Los Angeles vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Los Angeles	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3378	$2037
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7707	$4310
🏠 One person rent	$2168	$1265
🏘️ Family rent	$3725	$1894
🍽️ Food expenses	$743	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$257	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4258	$3197
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	99	18
😀 Quality of life	93	85
🏙️ Population	3.9M	216K

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 66% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 72nd and 1932nd ($3378 vs $2037) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 52nd 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 1.6 months in Wellington. Los Angeles ranked 8th best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 55th 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 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	$21.9	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$91	$62.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.3	$9.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.85	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$6.48	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.25	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2352	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1867	$1103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4129	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3274	$1611
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$139	$96.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$214	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.8	$53.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.86%	5.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7811	$6316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7110	$4074
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$3.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$94	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.9	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.27	$2.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.67	$7.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$10.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$10.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.26	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.75	$3.15
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$5.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.78	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.45	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.39	$3.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.78	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.45	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.81	$2.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.1	$37
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$144	$38.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$32.3	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.2	$76.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1715	$880
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28004	$13419

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	$2879
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2850
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2917
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2847
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2749
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2976
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2993
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2810
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3159
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2775
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3086
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2769
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2820
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3695
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3020
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2912
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2835
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2850
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3020
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3768
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2796
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3328
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2698
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2880
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3157
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3057
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2894
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2842
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2789
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2770
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3051
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2847
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3193
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3019
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2702
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2688
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3588
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2815
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3262
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2974

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