I think it's fair to say the English speaking part of the Internet is overwhelmingly Americans. Many of those netizens have expressed interest in moving to New Zealand in recent years, in fact, searches skyrocketed shortly after Trump's election victory in 2024.
So I thought I'd do ya'll a service and share our living costs in New Zealand. I'm later going to do a comparison with living costs in Japan as well.
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| A stunning morning sky in Auckland |
Now like anywhere, New Zealand does vary in living costs between areas and lifestyles. I think our data may be useful though because we are pretty average in many respects:
- We live in Auckland, the largest City in New Zealand
- We live in an average inner city suburb in an average sized house
- Family size of 2 Adults 1 child and 2 pets
- Whilst we both earn 6-figure salaries, our living costs would be comfortable on a household income of around $120,000 per year (the average for Auckland is $165k)
Onto the numbers
I'll break them down into pretty standard things so you can compare them to your home country. I am not including discretionary one-off spending or entertainment, going out or things like clothes. We have no subscriptions either. These are just the standard things for living, the ones where you don't have much choice in the matter.
Mortgage $1,820 per month - Average is $2,400, rent is $2,620 per month
3 bedroom 120m2 townhouse bought 10 years ago with decent equity. It's worth noting the same house now on a new mortgage with the minimum 20% deposit would be $2,885 per month.
Body corporate fees $489 per month - Average $300-$500 per month
This includes home insurance, maintenance to outside of building and common areas as well as rubbish. Properties on freehold titles don't have body corporates, so insurance and maintenance are separate costs for those and in the long run likely similar or perhaps more.
Council Rates $181 per month - Average $235 per month
Tax to the local council, calculated by property value relative to others. Rates pay for many things in your local area, listed here
Electricity and Gas $200 per month - Average $191 per month
Household of 2 adults 1 child, with one adult working from home full time. We pay more than electricity-only users for our usage as we have gas as well. Why it costs more is here in a previous post.
Internet $69 per month - Average $82 per month
For unlimited high speed fiber. Higher speeds cost more. I don't even know what our speed is, just standard good internet I suppose!
Mobile Phone Plan $13 per month - Average $29 per month
Assuming you already have a phone of course. Prepay plan with 600mb of data, 100 minutes and unlimited texts. Mobile phone bills were very expensive for a long time in NZ, but we have finally caught up to the rest of the world in terms of value I think.
Water $65 per month - Average $80 per month
2 adults 1 child, low water users. We don't have big gardens nor wash the car very often either. Though we do have a washer/dryer that we use a lot, that uses a lot of water, baby gets a daily bath and I tend to spend far too long in the shower. That being said, 10 years ago, $35 per month was pretty standard for 2 adults.
Car Insurance $123 per month - Average $110 per month
Fully comprehensive cover for a late model $40k SUV. Car insurance is not mandatory in New Zealand.
I won't list fuel because we don't use much or pay for it. We get through about a tank per month whereas for many a tank per week is more standard as NZ requires a lot of driving to go anywhere or do anything,. I also have a fuel card so haven't paid attention to fuel prices for a long time, but a 60L tank of gas is around $130 at the time of writing.
Pet insurance $80 per month - Average $200-$500 (dogs) $100-$200 (cats) per month
Surgery cover for 2 cats (10M & 6F) . Vets are expensive and it only took one hefty vet bill to persuade us to get insurance. Of course now we have it we have not needed to use it, such is the way of things.
Contents insurance $45 per month - Average $41 per month
Insured amount $30k. Contents really varies on the amount you insure. We deliberately under insure due to a total loss being such a low risk, and we aren't the type of people to claim because we dropped our phones. I've always worked on the basis of, if my house burned down tomorrow along with all my belongings, how much would I need to get going again?
Life Insurance $35 per month - Average for $42 (40M), $38 (40F) per month
For a healthy sub-40 year old male with coverage for $400k. Life Insurance premiums snowball pretty rapidly as you age combined with the level of cover. Good practice is for your cover should match your debts (plus a bit extra) and decrease as your debt decreases and age increases. Depends on your objectives though, ours is simply not to leave the other half burdened by debt.
Daycare $1160 per month - Average $1200 per month
Full time for a 1-2 year old in a decent facility. In New Zealand, children ages 3-5 get 20 hours free childcare per week. However, the centers disingenuously structure it with additional charges and minimum enrollment hours so you cannot simply take the 20 hours free, instead its done so that you basically end up paying a similar amount as an under 3, so be aware of that.
Groceries $1120 per month - Average $952 per month
Our grocery shopping is for 3 people and 2 cats and consists of visiting a Butcher, a Greengrocer and a supermarket. Our spend also includes cat food and litter for 2 cats. We also make most lunches at home. I don't agree with the average figure, people have reported that a family of 4 will spend between $1200-$1600 per month.
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| A Boardwalk across Mangroves in Auckland |
In Summary
New Zealand is not a cheap place to live. Housing is by far the biggest expense wether you are buying or renting. And even if you bought your property outright, you still need a decent income to get by to pay for general living costs.
Just in those costs above we spend $5,400 per month. That's before we go anywhere, do anything or buy anything.
Using the average figures, assuming a family of 4 coming to live in Auckland, Renting with 1 car, these relevant monthly bills would add up to just over $4000 per month.
How do these compare to your home country? Are there other costs you would like to ask about?
