Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

New Zealand

Queenstown vs. Wilmington Cost of Living Summary

Queenstown is 8.2% cheaper than Wilmington.

Restaurants: pay 15.8% less in Queenstown
Groceries: pay 10.0% more in Queenstown
Transportation: pay 30.9% more in Queenstown
Housing: pay 27.8% less in Queenstown
Childcare: pay 59.4% less in Queenstown
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% more in Queenstown
Clothing: pay 25.3% more in Queenstown

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

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Queenstown vs. Wilmington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Queenstown instead of Wilmington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.8% less for restaurants

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00	$14.01 NZ$24.77	-30.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25	$8.96 NZ$15.85	-12.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.25	$2.07 NZ$3.67	-7.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.33	$2.04 NZ$3.62	+53.7%
Average			-15.8%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.0% more for groceries

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Bread 1 loaf	$2.97	$1.96 NZ$3.46	-34.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.80	$4.17 NZ$7.37	-13.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.36	$8.05 NZ$14.24	+84.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.04	$5.77 NZ$10.21	+89.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.89	$4.50 NZ$7.96	+15.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12	$1.34 NZ$2.36	-37.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59	$1.05 NZ$1.86	+79.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.02	$1.70 NZ$3.01	-15.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79	$2.44 NZ$4.32	+36.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17	$1.56 NZ$2.77	+33.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.15	$0.82 NZ$1.45	-28.7%
Average			+10.0%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.9% more for transportation

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.96	$6.42 NZ$11.36	+62.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.00	$120.44 NZ$212.99	+100.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,000.00	$25,209.21 NZ$44,578.63	-28.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.70	$17.47 NZ$30.89	+27.5%
Average			+30.9%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.8% less for housing

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$51.87 NZ$91.73	-13.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,850.00	$1,488.74 NZ$2,632.62	-19.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,600.00	$1,267.18 NZ$2,240.82	-20.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$210.29	$84.02 NZ$148.58	-60.0%
Average			-27.8%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of housing

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pay 59.4% less for childcare

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,600.00	$964.30 NZ$1,705.22	-39.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,666.67	$7,562.76 NZ$13,373.59	-72.7%
Average			-59.4%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.00	$6.72 NZ$11.89	+68.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.81	$3.22 NZ$5.70	-33.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.00	$26.89 NZ$47.55	+144.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.50	$55.32 NZ$97.83	+65.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.00	$10.22 NZ$18.08	-14.8%
Average			+21.9%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.3% more for clothing

	Wilmington	Queenstown
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.00	$58.26 NZ$103.03	+57.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00	$45.94 NZ$81.23	-2.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$82.50	$91.03 NZ$160.98	+10.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.50	$134.45 NZ$237.75	+45.4%
Average			+25.3%

Wilmington vs. Queenstown - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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