Cost of living comparison

Sydney (NS), Canada

compared to

Wellington, New Zealand

Wellington vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 39.8% more expensive than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 19.4% more in Wellington
Groceries: pay 61.1% more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 84.7% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 73.9% more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 21.3% more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.4% more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 4.1% less in Wellington

The cost of transportation, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, and restaurants in Wellington are more expensive than in Sydney. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Wellington.

Wellington vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.4% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.50 CA$16.54	$14.93 NZ$25.95	+29.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.17 CA$10.31	$8.96 NZ$15.57	+25.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.21 CA$3.18	$2.57 NZ$4.47	+16.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.03 CA$2.92	$2.15 NZ$3.75	+6.2%
Average			+19.4%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 61.1% more for groceries

	Sydney	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 CA$3.70	$1.96 NZ$3.41	-23.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.23 CA$4.65	$4.15 NZ$7.21	+28.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.56 CA$12.32	$6.98 NZ$12.14	-18.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.37 CA$4.86	$6.84 NZ$11.89	+102.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.75 CA$5.39	$5.06 NZ$8.79	+35.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.26 CA$4.69	$1.40 NZ$2.43	-57.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.54 CA$0.78	$1.09 NZ$1.90	+102.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.48 NZ$2.57
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 CA$0.94	$2.61 NZ$4.54	+300.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 CA$0.54	$1.01 NZ$1.76	+167.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.14 CA$1.64	$0.84 NZ$1.46	-26.5%
Average			+61.1%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 84.7% more for transportation

	Sydney	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.26 CA$6.14	$6.42 NZ$11.16	+50.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.50 CA$69.79	$127.57 NZ$221.76	+163.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,412.64 CA$35,128.57	$34,339.84 NZ$59,695.52	+40.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$18.22 NZ$31.66
Average			+84.7%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 73.9% more for housing

	Sydney	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.26 CA$98.22	$54.27 NZ$94.34	-20.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$957.98 CA$1,378.48	$1,487.35 NZ$2,585.56	+55.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$502.94 CA$723.70	$1,335.17 NZ$2,321.03	+165.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.68 CA$98.83	$134.11 NZ$233.13	+95.3%
Average			+73.9%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.3% more for childcare

	Sydney	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$718.48 CA$1,033.86	$871.44 NZ$1,514.88	+21.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$12,649.75 NZ$21,990.01
Average			+21.3%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	??	$7.17 NZ$12.46
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.87 CA$4.14	$3.41 NZ$5.93	+18.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$17.96 CA$25.85	$24.46 NZ$42.51	+36.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.93 CA$71.85	$39.85 NZ$69.27	-20.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.90 CA$11.37	$12.24 NZ$21.28	+54.9%
Average			+22.4%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.1% less for clothing

	Sydney	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.22 CA$124.06	$75.78 NZ$131.73	-12.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$85.32 CA$122.77	$55.09 NZ$95.77	-35.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$107.77 CA$155.08	$119.44 NZ$207.64	+10.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.77 CA$155.08	$129.60 NZ$225.29	+20.2%
Average			-4.1%

Sydney vs. Wellington - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: March 2025

More cost comparisons

Sydney vs.

Madrid

Sydney vs.

Cairo

Sydney vs.

Berlin

Sydney vs.

Washington

Sydney vs.

Vienna

Sydney vs.

Hong Kong

Sydney vs.

Nairobi

Sydney vs.

Ankara

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Canada vs. New Zealand. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Canada and New Zealand.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Sydney

Add prices for Wellington

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Wellington or Sydney. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.