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$1.87 CA$2.59	+40.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$2.26 CA$3.14	-2.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.44 CA$1.99	+60.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$1.39 CA$1.93	+104.8%
Average			+35.0%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.4% less for transportation

	Wellington	Sarnia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.70	$4.01 CA$5.56	-34.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.01	$53.82 CA$74.73	-50.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,287.65	$24,382.26 CA$33,856.70	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.36	$22.96 CA$31.89	+57.8%
Average			-12.4%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.3% more for housing

	Wellington	Sarnia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.95	$66.74 CA$92.67	+36.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,161.75	$1,255.78 CA$1,743.75	+1.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,915.71	$932.87 CA$1,295.36	-15.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.58	$107.46 CA$149.22	-1.7%
Average			+5.3%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 62.6% less for childcare

	Wellington	Sarnia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,339.10	$287.04 CA$398.57	-62.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,279.42	??
Average			-62.6%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Sarnia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.56	$4.66 CA$6.48	-29.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$2.57 CA$3.56	-27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.74	$10.76 CA$14.95	-58.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.46	$21.52 CA$29.89	-36.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.11	$12.92 CA$17.94	+11.9%
Average			-28.1%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.7% less for clothing

	Wellington	Sarnia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.77	$68.17 CA$94.66	-1.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.26	$40.90 CA$56.80	-12.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.44	$91.85 CA$127.54	-18.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$254.81	$143.52 CA$199.29	-1.9%
Average			-8.7%

Wellington vs. Sarnia - 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: April 2026

More cost comparisons

Wellington vs.

Moscow

Wellington vs.

Dublin

Wellington vs.

Cairo

Wellington vs.

Quito

Wellington vs.

Prague

Wellington vs.

Hanoi

Wellington vs.

Bangkok

Wellington vs.

Lima

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Sarnia

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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