Coastal cities, reef day trips and outback scale reward long-haul visitors who budget time to explore more than just one coast.
Head-to-head · Countries Top 21
Australia vs New Zealand: quality of life compared
Australia and New Zealand are near neighbours with similar languages, legal systems and lifestyles, and Numbeo’s 2026 Quality of Life Index barely separates them: Australia 189.6, New Zealand 188.5, both 82 on our scale. Australia generally offers higher salaries and much bigger cities; New Zealand offers smaller cities and a slower pace. A one-point gap on a crowd-sourced index is noise, so the real decision usually comes down to visas, jobs and which city you would actually live in.
Head-to-head in 21 words
Australia and New Zealand sit one Numbeo point apart, so higher salaries and big cities face a smaller, slower island nation.
The numbers
On Numbeo’s 2026 Quality of Life Index, Australia reads 189.6 and New Zealand 188.5, a gap of 1.1 points (82 against 82 on our 1–100 scale).
| Australia | New Zealand | |
|---|---|---|
| 21words score (1–100) | 82 | 82 |
| Numbeo Quality of Life Index (2026) | 189.6 | 188.5 |
| Region | Oceania | Oceania |
| Numbeo Purchasing Power Index (higher is better) | 142 | 127.7 |
| Numbeo Safety Index (higher is better) | 52.5 | 51.2 |
| Numbeo Health Care Index (higher is better) | 72 | 68.2 |
| Numbeo Cost of Living Index (lower is cheaper) | 67.9 | 60.3 |
| Numbeo Property Price to Income Ratio (lower is better) | 8.2 | 8 |
| Numbeo Traffic Commute Time Index (lower is better) | 38.6 | 32.4 |
| Numbeo Pollution Index (lower is better) | 27.9 | 26.5 |
| Numbeo Climate Index (higher is better) | 91.9 | 97.2 |
| Rank in our Countries Top 21 | joint 11th of 21 | joint 11th of 21 |
| Last checked | 2 November 2026 | 2 November 2026 |
Both, in exactly 21 words
Alpine roads, Maori culture and film-famous landscapes reward campervan weeks for travelers who prefer outdoors to dense capitals and guided tours.
What this comparison does not tell you
A national Quality of Life reading averages very different regions, and Numbeo’s survey-based data can move between updates; gaps of a few points are not meaningful. It does not capture visas, taxes, language or job markets, which usually decide a move.
Numbeo component figures: Numbeo Quality of Life Index by Country 2026, retrieved 2 November 2026. Numbeo data is crowd-sourced survey data.
Source notes as recorded on our Countries list: Australia: Numbeo country QoL 189.6 (Oceania) → round(189.6/2.3)=82 — https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2026. New Zealand: Numbeo country QoL 188.5 (Oceania) → round(188.5/2.3)=82 — https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2026.
Questions
Which scores higher, Australia or New Zealand?
On Numbeo’s 2026 Quality of Life Index, Australia reads 189.6 and New Zealand 188.5, a gap of 1.1 points (82 against 82 on our 1–100 scale). Their ranks in our Countries Top 21: Australia joint 11th of 21, New Zealand joint 11th of 21.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each 21words country score is Numbeo’s country-level Quality of Life Index divided by 2.3 and capped at 100. Both were last checked on 2 November 2026, and we re-check every Monday.