Cost of living comparison

compared to

White Rock vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

White Rock is 5.7% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 8.0% less in White Rock
Groceries: pay 37.7% more in White Rock
Transportation: pay 5.3% less in White Rock
Housing: pay 30.8% more in White Rock
Childcare: pay 1.1% less in White Rock
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.9% more in White Rock
Clothing: pay 22.1% less in White Rock

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

White Rock vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in White Rock instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.0% less for restaurants

	Wellington	White Rock
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$16.14 CA$22.24	+11.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.90	$8.97 CA$12.35	-2.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.24	$2.02 CA$2.78	-18.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$1.52 CA$2.10	-22.9%
Average			-8.0%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.7% more for groceries

	Wellington	White Rock
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$2.68 CA$3.69	+35.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.93	$6.80 CA$9.36	+68.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.70	$6.49 CA$8.94	-4.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.67	$3.71 CA$5.12	-45.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.22	$6.62 CA$9.12	+38.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.35	$2.28 CA$3.14	+67.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.74	$0.60 CA$0.83	-40.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.29	$1.87 CA$2.58	+40.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$3.99	$2.50 CA$3.44	+7.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.54	$2.15 CA$2.96	+139.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$1.39 CA$1.92	+105.7%
Average			+37.7%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.3% less for transportation

	Wellington	White Rock
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.58	$4.53 CA$6.24	-26.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$188.86	$107.58 CA$148.24	-1.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,677.18	$26,350.08 CA$36,309.10	-15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.07	$17.83 CA$24.56	+22.5%
Average			-5.3%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.8% more for housing

	Wellington	White Rock
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$83.99	$63.65 CA$87.71	+30.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,137.45	$1,793.06 CA$2,470.75	+44.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,894.16	$1,506.17 CA$2,075.43	+37.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$188.43	$121.52 CA$167.44	+11.1%
Average			+30.8%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of housing

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pay 1.1% less for childcare

	Wellington	White Rock
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,324.04	$956.30 CA$1,317.73	+24.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,040.13	$8,965.30 CA$12,353.73	-26.6%
Average			-1.1%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	White Rock
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$4.30 CA$5.93	-35.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.10	$3.94 CA$5.44	+11.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.23	$15.06 CA$20.75	-41.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.79	$69.93 CA$96.36	+104.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$11.48 CA$15.81	-0.5%
Average			+7.9%

Wellington vs. White Rock - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.1% less for clothing

	Wellington	White Rock
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.42	$57.38 CA$79.06	-17.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.35	$41.24 CA$56.83	-11.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$195.21	$89.65 CA$123.54	-20.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$251.95	$89.65 CA$123.54	-38.7%
Average			-22.1%

Wellington vs. White Rock - 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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