Seattle vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Seattle	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3183	$2003
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7493	$4295
🏠 One person rent	$1996	$1243
🏘️ Family rent	$3450	$1875
🍽️ Food expenses	$789	$532
🚐 Transport expenses	$175	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6618	$3056
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	80	18
😀 Quality of life	91	84
🏙️ Population	737K	216K

The cost of living in Seattle is 59% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 126th and 2013th ($3183 vs $2003) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 94th 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 2.1 months in Seattle compared to 1.5 months in Wellington. Seattle ranked 33rd best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 147th 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/seattle/wellington.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Seattle vs Wellington infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/seattle/wellington" target="_blank">Seattle vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Seattle vs Wellington

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

	Seattle	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.5	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$92.5	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.3	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.95	$7.34
☕ Cappuccino	$6.46	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.94	$2.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2109	$1149
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1647	$1062
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3900	$1957
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2895	$1575
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$279	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$74.8	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.32%	5.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7971	$7032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5180	$3790
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.99	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$117	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.1	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.33	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$1.91
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.97	$7.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.7	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.5	$9.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22.6	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.72	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.92	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.39	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.03	$5.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.34	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.43	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.2	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.09	$3.59
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.3	$25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.26	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.92	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.8	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.36	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$81.7	$37.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.8	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$167	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.5	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$76.5	$81.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2124	$1020
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30033	$13757

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2843
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3164
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3012
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2648
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2678
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2827
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2782
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2621
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3602
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2749
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2783
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2734
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2884
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2728
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2797
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2637
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2736
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2479
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2775
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2714
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2542
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2617
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2709
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2342
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2727
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2429
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2722
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2822
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2670
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2576
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2661
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2378
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2616
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2592
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2690
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2773
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2475
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2580
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2765
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2098

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