Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Scarborough, United Kingdom and Wanaka

For one person, living is cheaper in Wanaka: $1,696 a month against $2,122 in Scarborough, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

102

Cost of Living Index in Scarborough
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Scarborough Living Index
81

Cost of Living Index in Wanaka
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Wanaka Living Index

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Scarborough

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,122

/mo nomad

Wanaka

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,696

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Scarborough and in Wanaka

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,122 in Scarborough versus $1,696 in Wanaka.

Scarborough $2,122
Wanaka $1,696

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,085 in Scarborough versus $2,695 in Wanaka.

Scarborough $3,085
Wanaka $2,695

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,048 in Scarborough versus $3,694 in Wanaka.

Scarborough $4,048
Wanaka $3,694

Living in Scarborough is roughly 25% more expensive than in Wanaka, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Scarborough 56% above, Wanaka 25% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$15.36 £11.55

$13.97 NZ$24.59

9.95%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$68.8 £51.7

$57.1 NZ$101

20.32%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.17 £9.14

$8.60 NZ$15.14

41.51%

Cappuccino

$3.43 £2.58

$3.03 NZ$5.33

13.20%

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

$2.09 £1.57

$1.71 NZ$3.01

22.22%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.97 £0.73

$1.91 NZ$3.35

-49.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.77 £3.59

$6.96 NZ$12.26

-31.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.37 £3.28

$6.35 NZ$11.18

-31.18%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.25 £0.94

$2.12 NZ$3.73

-41.04%

White Bread (500g)

$1.42 £1.07

$2.01 NZ$3.54

-29.35%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.06 £0.79

$1.79 NZ$3.14

-40.78%

Eggs

$3.57 £2.69

$6.00 NZ$10.56

-40.50%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.93 £5.96

$8.51 NZ$14.97

-6.82%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.09 £5.33

$9.71 NZ$17.09

-26.98%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.07 £10.58

$16.78 NZ$29.52

-16.15%

Apples (1kg)

$3.29 £2.47

$2.90 NZ$5.10

13.45%

Banana (1kg)

$2.10 £1.58

$2.14 NZ$3.76

-1.87%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 £2.03

$3.30 NZ$5.80

-18.18%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 £1.59

$5.10 NZ$8.98

-58.43%

Potato (1kg)

$1.76 £1.33

$1.89 NZ$3.33

-6.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.64 £1.23

$1.78 NZ$3.13

-7.87%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 £0.91

$2.28 NZ$4.01

-46.93%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$2.00 £1.51

$0.60 NZ$1.06

233.33%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.39 £16.83

$22.66 NZ$39.89

-1.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.36 £7.04

$8.85 NZ$15.57

5.76%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.51 £2.64

$3.15 NZ$5.54

11.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.61 £2.72

$1.26 NZ$2.22

186.51%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.27 £2.46

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$85.8 £64.4

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.54 £4.17

$5.83 NZ$10.25

-4.97%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$4.94 £3.72

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$32.72 £24.59

$28.08 NZ$49.42

16.52%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 £1.40

$1.80 NZ$3.17

3.33%

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

$36.6K £27.5K

$28.6K NZ$50.4K

27.90%

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

$38.6K £29.0K

$23.0K NZ$40.5K

67.87%

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

$346 £260

$112 NZ$198

207.98%

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

$25.63 £19.26

$29.42 NZ$51.8

-12.88%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.33 £25.05

$51.9 NZ$91.4

-35.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$66.1 £49.67

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$12.60 £9.47

Cinema Ticket

$10.65 £8.00

$11.57 NZ$20.36

-7.95%

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

$1,588 £1,194

$601 NZ$1,059

164.09%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.5K £10.9K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$66.5 £50.0

$59.9 NZ$105

11.14%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.50 £26.68

$35.14 NZ$61.9

1.02%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$109 £81.6

$68.5 NZ$121

58.49%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$115 £86.4

$73.9 NZ$130

55.38%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$873 £656

$971 NZ$1,708

-10.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$830 £624

$806 NZ$1,418

3.09%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,532 £1,152

$1,880 NZ$3,309

-18.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,367 £1,027

$1,656 NZ$2,915

-17.47%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,641 NZ$9,929

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$908 £682

$4,352 NZ$7,660

-79.14%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.53

38.25%

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

Last update for Scarborough: October 27, 2026

Last update for Wanaka: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Scarborough

$830 39.1%

Wanaka

$805 47.5% 3% $25

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Scarborough

$405 19.1%

Wanaka

$194 11.4% 52.2% $212

Groceries & Markets

Scarborough

$278 13.1%

Wanaka

$324 19.1% 16.6% $46

Eating Out

Scarborough

$245 11.6%

Wanaka

$236 13.9% 3.9% $9.5

Clothing & Footwear

Scarborough

$146 6.9%

Wanaka

$107 6.3% 27.1% $40

Getting Around

Scarborough

$129 6.1%

Wanaka

$5.8 * 0.3% 95.5% $123

Sport & Entertainment

Scarborough

$87 4.1%

Wanaka

$23 * 1.4% 73.5% $64

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 $873 in Scarborough and $971 in Wanaka. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Wanaka pays about 4.8 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $69 in Scarborough vs $57 in Wanaka. Groceries flip the comparison at $278 vs $324, with Scarborough cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Scarborough

🇳🇿 Wanaka

🕒 Local time

16:55 4:55 PM

05:55 5:55 AM

13 h ahead of Scarborough

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

61,749

11,600

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.2 EUR

1 NZD = 0.568 USD

1 NZD = 0.511 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.752 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.836 GBP (1 GBP = 1.2 EUR).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 1.76 NZD (1 NZD = 0.568 USD). 1 EUR = 1.96 NZD (1 NZD = 0.511 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Scarborough Wanaka 18,710 km ≈ 24 h nonstop flight

From you

Scarborough
Wanaka

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

Scarborough vs Wanaka: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Scarborough and Wanaka differ by about 25% in total monthly costs ($2,122 vs $1,696 including rent). Wanaka is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 79% lower in Scarborough. 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: $873 in Scarborough versus $971 in Wanaka. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $1,588 in Scarborough versus $601 in Wanaka. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Wanaka – a meal for two runs $57 versus $69 in Scarborough. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $2,500 a month, though Wanaka gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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, Scarborough and Wanaka are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.