Cost of living comparison

compared to

Tokyo vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 10.2% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants
pay 50.1% less in Tokyo
Groceries
pay 29.0% more in Tokyo
Transportation
pay 4.7% more in Tokyo
Housing
pay 18.7% less in Tokyo
Childcare
pay 4.2% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.5% less in Tokyo
Clothing
pay 28.5% less in Tokyo

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

Tokyo vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

pay 50.1% less for restaurants

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $14.42
NZ$24.85
$8.02
¥1,249
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.23
NZ$15.90
$5.01
¥781
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.46
NZ$4.24
$1.16
¥181

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pay 29.0% more for groceries

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Bread
1 loaf
$1.98
NZ$3.41
$1.55
¥242
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.02
NZ$6.93
$7.21
¥1,123
Milk (1 gallon) $6.79
NZ$11.70
$5.71
¥890

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pay 4.7% more for transportation

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.14
NZ$10.58
$4.50
¥701
Monthly public transit pass $109.62
NZ$188.86
$73.51
¥11,449
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,154.21
NZ$53,677.18
$22,332.63
¥3,478,419

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pay 18.7% less for housing

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$48.75
NZ$83.99
$33.44
¥5,209
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,240.57
NZ$2,137.45
$1,071.65
¥166,915
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,099.37
NZ$1,894.16
$642.24
¥100,032

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pay 4.2% less for childcare

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $768.47
NZ$1,324.04
$519.69
¥80,944
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,211.68
NZ$21,040.13
$15,131.74
¥2,356,844

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pay 3.5% less for entertainment and sports

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.63
NZ$11.43
$4.01
¥624
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.54
NZ$6.10
$3.43
¥534
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$25.67
NZ$44.23
$4.01
¥624

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pay 28.5% less for clothing

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$69.31
NZ$119.42
$56.84
¥8,853
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$46.64
NZ$80.35
$40.48
¥6,306
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$113.30
NZ$195.21
$62.67
¥9,762

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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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