Cost of living comparison

compared to

Wollongong vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Wollongong is 11.2% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 9.6% more in Wollongong
Groceries: pay 0.8% more in Wollongong
Transportation: pay 15.4% less in Wollongong
Housing: pay 1.6% less in Wollongong
Childcare: pay 56.8% more in Wollongong
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.5% more in Wollongong
Clothing: pay 4.4% less in Wollongong

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

Wollongong vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.6% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Wollongong
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$16.35 A$24.59	+13.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$15.90	$9.81 A$14.75	+6.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.24	$2.59 A$3.89	+5.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$2.24 A$3.37	+13.2%
Average			+9.6%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.8% more for groceries

	Wellington	Wollongong
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.41	$2.71 A$4.07	+37.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.93	$4.91 A$7.38	+22.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.70	$4.28 A$6.44	-36.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.67	$4.01 A$6.02	-40.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.22	$4.00 A$6.02	-16.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.35	$1.26 A$1.89	-7.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.74	$1.07 A$1.60	+5.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.29	$1.34 A$2.01	+0.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$3.99	$1.86 A$2.80	-19.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.54	$1.00 A$1.50	+11.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.17	$1.04 A$1.56	+53.2%
Average			+0.8%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.4% less for transportation

	Wellington	Wollongong
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.58	$4.42 A$6.64	-28.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$188.86	$47.20 A$70.95	-56.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$53,677.18	$29,060.36 A$43,686.64	-6.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.07	$18.94 A$28.47	+30.1%
Average			-15.4%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.6% less for housing

	Wellington	Wollongong
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$83.99	$48.93 A$73.56	+0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,137.45	$979.52 A$1,472.51	-21.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,894.16	$803.00 A$1,207.15	-27.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$188.43	$154.54 A$232.32	+41.3%
Average			-1.6%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of housing

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pay 56.8% more for childcare

	Wellington	Wollongong
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,324.04	$1,570.02 A$2,360.22	+104.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,040.13	$13,332.06 A$20,042.18	+9.2%
Average			+56.8%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Wollongong
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$5.56 A$8.36	-16.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.10	$3.41 A$5.12	-3.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.23	$31.07 A$46.71	+21.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$58.79	$86.48 A$130.01	+153.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$12.43 A$18.69	+7.7%
Average			+32.5%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.4% less for clothing

	Wellington	Wollongong
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$119.42	$65.42 A$98.34	-5.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$80.35	$57.79 A$86.87	+23.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$195.21	$94.12 A$141.49	-16.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$251.95	$118.48 A$178.11	-19.0%
Average			-4.4%

Wellington vs. Wollongong - 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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