South Tarawa vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	South Tarawa	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$533	$1869
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1272	$4283
🏠 One person rent	$235	$1132
🏘️ Family rent	$392	$2002
🍽️ Food expenses	$220	$521
🚐 Transport expenses	$22.3	$98.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$3299
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	1	17
😀 Quality of life	25	87
🏙️ Population	63.4K	216K

The cost of living in South Tarawa is 71% less expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 8428th and 2432nd ($533 vs $1869) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Kiribati and New Zealand, respectively. Check Kiribati vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in South Tarawa compared to 1.8 months in Wellington. South Tarawa ranked 1st best city to live in Kiribati vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 8954th and 358th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in South Tarawa vs Wellington infographic

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Prices in South Tarawa vs Wellington

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

	South Tarawa	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.73	$13
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.8	$64.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$9.41
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.8	$6.67
☕ Cappuccino	$1.9	$3.45
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$2.49
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$226	$1126
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$155	$966
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$405	$2045
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$280	$1766
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.7	$84
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.5	$131
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.2	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.18%	6.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1457	$5538
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$926	$4661
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$2.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$16.3	$111
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.92	$14.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.07	$1.6
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$1.73
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.74	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.7	$6.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.34	$10.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.41	$9.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.25	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$2.94
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$3.01
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$2.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.36	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.23	$2.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.85	$10.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$3.38
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.9	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.83	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.92	$4.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.54	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$2.4
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.1	$33.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.54	$11.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.2	$35.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.66	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$30.8	$70.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66.5	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$113	$760
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3644	$12047

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637

Cities near Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1838
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1743
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1709
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1612
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1254
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1252
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1379
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1396
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1425
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1480
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1237
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1493
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1638
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1423
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1312
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1383
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1612
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1678
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1847
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1499
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1678
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1716
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$1961
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1675
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1536
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1461
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1250
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2086
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1238
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1580
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2181
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2640
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1839
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2292
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1878
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$1888
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1599
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2127
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1811