Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Gizo and Invercargill

For one person, living is cheaper in Invercargill: $1,412 a month against $2,164 in Gizo, rent and utilities included – about $9,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

105

Cost of Living Index in Gizo
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Gizo Living Index
68

Cost of Living Index in Invercargill
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Invercargill Living Index

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Gizo

🇸🇧 Solomon Islands

$2,164

/mo nomad

Invercargill

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,412

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Gizo and in Invercargill

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Gizo and in Invercargill actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,164 in Gizo versus $1,412 in Invercargill.

Gizo $2,164
Invercargill $1,412

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,051 in Gizo versus $2,099 in Invercargill.

Gizo $3,051
Invercargill $2,099

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,938 in Gizo versus $2,785 in Invercargill.

Gizo $3,938
Invercargill $2,785

Living in Gizo is roughly 53% more expensive than in Invercargill, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Gizo 60% above, Invercargill 5% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.01 SBD 24.25

$14.04 NZ$24.83

-78.56%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$54.7 SBD 441

$61.2 NZ$108

-10.60%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$15.57 SBD 126

$8.32 NZ$14.71

87.14%

Cappuccino

$2.85 SBD 22.95

$3.12 NZ$5.52

-8.65%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.26 SBD 10.13

$1.65 NZ$2.92

-23.64%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.21 SBD 9.79

$2.03 NZ$3.60

-40.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.47 SBD 19.88

$2.74 NZ$4.85

-9.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.41 SBD 19.41

$2.74 NZ$4.85

-12.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.27 SBD 26.35

$1.68 NZ$2.96

94.64%

White Bread (500g)

$1.39 SBD 11.19

$1.85 NZ$3.27

-24.86%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.40 SBD 11.30

$1.76 NZ$3.11

-20.45%

Eggs

$7.24 SBD 58.4

$5.58 NZ$9.87

29.75%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.47 SBD 68.3

$8.23 NZ$14.55

2.92%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.20 SBD 50.0

$8.83 NZ$15.61

-29.78%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.41 SBD 67.8

$12.12 NZ$21.44

-30.61%

Apples (1kg)

$6.88 SBD 55.5

$2.55 NZ$4.50

169.80%

Banana (1kg)

$6.34 SBD 51.1

$2.36 NZ$4.17

168.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$6.06 SBD 48.84

$2.66 NZ$4.70

127.82%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.02 SBD 24.32

$3.52 NZ$6.23

-14.20%

Potato (1kg)

$3.07 SBD 24.74

$3.21 NZ$5.68

-4.36%

Onion (1kg)

$2.41 SBD 19.45

$1.61 NZ$2.85

49.69%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.53 SBD 20.39

$2.33 NZ$4.13

8.58%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.34 SBD 10.79

$1.04 NZ$1.84

28.85%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.25 SBD 34.29

$20.39 NZ$36.06

-79.16%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.36 SBD 99.6

$8.56 NZ$15.14

44.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.83 SBD 14.77

$2.86 NZ$5.06

-36.01%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.19 SBD 17.66

$3.39 NZ$5.99

-35.40%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.39 SBD 3.11

$1.41 NZ$2.49

-72.34%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 SBD 253

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.25 SBD 10.09

$2.27 NZ$4.01

-44.93%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.43 SBD 19.56

$1.94 NZ$3.42

25.26%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$12.52 SBD 101

$27.73 NZ$49.04

-54.85%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.75 SBD 14.10

$1.59 NZ$2.81

10.06%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$20.7K SBD 166.9K

$23.8K NZ$42.1K

-12.99%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$21.9K SBD 176.9K

$18.2K NZ$32.3K

20.32%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$750 SBD 6,048

$109 NZ$192

590.00%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$13.42 SBD 108

$32.30 NZ$57.1

-58.45%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$123 SBD 989

$42.46 NZ$75.1

189.02%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$18.49 SBD 149

$27.87 NZ$49.29

-33.66%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.14 SBD 49.54

$13.77 NZ$24.34

-55.41%

Cinema Ticket

$4.20 SBD 33.87

$8.82 NZ$15.60

-52.38%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$126 SBD 1,014

$589 NZ$1,042

-78.66%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$1,242 SBD 10.0K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$25.29 SBD 204

$57.4 NZ$102

-55.96%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$94.4 SBD 761

$35.07 NZ$62.0

169.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.8 SBD 804

$70.0 NZ$124

42.64%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.6 SBD 730

$79.0 NZ$140

14.67%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$599 SBD 4,833

$594 NZ$1,050

0.95%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$580 SBD 4,678

$551 NZ$974

5.36%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$630 SBD 5,081

$831 NZ$1,470

-24.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,217 SBD 9,809

$764 NZ$1,350

59.35%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$85.9K SBD 692.3K

$5,482 NZ$9,695

1466.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,034 NZ$8,902

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$389 SBD 3,140

$2,729 NZ$4,826

-85.73%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.33

6.72

143.01%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Gizo: October 12, 2026

Last update for Invercargill: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Gizo

$886 41%

Invercargill

$183 13% 79.3% $703

Accommodation & Living

Gizo

$580 26.8%

Invercargill

$551 39% 5.1% $29

Groceries & Markets

Gizo

$353 16.3%

Invercargill

$298 21.1% 15.6% $55

Clothing & Footwear

Gizo

$139 6.5%

Invercargill

$109 7.7% 22.1% $31

Eating Out

Gizo

$132 6.1%

Invercargill

$209 14.8% 58.1% $77

Getting Around

Gizo

$46 2.1%

Invercargill

$18 * 1.2% 62% $29

Sport & Entertainment

Gizo

$27 1.2%

Invercargill

$46 3.2% 69.2% $19

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $599 in Gizo and $594 in Invercargill. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Invercargill pays 601% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $55.0 in Gizo vs $61.0 in Invercargill. Groceries flip the comparison at $353 vs $298, with Invercargill cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇸🇧 Gizo

🇳🇿 Invercargill

🕒 Local time

16:59 4:59 PM

18:59 6:59 PM

2 h ahead of Gizo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

7,177

56,200

💱 Currency

Solomon Islands Dollar SBD $

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 SBD = 0.124 USD

1 SBD = 0.11 EUR

1 NZD = 0.565 USD

1 NZD = 0.503 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD, EUR to SBD – Solomon Islands Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇸🇧 Solomon Islands Dollar ($)

Solomon Islands Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 8.06 SBD (1 SBD = 0.124 USD). 1 EUR = 9.06 SBD (1 SBD = 0.11 EUR).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1.77 NZD (1 NZD = 0.565 USD). 1 EUR = 1.99 NZD (1 NZD = 0.503 EUR).

USD to SBD in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Gizo Invercargill 4,400 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Gizo
Invercargill

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Gizo vs Invercargill: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Invercargill wins on cost – living expenses run 53% lower than in Gizo. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Invercargill the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 601% lower in Invercargill. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $599 in Gizo versus $594 in Invercargill. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $126 in Gizo versus $589 in Invercargill. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Invercargill – a meal for two runs $61.0 versus $55.0 in Gizo. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,412 in Invercargill versus $2,164 in Gizo, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Invercargill but tight or insufficient in Gizo. The gap between the two cities makes Invercargill the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Gizo and Invercargill are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Invercargill gentler on the wallet – expenses run 53% less than in Gizo. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.