Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Reykjavik is 11.4% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 39.8% more in Reykjavik
Groceries: pay 22.5% more in Reykjavik
Transportation: pay 11.7% more in Reykjavik
Housing: pay 9.1% more in Reykjavik
Childcare: pay 61.8% less in Reykjavik
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.5% more in Reykjavik
Clothing: pay 27.7% more in Reykjavik

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, transportation, and housing in Reykjavik are more expensive than in Wellington.

Reykjavik vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.8% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$26.15	$20.00 ISK2,715	+34.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.69	$18.02 ISK2,446	+101.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.51	$3.15 ISK428	+22.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.77	$2.19 ISK297	+1.4%
Average			+39.8%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.5% more for groceries

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.44	$3.61 ISK490	+83.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$7.27	$7.76 ISK1,053	+87.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$12.23	$6.40 ISK869	-8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.98	$5.76 ISK781	-15.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.86	$9.45 ISK1,282	+86.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.45	$1.40 ISK190	+0.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.91	$1.01 ISK137	-7.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.59	$1.22 ISK165	-17.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.57	$2.22 ISK302	-14.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.78	$1.43 ISK195	+41.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.47	$0.93 ISK127	+11.4%
Average			+22.5%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.7% more for transportation

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.24	$8.50 ISK1,154	+32.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$223.47	$74.95 ISK10,175	-41.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$60,155.64	$42,450.45 ISK5,762,433	+23.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$31.91	$24.05 ISK3,265	+32.0%
Average			+11.7%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.1% more for housing

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$95.07	$69.87 ISK9,484	+28.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,605.49	$1,971.17 ISK267,576	+32.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,338.92	$1,803.44 ISK244,808	+35.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$234.92	$53.95 ISK7,324	-59.8%
Average			+9.1%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 61.8% less for childcare

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,526.56	$252.14 ISK34,227	-71.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$22,159.51	$5,993.99 ISK813,654	-52.6%
Average			-61.8%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.55	$10.81 ISK1,468	+50.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.98	$5.31 ISK720	+55.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$42.84	$12.25 ISK1,662	-49.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$69.80	$69.95 ISK9,495	+75.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$21.45	$14.77 ISK2,006	+20.7%
Average			+30.5%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.7% more for clothing

	Wellington	Reykjavik
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$132.75	$108.97 ISK14,792	+43.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$96.51	$49.72 ISK6,749	-9.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$209.24	$151.85 ISK20,613	+27.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$227.02	$194.16 ISK26,356	+49.8%
Average			+27.7%

Wellington vs. Reykjavik - 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

Wellington vs.

Rome

Wellington vs.

Phnom Penh

Wellington vs.

Kampala

Wellington vs.

Algiers

Wellington vs.

Bangkok

Wellington vs.

Dublin

Wellington vs.

Ankara

Wellington vs.

Prague

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Wellington

Add prices for Reykjavik

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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