Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Bern, Switzerland

Bern vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Bern is 66.3% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 86.8% more in Bern
Groceries: pay 41.8% more in Bern
Transportation: pay 34.8% more in Bern
Housing: pay 11.2% more in Bern
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Bern
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.6% more in Bern
Clothing: pay 47.3% more in Bern

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

Bern vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 86.8% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Bern
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$26.15	$26.23 CHF23.11	+75.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.69	$17.11 CHF15.07	+91.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.51	$4.65 CHF4.10	+80.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.77	$4.30 CHF3.79	+99.7%
Average			+86.8%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.8% more for groceries

	Wellington	Bern
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.44	$3.23 CHF2.85	+64.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$7.27	$13.69 CHF12.06	+229.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$12.23	$7.62 CHF6.71	+9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.98	$5.84 CHF5.15	-14.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.86	$13.31 CHF11.72	+163.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.45	$1.48 CHF1.30	+5.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.91	$1.08 CHF0.95	-1.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.59	$1.16 CHF1.02	-21.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.57	$2.71 CHF2.38	+3.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.78	$1.06 CHF0.93	+4.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.47	$0.98 CHF0.86	+16.9%
Average			+41.8%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.8% more for transportation

	Wellington	Bern
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.24	$7.86 CHF6.92	+22.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$223.47	$91.24 CHF80.37	-28.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$60,155.64	$37,408.50 CHF32,951.13	+8.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$31.91	$43.00 CHF37.87	+136.1%
Average			+34.8%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.2% more for housing

	Wellington	Bern
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$95.07	$48.66 CHF42.86	-10.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,605.49	$1,382.42 CHF1,217.70	-7.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,338.92	$978.93 CHF862.29	-26.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$234.92	$253.38 CHF223.19	+88.9%
Average			+11.2%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of housing

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Wellington	Bern
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,526.56	$3,022.33 CHF2,662.21	+246.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$22,159.51	$34,215.09 CHF30,138.23	+170.5%
Average			+208.7%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Bern
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.55	$7.41 CHF6.53	+3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.98	$5.39 CHF4.75	+57.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$42.84	$10.26 CHF9.04	-58.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$69.80	$71.17 CHF62.69	+78.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$21.45	$22.81 CHF20.09	+86.3%
Average			+33.6%

Wellington vs. Bern - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.3% more for clothing

	Wellington	Bern
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$132.75	$142.37 CHF125.41	+87.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$96.51	$63.68 CHF56.09	+15.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$209.24	$167.27 CHF147.34	+40.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$227.02	$189.00 CHF166.48	+45.8%
Average			+47.3%

Wellington vs. Bern - 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: March 2025

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