Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

United Kingdom

Scarborough vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Scarborough is 10.4% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 11.3% less in Scarborough
Groceries: pay 22.2% less in Scarborough
Transportation: pay 14.2% more in Scarborough
Housing: pay 0.2% less in Scarborough
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Scarborough
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.8% less in Scarborough
Clothing: pay 15.9% less in Scarborough

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

Scarborough vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.3% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Scarborough
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.74	$14.36 £10.72	-0.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.83	$11.36 £8.48	+23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.22	$2.07 £1.55	-15.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.39	$0.95 £0.71	-52.0%
Average			-11.3%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.2% less for groceries

	Wellington	Scarborough
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.39	$1.67 £1.24	-15.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.90	$4.85 £3.62	+20.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.64	$5.56 £4.15	-18.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.62	$3.64 £2.71	-46.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.18	$4.26 £3.18	-10.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.33	$1.33 £1.00	-2.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.74	$0.65 £0.48	-36.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.28	$0.65 £0.48	-51.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$3.97	$0.97 £0.73	-58.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.54	$0.64 £0.48	-28.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.16	$0.69 £0.51	+1.2%
Average			-22.2%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.2% more for transportation

	Wellington	Scarborough
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.53	$7.22 £5.38	+17.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$187.99	$92.50 £69.03	-15.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,428.60	$35,874.41 £26,771.92	+15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$24.96	$20.32 £15.17	+39.7%
Average			+14.2%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.2% less for housing

	Wellington	Scarborough
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$83.61	$33.41 £24.93	-31.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,127.55	$868.63 £648.23	-30.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,885.39	$835.22 £623.30	-24.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$187.56	$202.00 £150.75	+84.7%
Average			-0.2%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Wellington	Scarborough
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,317.91	$1,675.79 £1,250.59	+118.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$20,942.69	??
Average			+118.1%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Scarborough
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.38	$5.75 £4.29	-13.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.07	$4.57 £3.41	+29.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.03	$11.31 £8.44	-55.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.52	$33.41 £24.93	-2.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.79	$10.77 £8.04	-6.7%
Average			-9.8%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.9% less for clothing

	Wellington	Scarborough
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$118.86	$67.31 £50.23	-2.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$79.98	$35.90 £26.79	-23.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$194.31	$107.71 £80.38	-4.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$250.78	$98.00 £73.13	-33.0%
Average			-15.9%

Wellington vs. Scarborough - 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: June 2026

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