Cost of living comparison

compared to

Traverse City vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Traverse City is 3.5% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 11.7% more in Traverse City
Groceries: pay 21.5% more in Traverse City
Transportation: pay 34.9% less in Traverse City
Housing: pay 32.5% more in Traverse City
Childcare: pay 12.6% more in Traverse City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% less in Traverse City
Clothing: pay 11.4% less in Traverse City

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

Traverse City vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Traverse City instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.7% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Traverse City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.06	$20.00	+38.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.04	$10.00	+8.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.27	$2.25	-8.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.44	$2.14	+8.2%
Average			+11.7%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.5% more for groceries

	Wellington	Traverse City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.43	$2.94	+48.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.99	$4.64	+15.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.79	$2.83	-58.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.77	$2.61	-61.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.29	$5.07	+6.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$2.74	+101.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.76	$0.72	-28.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.31	$1.75	+31.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.02	$3.08	+33.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.21	+35.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$1.45	+113.4%
Average			+21.5%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.9% less for transportation

	Wellington	Traverse City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.67	$3.27	-46.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$190.44	$30.00	-72.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,124.77	$35,699.74	+14.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.28	??
Average			-34.9%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.5% more for housing

	Wellington	Traverse City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$84.70	$67.50	+38.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,155.27	$1,983.33	+59.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,909.96	$1,418.00	+29.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.00	$112.10	+2.5%
Average			+32.5%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of housing

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pay 12.6% more for childcare

	Wellington	Traverse City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,335.08	$1,030.00	+34.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,215.57	$11,136.00	-8.8%
Average			+12.6%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Traverse City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.53	$3.75	-43.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.15	$4.00	+13.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.60	$6.00	-76.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.28	$63.33	+85.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.05	$9.50	-17.7%
Average			-7.8%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Traverse City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.41	$74.33	+7.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.02	$41.67	-10.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$196.84	$111.67	-1.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$254.05	$86.67	-40.7%
Average			-11.4%

Wellington vs. Traverse City - 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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