Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between New Plymouth and Athens

For one person, living is cheaper in Athens: $1,759 a month against $1,820 in New Plymouth, rent and utilities included – about $730 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in New Plymouth outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

88

Cost of Living Index in New Plymouth
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New Plymouth Living Index
85

Cost of Living Index in Athens
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Athens Living Index

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New Plymouth

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,820

/mo nomad

Athens

🇬🇷 Greece

$1,759

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in New Plymouth and in Athens

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,820 in New Plymouth versus $1,759 in Athens.

New Plymouth $1,820
Athens $1,759

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,828 in New Plymouth versus $2,696 in Athens.

New Plymouth $2,828
Athens $2,696

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,836 in New Plymouth versus $3,632 in Athens.

New Plymouth $3,836
Athens $3,632

Living in New Plymouth is roughly 3% more expensive than in Athens, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: New Plymouth 34% above, Athens 29% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.43 NZ$22.06

$17.05 €15.27

-27.10%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.9 NZ$121

$65.8 €59.0

3.13%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.44 NZ$14.98

$10.96 €9.81

-22.99%

Cappuccino

$3.34 NZ$5.93

$4.10 €3.68

-18.54%

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

$2.12 NZ$3.76

$2.83 €2.54

-25.09%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.85 NZ$3.28

$0.59 €0.53

213.56%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.32 NZ$9.45

$5.62 €5.04

-5.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.65 NZ$10.02

$5.67 €5.08

-0.35%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 NZ$2.55

$1.90 €1.70

-24.21%

White Bread (500g)

$1.25 NZ$2.22

$1.46 €1.31

-14.38%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.65 NZ$2.92

$2.71 €2.42

-39.11%

Eggs

$5.53 NZ$9.82

$5.04 €4.52

9.72%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$5.52 NZ$9.79

$15.08 €13.50

-63.40%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.19 NZ$12.76

$10.28 €9.20

-30.06%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.42 NZ$20.28

$19.40 €17.37

-41.13%

Apples (1kg)

$2.63 NZ$4.67

$2.12 €1.90

24.06%

Banana (1kg)

$1.86 NZ$3.29

$1.91 €1.71

-2.62%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.93 NZ$5.20

$1.41 €1.26

107.80%

Tomato (1kg)

$6.12 NZ$10.86

$2.13 €1.91

187.32%

Potato (1kg)

$1.99 NZ$3.53

$1.04 €0.94

91.35%

Onion (1kg)

$1.41 NZ$2.51

$1.13 €1.01

24.78%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.88 NZ$3.33

$1.13 €1.01

66.37%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.32 NZ$2.35

$0.81 €0.73

62.96%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.12 NZ$41.04

$5.52 €4.94

318.84%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.73 NZ$15.51

$9.99 €8.95

-12.61%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.03 NZ$5.37

$2.04 €1.82

48.53%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.78 NZ$6.72

$2.28 €2.04

65.79%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.68 NZ$2.99

$1.31 €1.17

28.24%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$74.6 NZ$133

$30.67 €27.47

143.36%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.68 NZ$6.53

$4.37 €3.91

-15.79%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 €0.92

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$17.05 €15.27

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.67 NZ$2.97

$2.34 €2.10

-28.63%

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

$28.7K NZ$50.9K

$28.3K €25.3K

1.48%

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

$22.8K NZ$40.5K

$26.8K €24.0K

-14.85%

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

$130 NZ$231

$200 €179

-35.03%

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

$27.85 NZ$49.44

$25.17 €22.55

10.65%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$48.35 NZ$85.8

$29.65 €26.56

63.07%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.29 NZ$76.9

$50.4 €45.17

-14.18%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.94 €23.23

Cinema Ticket

$8.20 NZ$14.55

$10.52 €9.43

-22.05%

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

$680 NZ$1,206

$576 €516

17.90%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$23.1K NZ$41.0K

$12.9K €11.6K

78.54%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$61.3 NZ$109

$89.7 €80.3

-31.68%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.74 NZ$68.8

$39.57 €35.44

-2.10%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.6 NZ$161

$105 €94.4

-14.07%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$106 NZ$188

$124 €111

-14.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$907 NZ$1,611

$740 €663

22.58%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$836 NZ$1,485

$643 €576

30.12%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,740 NZ$3,089

$1,305 €1,169

33.36%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,589 NZ$2,821

$1,121 €1,004

41.77%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,209 NZ$5,697

$4,011 €3,593

-20.01%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,622 NZ$4,655

$3,284 €2,941

-20.15%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,787 NZ$4,948

$1,224 €1,096

127.76%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.93

4.48

32.37%

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

Last update for New Plymouth: October 26, 2026

Last update for Athens: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

New Plymouth

$836 45.9%

Athens

$643 36.5% 23.2% $194

Groceries & Markets

New Plymouth

$281 15.5%

Athens

$312 17.7% 11% $31

Eating Out

New Plymouth

$219 12%

Athens

$272 15.4% 24.3% $53

Monthly Utilities & Internet

New Plymouth

$206 11.3%

Athens

$255 14.5% 23.6% $49

Clothing & Footwear

New Plymouth

$133 7.3%

Athens

$161 9.2% 20.9% $28

Getting Around

New Plymouth

$85 * 4.7%

Athens

$45 2.6% 46.6% $40

Sport & Entertainment

New Plymouth

$60 3.3%

Athens

$71 4.1% 19.8% $12

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 $907 in New Plymouth and $740 in Athens. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

New Plymouth pays about 2.3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $68 in New Plymouth vs $66 in Athens. Groceries flip the comparison at $281 vs $312, with New Plymouth cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇳🇿 New Plymouth

🇬🇷 Athens

🕒 Local time

20:46 8:46 PM

09:46 9:46 AM

11 h behind New Plymouth

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

58,400

3,090,508 Capital

💱 Currency

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 NZD = 0.563 USD

1 NZD = 0.504 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to NZD – New Zealand Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇳🇿 New Zealand Dollar ($)

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 1.78 NZD (1 NZD = 0.563 USD). 1 EUR = 1.98 NZD (1 NZD = 0.504 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to NZD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

New Plymouth Athens 17,440 km ≈ 22 h nonstop flight

From you

New Plymouth
Athens

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

New Plymouth vs Athens: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Athens wins on cost – living expenses run 3% lower than in New Plymouth. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Athens the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in New Plymouth is about 2.3 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $907 in New Plymouth versus $740 in Athens. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Athens – a meal for two runs $66 versus $68 in New Plymouth. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,820 per month in New Plymouth versus $1,759 in Athens – Athens is about 3% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

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.

It comes down to priorities – Athens wins on affordability, New Plymouth on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.