Honolulu vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Honolulu	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3241	$2037
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7578	$4310
🏠 One person rent	$2025	$1265
🏘️ Family rent	$3537	$1894
🍽️ Food expenses	$870	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4156	$3197
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	58	18
😀 Quality of life	85	85
🏙️ Population	351K	216K

The cost of living in Honolulu is 59% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 117th and 1932nd ($3241 vs $2037) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 83rd and 3rd in the United States and New Zealand, respectively. Check the United States vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Honolulu compared to 1.6 months in Wellington. Honolulu ranked 139th best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 438th and 484th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Honolulu vs Wellington

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

	Honolulu	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.1	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$105	$62.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$9.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.56	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$7.91	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.21	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2262	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1695	$1103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4086	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3027	$1611
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$96.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$232	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.8	$53.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.45%	5.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8726	$6316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7721	$4074
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.03	$3.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.5	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24.5	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.83	$2.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.63	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.87	$7.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$10.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18	$10.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.89	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.66	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.31	$3.15
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$5.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$2.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.15	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.61	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.9	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.5	$3.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.4	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.01	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$7.04	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.53	$2.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$60	$37
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.3	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$174	$38.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.7	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$76.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1887	$880
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23744	$13419

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Honolulu

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.1 mi	East Honolulu	$2925
16 km or 10 mi	Pearl	$2610
19 km or 12 mi	Waipahu	$2700
24 km or 15 mi	Mililani Mauka	$2643
152 km or 94 mi	Kahului	$3147
191 km or 118 mi	Kauai	$2821
267 km or 166 mi	Kailua-Kona	$3544
339 km or 211 mi	Hilo	$2467
2149 km or 1335 mi	London	$539
3662 km or 2275 mi	Djarrit	$1510
3674 km or 2283 mi	Majuro	$1507
3836 km or 2383 mi	Eureka	$2088
3840 km or 2386 mi	Ukiah	$2588
3843 km or 2388 mi	Pacifica	$3255
3847 km or 2390 mi	Daly	$3252
3848 km or 2391 mi	San Bruno	$3264
3849 km or 2392 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
3849 km or 2392 mi	Millbrae	$3282
3850 km or 2392 mi	Windsor	$2840
3852 km or 2393 mi	Rohnert Park	$2948
3852 km or 2393 mi	San Rafael	$4102
3852 km or 2394 mi	Burlingame	$3346
3853 km or 2394 mi	Petaluma	$3309
3853 km or 2394 mi	Novato	$3182
3854 km or 2395 mi	San Francisco	$4040
3855 km or 2395 mi	Santa Rosa	$2802
3855 km or 2396 mi	San Mateo	$3831
3856 km or 2396 mi	Belmont	$3593
3858 km or 2397 mi	San Carlos	$3359
3859 km or 2398 mi	South Tarawa	$538
3859 km or 2398 mi	Foster	$3604
3859 km or 2398 mi	Redwood	$3771
3860 km or 2398 mi	Monterey	$2873
3860 km or 2399 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
3863 km or 2400 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
3864 km or 2401 mi	Seaside	$1923
3866 km or 2402 mi	Richmond	$3083
3866 km or 2402 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
3867 km or 2403 mi	San Pablo	$3058
3867 km or 2403 mi	Los Altos	$3254

Cities near Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1788
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1325
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1359
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1533
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1528
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1518
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1605
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1787
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1523
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1393
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1474
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1696
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1740
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1894
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1646
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1778
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2156
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1623
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1579
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1261
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2303
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1318
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2379
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1997
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2482
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1928
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2050
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1710
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2308
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1865