Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. West Virginia Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 9.9% more expensive than West Virginia.

Restaurants: pay 5.5% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 8.6% more in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 27.3% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 17.9% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 0.5% less in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.4% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 18.7% more in New Zealand

The cost of entertainment and sports, transportation, clothing, and groceries in New Zealand are more expensive than in West Virginia. Expenses including housing, restaurants, and childcare are lower in New Zealand.

New Zealand vs. West Virginia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of West Virginia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.5% less for restaurants

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.56	$14.45 NZ$25.17	-7.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.18	$9.14 NZ$15.92	-10.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.40	$2.11 NZ$3.67	-12.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.87	$2.02 NZ$3.51	+7.6%
Average			-5.5%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.6% more for groceries

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54	$1.74 NZ$3.03	-31.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.57	$3.88 NZ$6.76	-15.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.06	$6.34 NZ$11.04	+106.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.10	$5.96 NZ$10.38	+92.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.29	$4.01 NZ$6.98	-6.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.89	$1.18 NZ$2.06	-37.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.61	$0.95 NZ$1.66	+55.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64	$1.29 NZ$2.26	-21.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70	$2.11 NZ$3.68	+24.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.23	$0.85 NZ$1.48	-31.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.80 NZ$1.39	-40.7%
Average			+8.6%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.3% more for transportation

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.15	$6.08 NZ$10.59	+93.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$62.00	$74.52 NZ$129.85	+20.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,636.47	$24,777.66 NZ$43,176.21	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.12	$17.81 NZ$31.04	+17.8%
Average			+27.3%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.9% less for housing

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.38	$50.00 NZ$87.12	-19.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$985.60	$978.36 NZ$1,704.83	-0.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$808.85	$810.06 NZ$1,411.57	+0.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$195.99	$95.66 NZ$166.70	-51.2%
Average			-17.9%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 0.5% less for childcare

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$895.95	$635.34 NZ$1,107.12	-29.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,512.00	$13,463.91 NZ$23,461.48	+28.1%
Average			-0.5%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.4% more for entertainment and sports

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.44	$6.04 NZ$10.53	+36.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.52	$3.35 NZ$5.84	-25.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.29	$23.12 NZ$40.30	+179.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.14	$37.72 NZ$65.73	+13.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.09	$10.72 NZ$18.68	-11.4%
Average			+38.4%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.7% more for clothing

	West Virginia	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.93	$65.22 NZ$113.65	+42.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.06	$39.23 NZ$68.36	+0.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.25	$90.28 NZ$157.32	+8.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.41	$119.43 NZ$208.11	+23.9%
Average			+18.7%

West Virginia vs. New Zealand - 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: April 2026

Compare further: West Virginia vs. New Zealand

Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

Be 15.0% less likely to be unemployed in New Zealand

Size Comparison · See true size

West Virginia is about 4.3 times smaller than New Zealand.

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