New Zealand is an awesome place to live and work. So many people come here on holiday, fall in love with the place and eventually move back here to live and work. You can find heaps of lists out there that will tell you about ‘the cheapest places to live in New Zealand’ and ‘the sunniest places to live in New Zealand’ which are really cool (so check them out!) but ours is all about our staff and customers – where do they think is the best place to live in New Zealand.
Queenstown
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Queenstown came out as the number one destination that people would choose to live here in New Zealand. Queenstown is an amazing place. It’s a year-round destination with amazing outdoor activities in the summer months and world-class skiing in the winter.
Napier
Coming in at number two on our list is Napier. Located in the heart of the Hawke’s Bay, Napier is a wonderful place to base yourself if you are planning a move to New Zealand. The cost of living in Napier is much lower than the bigger cities like Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown making it an attractive proposition but there are still enough businesses located in and around the city to make it a good place to find work.
Rotorua
If you are looking for somewhere a bit different, Rotorua is definitely up there as one of the best places to live in New Zealand. It’s a tourist hotspot which means lots of jobs. It’s also a year-round destination thanks to the geothermal attractions that the city is most famous for which means plenty of visitors still flock here during the winter months.
Rotorua enjoys a central location on the North Island making it super-accessible. It’s under 3 hours to drive to Auckland, Napier, the Coromandel Peninsula and Mt Maunganui and the ski fields of Mt Ruapehu are around 2.5 hours away.
Auckland
So Auckland is probably the most popular place for people arriving from overseas to base themselves. There are more jobs in New Zealand’s biggest city so it’s a natural draw, however, Auckland is about way more than just big city jobs. Auckland is an awesome place to live and one of the best waterfront cities in the world.
Tauranga/Mt Maunganui
The popularity of Tauranga as a destination for Kiwis and expats over the past few years has rocketed and it’s easy to see why. Tauranga is a stunning waterfront city, located on the east coast of the North Island. With lots of industries based down here (it’s a busy port city) there are plenty of job opportunities and whilst house prices are on the rise, it’s still a reasonable place to set up home.
Wellington
New Zealand’s capital city has got to appear on the best places to live in New Zealand – it’s one of the coolest capital cities in the world! It may be small (as capital cities go) but Wellington has a lot going on. It’s New Zealand’s second largest city (by population) behind Auckland so plenty of people choose to call Wellington home.
Wellington is not only home to New Zealand’s parliament, it’s also home to our national museum, Te Papa. Like Auckland, Wellington enjoys a waterfront location and Oriental Beach regularly tops the charts when it comes to New Zealand’s favourite beaches. With a great train and bus network, it’s also pretty easy to live in one of Wellington’s cool little suburbs and commute to work without having to deal with traffic every day, another big draw for the city.
New Plymouth
When the Lonely Planet voted Taranaki as one of the ‘Must Visit’ destinations of 2017, it helped to put the region on the global map. Located in the south-west corner of New Zealand’s North Island, New Plymouth can seem out on a limb a little bit but those who travel and live there are in on the secret – New Plymouth is a pretty awesome place.
It has fast become a town for the ‘hipsters’ and with that, the cost of living has gone up somewhat. You do however get some bang for your buck. New Plymouth has one of the best art scenes in New Zealand with lots of great galleries and a bohemian, arty feel to the city. This is enhanced by the surfers who frequent the beaches down this way, looking for the perfect break.
Christchurch
Christchurch is the South Island’s biggest city in terms of population and a hugely popular location for expats to base themselves. Christchurch is a wonderful city which is in the process of being redeveloped following the massive earthquake that struck in 2011. Despite the setbacks, the city is built of stronger stuff and it has really brought the people of Christchurch together and there is a thriving community in and around the city making it one of the best places to live in New Zealand.
Hamilton
Hamilton often plays second fiddle to Auckland. It’s only a short 1 hour 30-minute drive from Auckland to Hamilton but the two cities are worlds apart. Hamilton is set on the banks of the Waikato River which runs through the heart of the city and forms a beautiful backdrop for the city. Enjoying a pretty central location, Hamilton enjoys a much lower cost of living than Auckland with house prices that are much more affordable. There is no shortage of industries in and around Hamilton making it an attractive place to live