Santiago vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Santiago	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1191	$2037
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2945	$4310
🏠 One person rent	$532	$1265
🏘️ Family rent	$934	$1894
🍽️ Food expenses	$397	$542
🚐 Transport expenses	$155	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$881	$3197
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	92	18
😀 Quality of life	80	85
🏙️ Population	6.26M	216K

The cost of living in Santiago is 42% less expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 4795th and 1932nd ($1191 vs $2037) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Chile and New Zealand, respectively. Check Chile vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Santiago compared to 1.6 months in Wellington. Santiago ranked 1st best city to live in Chile vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 688th and 484th 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/santiago/wellington.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Santiago vs Wellington infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/santiago/wellington" target="_blank">Santiago vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Santiago vs Wellington

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

	Santiago	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.8	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$50.1	$62.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.82	$9.76
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4	$7.35
☕ Cappuccino	$3.78	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.77	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$573	$1167
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$393	$1103
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1028	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$724	$1611
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.4	$96.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$127	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.1	$53.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.38%	5.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2897	$6316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3070	$4074
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.95	$3.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.1	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.67	$17
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.47	$1.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.44	$2.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.55	$7.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$10.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.47	$10.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$3.15
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$5.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$2.16
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.39	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.03	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.75	$3.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.15	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.17	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.62	$4.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.73	$2.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.49	$2.53
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.2	$37
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.33	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$46.5	$38.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.6	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$76.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.8	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$493	$880
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10578	$13419

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$848
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$966
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$840
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$790
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$879
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$930
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$941
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$943
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1180
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$974
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$987
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$1008
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$826
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$895
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$907
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$893
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$860
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$921
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$642
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$900
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$935
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$589
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$804
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$740
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$915
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$929
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$764
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$830
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$747
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$973
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$897
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$759
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$887
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$938
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$768
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$893
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$916
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$891
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$577
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$849

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