Cost of living comparison

 Wellington, New Zealand
compared to
 Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary
Tokyo vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

pay 55.0% less for restaurants

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $14.93
NZ$25.04
$6.51
¥938
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.96
NZ$15.02
$5.21
¥751
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.57
NZ$4.32
$1.12
¥161

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pay 13.6% more for groceries

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Bread
1 loaf
$1.96
NZ$3.29
$1.63
¥235
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.15
NZ$6.96
$7.01
¥1,010
Milk (1 gallon) $6.98
NZ$11.71
$5.89
¥848

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pay 17.2% less for transportation

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.42
NZ$10.76
$4.42
¥637
Monthly public transit pass $127.57
NZ$213.93
$58.62
¥8,444
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,339.84
NZ$57,588.22
$21,767.76
¥3,135,439

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pay 30.6% less for housing

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$54.27
NZ$91.01
$31.86
¥4,589
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,487.35
NZ$2,494.29
$1,120.28
¥161,365
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,335.17
NZ$2,239.10
$582.98
¥83,973

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pay 12.0% less for childcare

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $871.44
NZ$1,461.41
$533.29
¥76,816
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,649.75
NZ$21,213.75
$14,506.96
¥2,089,589

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pay 13.9% less for entertainment and sports

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.17
NZ$12.02
$3.26
¥469
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.41
NZ$5.72
$3.40
¥490
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$24.46
NZ$41.01
$3.91
¥563

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pay 36.6% less for clothing

 
Wellington
Tokyo
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$75.78
NZ$127.08
$52.60
¥7,576
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$55.09
NZ$92.39
$36.87
¥5,311
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$119.44
NZ$200.31
$63.41
¥9,134

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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: June 2025
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See the cost of living in New Zealand vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within New Zealand and Japan.

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