Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Bulgaria

Sofia vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Sofia is 26.0% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 20.3% more in Sofia
Groceries: pay 23.8% less in Sofia
Transportation: pay 29.1% less in Sofia
Housing: pay 40.9% less in Sofia
Childcare: pay 15.8% less in Sofia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.7% less in Sofia
Clothing: pay 5.1% more in Sofia

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

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Sofia vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.3% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Sofia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.27	$16.80 BGN29.23	+22.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.95	$11.61 BGN20.20	+28.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$2.42 BGN4.21
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$1.80 BGN3.14	+5.5%
Average			+20.3%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% less for groceries

	Wellington	Sofia
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$1.53 BGN2.66	-29.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$5.70 BGN9.92	+23.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$7.46 BGN12.99	+4.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$4.37 BGN7.60	-36.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$3.92 BGN6.81	-10.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$0.99 BGN1.72	-29.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$0.92 BGN1.60	-7.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$0.86 BGN1.49	-37.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$1.93 BGN3.36	-34.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$0.48 BGN0.84	-49.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$0.41 BGN0.71	-28.6%
Average			-23.8%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.1% less for transportation

	Wellington	Sofia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$6.58 BGN11.46	-6.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$179.01	$28.55 BGN49.69	-71.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	+19.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$9.05 BGN15.75	-44.1%
Average			-29.1%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.9% less for housing

	Wellington	Sofia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$15.37 BGN26.74	-71.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	-35.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	-47.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$121.09 BGN210.73	-19.2%
Average			-40.9%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of housing

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pay 15.8% less for childcare

	Wellington	Sofia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	-27.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	-1.9%
Average			-15.8%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Sofia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$3.44 BGN5.98	-52.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$3.53 BGN6.15	+5.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$4.25 BGN7.40	-83.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$46.61 BGN81.12	+22.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$10.08 BGN17.54	-16.3%
Average			-26.7%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.1% more for clothing

	Wellington	Sofia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$89.18 BGN155.21	+14.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$40.94 BGN71.25	+45.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$106.72 BGN185.72	+4.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$106.41 BGN185.18	-30.3%
Average			+5.1%

Wellington vs. Sofia - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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