Auckland vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Auckland	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2156	$3154
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4802	$7508
🏠 One person rent	$1242	$1981
🏘️ Family rent	$1967	$3422
🍽️ Food expenses	$543	$796
🚐 Transport expenses	$242	$169
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3398	$6532
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	32	80
😀 Quality of life	89	95
🏙️ Population	1.47M	737K

The cost of living in Auckland is 32% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 1604th and 142nd ($2156 vs $3154) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 101st in New Zealand and the United States, respectively. Check New Zealand vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Auckland compared to 2.1 months in Seattle. Auckland ranked 1st best city to live in New Zealand vs Seattle ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 240th and 32nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Auckland vs Seattle

Prices for goods and services in Auckland and Seattle are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Auckland	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.5	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$96.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.86	$14.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.14	$7.73
☕ Cappuccino	$3.63	$6.45
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.35	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1205	$2110
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1071	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2099	$3872
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1689	$2891
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.7	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$147	$262
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$72.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.07%	6.53%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7507	$7394
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5316	$5077
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$131	$111
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.63	$1.21
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$4.47
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$4.23
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.66	$6.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$20.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$16.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$21.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$5.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$2.27
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.3	$5.07
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$6.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$3.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$3.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$1.74
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.36	$3.47
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.4	$17.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$3.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.3	$12.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$8.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.55	$6.86
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.45	$2.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.7	$83.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.1	$147
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$24.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.6	$69.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$122
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$988	$2521
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15607	$28950

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Auckland

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Waitakere	$1778
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1646
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1474
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1261
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1740
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1393
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1523
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1528
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1605
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1696
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1518
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1359
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1788
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$2037
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1533
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1325
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1787
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1894
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1623
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$2303
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1579
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1318
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1928
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1865
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1865
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1033
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$879
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$857
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$1039
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1997

Cities near Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2896
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3292
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3041
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2681
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2717
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2855
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2778
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2604
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3559
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2702
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2807
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2737
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2915
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2739
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2798
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2677
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2734
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2475
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2814
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2717
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2587
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2656
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2674
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2325
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2641
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2519
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2720
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2828
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2641
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2582
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2628
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2362
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2584
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2558
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2710
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2754
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2456
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2539
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2747
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2173