Sydney vs Wellington for couples
Sydney, in Australia, and Wellington, in New Zealand, are about 2,226 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Sydney leads on healthcare and residency rules; Wellington on cost, tax, safety and internet speed.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Wellington is cheaper: we estimate about €3,598 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,100 in Sydney. That is €502 a month, or 12%, less.
Taxes
Wellington has the lighter tax load: New Zealand is in our low to medium tax tier, Australia in our high tax tier.
Climate
Sydney is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 17°C against 14°C in Wellington. Sydney is drier, with about 1,133 mm of rain a year against 1,332 mm in Wellington (15% less).
Safety
Wellington is the safer pick: New Zealand scores 62 out of 100 on safety, 4 points above Australia (58).
Healthcare
Sydney has the stronger healthcare: Australia scores 78 out of 100 on healthcare, 4 points above New Zealand (74).
Internet
Wellington has faster home internet: about 180 Mbps median fixed download against about 70 Mbps in Sydney.
Language
Main languages in both: English. English proficiency is rated the same in both: English everywhere.
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside Australia and New Zealand is easier to obtain in Australia (comparatively open) than in New Zealand (possible, with conditions). Citizens of Australia and New Zealand have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 1 of 198 passports can enter Australia visa-free and 1 can enter New Zealand.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts healthcare (78 against 74 out of 100) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Sydney comes out ahead. If the other cares more about cost (€3,598 against €4,100 a month), tax (low to medium tax against high tax), safety (62 against 58 out of 100) and internet speed (180 Mbps against 70 Mbps), Wellington does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Sydney (17°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Wellington (14°C).
Size differs too: Sydney is a major city (over 5 million people) and Wellington a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people).
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