San Jose, United States vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	San Jose	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3962	$2037
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8268	$4310
🏠 One person rent	$2809	$1265
🏘️ Family rent	$4461	$1894
🍽️ Food expenses	$768	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$184	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5742	$3197
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	87	18
😀 Quality of life	91	85
🏙️ Population	1.01M	216K

The cost of living in San Jose, United States is 95% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 8th and 1932nd ($3962 vs $2037) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th 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 1.4 months in San Jose, United States compared to 1.6 months in Wellington. San Jose, United States ranked 31st best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 148th and 484th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/san-jose-us/wellington.jpg" alt="Cost of living in San Jose, United States vs Wellington infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/san-jose-us/wellington" target="_blank">San Jose, United States vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in San Jose, United States vs Wellington

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

	San Jose	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$23.2	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$100	$62.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$9.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$5.63	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.41	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3015	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2454	$1103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4507	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4037	$1611
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$96.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$256	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$74.3	$53.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.44%	5.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9481	$6316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9796	$4074
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$3.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$89.6	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.2	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.69	$2.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.55	$7.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$10.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$10.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22.5	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.41	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$3.15
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.84	$5.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.97	$2.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.29	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.52	$3.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.5	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.94	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$6.98	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.5	$2.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$130	$37
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.6	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$150	$38.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.6	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.4	$76.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.5	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1802	$880
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23160	$13419

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3488
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3608
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4273
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3379
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3257
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2871
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3508
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3603
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3254
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3181
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3589
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3261
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3137
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3359
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3520
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3017
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3065
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3676
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3593
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3604
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2910
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3831
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3007
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3346
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2859
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3282
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3778
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3264
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3277
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2089
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3212

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