Los Angeles vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Los Angeles	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3420	$2003
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7800	$4295
🏠 One person rent	$2177	$1243
🏘️ Family rent	$3742	$1875
🍽️ Food expenses	$761	$532
🚐 Transport expenses	$263	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4482	$3056
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	99	18
😀 Quality of life	93	84
🏙️ Population	3.9M	216K

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 71% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 62nd and 2013th ($3420 vs $2003) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th 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 Los Angeles compared to 1.5 months in Wellington. Los Angeles ranked 8th best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 50th and 485th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/los-angeles/wellington.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Los Angeles vs Wellington infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/los-angeles/wellington" target="_blank">Los Angeles vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Los Angeles vs Wellington

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

	Los Angeles	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.4	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$104	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.92	$7.34
☕ Cappuccino	$6.66	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.53	$2.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2356	$1149
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1856	$1062
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4109	$1957
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3268	$1575
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$152	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$236	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.2	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.28%	5.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8186	$7032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7185	$3790
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.76	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.5	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.33	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$1.91
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.59	$7.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$9.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.4	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.3	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.19	$5.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$3.59
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.9	$25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.24	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.99	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.92	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.1	$37.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$164	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.5	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$81.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1748	$1020
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23685	$13757

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000

Cities near Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1869
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1803
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1751
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1709
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1248
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1440
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1395
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1469
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1400
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1503
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1261
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1653
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1705
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1475
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1259
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1424
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1647
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1660
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1800
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1530
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1553
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1752
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2100
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1745
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1567
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1507
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1239
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2232
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1282
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2354
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1995
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2481
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1911
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2040
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1709
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2364
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1844