An American's Year in Nelson, New Zealand

Why Move to Nelson, NZ?

Why should you consider a 1 year (or longer) move to Nelson? If you have the desire to travel and experience top tier nature, Nelson (and all of New Zealand really) is for you.

New Zealand is very much a country set up for expats. Approximately 45,000 people come to New Zealand annually on the 1 year working holiday visa. That means the process of finding a job, housing, car, making friends, buying a used bike etc. can be very smooth because there is constantly a stream of transient people flowing in and out of the country. (New to the country? Our guide How to Move to New Zealand covers the nationwide basics.)

Nelson itself isn't a major hub for expats the way Queenstown or Auckland is. But I think that's what made being an expat there feel so special! I was constantly connecting with locals, and people around town always wanted to know about why I chose to move to Nelson. People were kind and invited me to community events and wanted to show off the magic of the region.

Like most of the towns on the South Island Nelson has less night life, but more access to cool stuff like: hikes, beaches, mountain biking, sailing. That's honestly a major consideration when contemplating a move to Nelson. If you know you're going to want to hit the bars, just remember Nelson only has 2 open past midnight!

Visas

I highly recommend starting on a working holiday visa. Most countries have a 1 year working holiday visa agreement with New Zealand.

For the full how-to on applying — eligibility, the process, and what to expect — see our guide, How to Get a Working Holiday Visa in New Zealand. I'll keep this part short and focus on Nelson itself.

To learn more about New Zealand's immigration policies and process, check out the New Zealand Immigration Website.

Why I Chose Nelson

There's a lot of cool, hip, funky towns both big and small on the South Island. (For the wider list, see 9 Best Places to Live in New Zealand.)

Here's a few reasons why I chose Nelson as my home base!

1. Location: Located at the “top of the south,” Nelson is a vibrant beach town with tons of local parks, trails and beaches. The climate is very moderate in Nelson. So you're not going to get snow in the winter or blazingly hot days in the summer. Nelson is also in a prime location as the ferry to Wellington is just a 2 hour drive away. There's also a regional airport, Christchurch being a quick 30 minute flight and Auckland 1 hour. To top it all off, there are 2 national parks less than an hour's drive away! The top of the south has it all!
2. Size: With 60,000 residents, it's one of the biggest towns on the island. That means more work opportunities, more chances for connection with the community and better night life. But it's also only 60,000 people, at least compared to Auckland's 1.8 million people. Living in a mid-sized city like Nelson means you're going to run into people at the grocery store, there's going to be local events with the same core group of people, you're going to be able to find opportunities that are important to you.
3. Activities: For me, Nelson had so many of the activities that I love to do. Firstly it's a beach town and I LOVE the beach. Plus the water warms up a ton in the summer and it's very swimmable — another bonus for me! There's tons of local running trails, a big mountain biking scene and sailing. I love a medium small town with a farmers market scene, outdoor activities, nearby nature and kind people. If you want to know more about what the Nelson region has to offer, head over to my blog to steal my best adventures in Nelson!
4. Employment: Nelson has a ton of employment opportunities, but be warned that most people hire for spring and summer (Oct - Feb). I arrived in Nelson in March and lots of the jobs had dried up, especially the seasonal ones. I did find an awesome job at a brewery - but more on employment in a later section!
5. Housing: Nelson can actually be a tough place to find housing. Truthfully, a big factor in why I was able to settle into Nelson so quickly is because I had a connection with someone who was renting a house. Not everyone is so lucky! But the good news is that Nelson is not an isolated town… there are 3 neighboring towns to look for housing (and jobs) in! The neighboring towns of Richmond, Stoke and Brightwater are great spots to look for housing, and take the pressure off of only searching for an apartment in Nelson proper. I actually lived 25 minutes outside of Richmond in the mountains. So when you're looking at the whole region and willing to live outside of the “downtown,” housing becomes a lot more accessible.

The not so great about Nelson: Like I said, if you're moving to Nelson in the off season it can be a bit harder to come by a job, as most employers hire before summer. Similar to finding housing, I highly recommend looking for jobs in the surrounding towns of Richmond, Stoke, Brightwater and Kaikoura.

Nelson is also a retirement town, so there's not as many young people as there are in say, Queenstown. This doesn't bother me, in fact I loved that my friends ranged from my age to 80!

Lastly, the public transportation is terrible in Nelson! This is truly a big con - I didn't take the bus once in a year of living in Nelson. I personally like knowing that I can rely on a bus system (even if I'm not using it daily). With that being said, I should warn you that the public transportation is pretty bad all across the country, so maybe it's not fair to call Nelson out specifically.

The Culture in Nelson

Nelson has got a cool semi-hippie, family friendly, outdoorsy, beachy, bike friendly vibe going on.

The culture is very much centered around friends and good times! We got invited to so many BBQ's, afternoon tea's and late night beers living in Nelson. It can take a while to crack into the social scene, just be patient and keep befriending people.

If you like to bike or trail run, Nelson has a huge biking and running community. Not to mention a ton of hiking trails. Nelson is even home to the “great taste trail,” a 120 mile long biking trail that links local breweries, wineries, eateries and shops.

The town is laid back and easy going - if that sounds like your vibe I can't recommend Nelson enough!

The Cost of Living in Nelson

New Zealand is an expensive country, I'll acknowledge that first! Nelson is a mid-tier city in terms of daily cost of living. Some of the other extremely touristy towns are much more expensive, and some of the quieter towns are more affordable.

I found living in Nelson to be expensive mostly because I was working a minimum wage job and waited wayyyy too long before asking for a raise.

I'll get more into salary in the job section of this guide, but at the time of writing minimum wage in NZ is 23.95 NZD. My partner worked at a landscaping company and was paid $27 NZD / hr. So you can find a higher than minimum wage job as an expat.

Let's say you're making $24 NZD / hr and you work 30 hours a week (that's full time in NZ), that's $720 a week before taxes. Here's a loose breakdown of what I was paying per week to live in Nelson:

My hobbies were usually campground fees and backpacking food, so obviously that will vary greatly depending on what you like to spend your extra income on.

Working just 30 hours a week at minimum wage only leaves you able to save roughly $150 a week. If you're working 40 hours a week you'll be making roughly $960 before taxes. As you can tell there's a lot of variability here depending on your work and how consistent it is. Keep reading to learn more about working in Nelson!

Other Towns (And Why I Didn't Move There)

📍 Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a charming small beach town located on the east coast of the south island. The ocean is more rugged here (think rocky beaches not sandy), but that means there's a ton of whale and dolphin activity here.

The best jobs in Kaikoura are tourism jobs with the whale/dolphin excursion companies. Some of them will even help you find housing.

Why I didn't move here: Kaikoura is a small town so resources may be more limited, as well as the opportunity for fun “city” activities. I had a friend move here after she had lived in Auckland for 6 months and it was a tough transition during the winter. I wanted to be in sunny Nelson which has sandy beaches, rather than the more temperamental weather and rocky beaches of Kaikoura.

📍 Christchurch

The big city! Christchurch is the 3rd biggest city in the country with about 415,000 people. If you're looking for a city lifestyle, but still want access to mountains, the oceans and all of New Zealand's small towns, Christchurch may be the spot for you!

Being a bigger city, there's more work opportunities at bars and restaurants, so it may be an easier spot to move to, especially if you're looking into hospitality work.

Why I didn't move here: Christchurch is a great city and has many things that make it unique (like the beach and the peninsula), but it doesn't have as much Kiwi charm at its core. If you want more of a local and authentic Kiwi lifestyle, I'd move to a smaller town like Nelson, Kaikoura or Te Anau.

📍 Queenstown

Queenstown is an absolute mecca for adventure, tourism, expats, seasonal work and fun. There's year round seasonal work between the ski field in the winter and bike rentals and water sports in the summer. Queenstown is home to dozens and dozens of bars, restaurants and hotels for hospitality workers. Not to mention all of the tourism attractions.

Not only is there a pretty vibrant work scene year round, Queenstown is also in a prime location for out of town adventures. You can easily fly to the north island, or drive to Fiordland national park to explore Milford Sound, or camp at Lake Tekapo!

Why I didn't move here: Honestly this area just felt too busy to me, I was worried about getting lost in the shuffle. Queenstown has a lot of seasonal workers, so you may not be meeting as many local Kiwis in town. With all that being said, it's an expats heaven! Lastly, prices can be kinda high for rent, cars, groceries etc.

📍 Wanaka

Wanaka is located right on a lake with amazing waterfront and mountain activities nearby. There is more of a balance between Kiwis and internationals here, but it is another major tourist town.

There's both a vibrant summer and winter seasonal work scene, and the area is an adventure hub. Similar to Queenstown, it's also centrally located for weekend getaway trips. You can explore Mount Cook National Park, easily drive over to the west coast or take a weekend trip into the city.

Why I didn't move here: It can be tough to find housing in Wanaka, and while there are lots of seasonal jobs, there are also lots of people looking for seasonal work. I personally knew I wanted to be closer to the ocean, and Wanaka is a several hour drive from the beach.

📍 Te Anau

Located a 3 hours drive from Queenstown, Te Anau is the gateway to Fiordland National Park.

If you want to hike or backpack, Te Anau is a great spot to base yourself out of. The town is situated between 2 famous hiking trails - the Kepler and Milford great walks. On the work front, there's ample restaurants and coffee shops lining the main street. There's also a few eco-tourism outfitters that operate out of town.

Why I didn't move here: Te Anau is pretty far from anything mainstream. It's the most “off the beaten path” of any of the main towns/cities I've listed here. There's no airport and the next closest city is a multiple hour drive. For me, it was important to be connected to all of New Zealand so I could maximize exploring during my 1 year visa.

📍 Dunedin

Located on the southern east coast of the island, Dunedin is home to 130,000 people. This makes it a big city by NZ standards! There's a vibrant city center, “sprawling” suburbs, an airport, multiple grocery stores, shops etc. The city has a historic / Scottish feel to it and is pretty fun to walk around.

The only reason Dunedin makes the list is because there's good work opportunities and a lot of young people thanks to the University. It has more of a college feel to it than any of the other towns on this list.

Why I didn't move here: Honestly, Dunedin gets skipped a lot. It's kinda out of the way and it isn't known for any specific charm or charisma, but there can be lots to do there and a good community of people if you seek it out. Similar to Christchurch, I just didn't feel it was as “old school New Zealand” as some of the smaller towns.

The Job Hunt

As I'm writing this in 2026, New Zealand is just coming out of a recession. I wish someone would have told me that when I moved there!

This means that the economy is still a bit sluggish, people have less disposable income, staffing needs are less and thus it can be a bit competitive to find a job. And when you do find a job, you may be working less hours than you'd like.

Of course there are tons of jobs in Nelson, you just may have to be looking for a while (i.e. make sure you've arrived in the country with a comfortable amount of savings).

I recommend looking at TradeMe, Seek and Facebook Groups for jobs in Nelson. I joined the Nelson Jobs facebook page when I first started looking for work. I eventually landed a job by emailing a few restaurants in town that weren't even advertising job postings. Lo and behold one of them was about to lose a staff member so I was able to start up within a week with them.

My partner found his job in landscaping by starting with a temp agency, which can be a great option! I would say that between Nelson and the neighboring city of Richmond, you'll always be able to get a job at the temp agencies. Check out OneStaff in Nelson for manual labor temp jobs.

Nelson is a very community oriented town. The library often had job postings listed on the community bulletin board. It's the type of place where you can network to help find a steady job.

When to look for work?

I was so eager to start working in Nelson that I was sending off job applications before I even arrived in New Zealand. Turns out that's not really how it works down in NZ. The way to land a job is to already be there, because there is such a high flux of expats coming in and out of the country to work, most hospitality jobs are only going to interview people that are already in town.

It's also important to consider the time of year you'll be looking for work. I moved to Nelson in the winter, when there is minimal seasonal work. Finding a job in a town like Nelson is a lot easier in the spring, when people are gearing up for summer.

What to expect when working in Nelson

I found New Zealand to have a great work life balance. At my hospitality job in Nelson, the managers understood I was in the country to explore, backpack and take trips.

Minimum wage is $23.95 NZD ($13.98 USD at the time of writing) and New Zealand is not a tipping country. Full time jobs start at 30 hours a week. Nelson is an expensive area, and it can feel tough to live off roughly $700 a week.

I highly recommend negotiating for a raise after a few months of work. Many hospitality jobs have a high rate of turnover due to expats coming and going. If you are at a restaurant for more than 3 months, I'd certainly ask for a raise! The managers know that keeping you employed with them is better than finding and training a new employee.

If you want more insight into what it's like to work at a restaurant in Nelson, check out “7 Things to Know Before you Work in a Restaurant.”

I do want to acknowledge that my partner got a job that paid $27 NZD/hr - so there are higher paying hourly jobs out there! Additionally, we dog sat for a couple in town that paid us $125 NZD per day to take care of their 3 dogs. Having a semi-regular side hustle helped fund our extra expenses like taking trips!

Finding Housing in Nelson

TradeMe and Facebook are the best options for finding a space to rent in Nelson. If it's taking longer than you expected to find accommodation, lots of expats stay at hostels until a more permanent rental becomes available.

I had a friend stay at a hostel in Queenstown and she ended up meeting her future roommates there. They all moved into an apartment after a few weeks.

There are a few hostels in Nelson that offer work/live trades. If you're keen on doing this, make sure you contact the hostel well in advance. These opportunities are most abundant in the summer in Nelson.

Local spots like the library can also be a great resource to get your feet on the ground and look for a rental. There may be advertisements posted on the library's community board.

Neighborhoods in Nelson

Nelson is a relatively small city of 60,000, but there still are distinct neighborhoods and also neighboring towns to consider when looking for housing.

Downtown Nelson

Downtown will likely be one the more expensive places to rent but then you will be right in the thick of it! Living downtown you will be able to walk to grocery stores, breweries etc and you can even walk onto the great taste trail. Downtown is also a short 10 minutes from the best beach in town!

Nelson South

This area is in the back of town, closer to the mountains and further from the ocean. This is the neighborhood that has the hospital and the main school in it. While the neighborhood might not be as charming as downtown, it's still a great spot and also is close to many trails in the mountains.

Washington Valley

This is a “less nice neighborhood” by New Zealand standards… which means it's still very lovely! It's not the nicest place in town but it's got more affordable housing and is still considered “in town.”

Tahunanui

This is the beach neighborhood! Rentals may be hard to come by here but you will live right next to the beach so it's worth looking into anyways. There's also convenience stores and some shopping in this neighborhood.

Stoke

This area is outside of Nelson proper but it's where a lot of people in Nelson live. Think of it as a suburb. Lots of quiet streets and “single family homes.” There's a nice park in this neighborhood as well as grocery stores, gas stations and mom and pop shops. Stoke is just 5 minutes from Tahunanui beach and 15 minutes from downtown Nelson. My partner actually worked in Stoke and really enjoyed the neighborhood.

Richmond

Richmond is 20 minutes from downtown Nelson but has its own town center and probably 10,000 residents. I actually lived just outside of Richmond during my 1 year in Nelson and loved it. It was a bit quieter and had more of a rural feel than Nelson proper. There's lots of great job opportunities in Richmond as well, so don't overlook it! Richmond also has the best movie theater - the Silky Otter!

Housesitting

I have to acknowledge the awesome possibility of housesitting while you live in Nelson! I had a coworker who lined up 4 months of back to back house sitting while she was working in Nelson. She used the TrustedHousesitters website as well as community house sitting facebook pages. I was also so impressed she was able to score consistent free housing in town!

Do You Need a Car in Nelson?

The short answer is yes, you definitely need a car in Nelson.

The bus system isn't great in town and stops running around 7pm. While you can make this work, I think it's worth it to buy a car.

The used car market is great in New Zealand in the major cities. I bought a car on my first day in the country up in Auckland! We traveled and camped in the car for 6 weeks before moving to Nelson to look for jobs and a rental.

You'll likely be flying into a major city when you move to New Zealand. I highly recommend looking for a car there rather than Nelson, as the market is a bit slower.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the “campervan” life and culture in New Zealand. The country certainly has a reputation for expats buying vans, traveling and working.

The biggest thing about moving into a campervan is you need to know if that is genuinely a lifestyle that will suit you. One of my coworkers hated vanlife so much that she moved into a hotel. For her, getting up and trying to get ready for work, pack a lunch, go to work and then coming home to no living room and having to cook outside - all in the rain sometimes - was just not worth it.

The campervan may be great for traveling around the country and for a few weeks of work. If you are planning on doing more than a few months of work in Nelson I would opt to buy a car and look for a rental.

How to Buy a Vehicle

The best thing about the New Zealand car/campervan/motorcycle market? It's SO easy to buy a vehicle!

Once you've found a vehicle on TradeMe or FB and test driven it/decided to buy it all you do is hand over the money to the owner and drive to a VTNZ. The seller will likely have already done their half of the paperwork, so you just need to fill out 1 measly little form and show your passport and voila the car is yours.

No international drivers license is needed! (You can drive on your valid overseas full licence for up to 12 months, as long as it's in English - US and Canadian licences are fine - or carry an official translation or IDP.)

Important Considerations When Moving to Nelson

There are a few last considerations I want to acknowledge before I send you on your way to apply for that working holiday visa.

I don't by any means think these things are deal breakers for a move to NZ, but they are things I wish I would have factored into my move.

💡 The official rule vs. my reality: On paper, expats can see a GP as a casual paying patient. In reality, the day I needed care, every clinic and GP office I called sent me to the ER. Maybe I caught a bad day — but don't count on easy access, and don't skip travel insurance.

1. You won't be able to get a regular doctor (a GP you're enrolled with) as an expat here, so make sure you have nomad insurance like SafetyWing. I had 1 trip to the ER in my year in NZ, and it was for something super minor. I was more than a little annoyed when I had to wait over 3 hours to see a doctor. But honestly, that's just how the system is set up for expats. One thing that is covered no matter your visa, though: accident injuries, through ACC. It's illness that isn't — which is exactly why the insurance matters.
2. Nelson is pretty far south on the planet… that means the days are long in the summer (yay) and short in the winter (booo). Be prepared for the sun to set around 5pm in the winter. New Zealand is also notoriously a rainy country, so be prepared for a wet and chilly winter. The good news is, Nelson is the sunniest city in the country!
3. New Zealand is an expensive country. Gas is the equivalent of $7.5 USD per gallon (as of May, 2026). Remember how I said minimum wage was $23.95 NZD? To fill up my car in New Zealand cost me about $130 NZD, the equivalent of 5.5 hours of work. When you're looking for a car, fuel efficiency matters!

One way to save on fuel is to shop at grocery stores like “Pak'NSave,” which offers 6 cents off per L when you shop at their grocery store. There's a Pak'NSave in Richmond!

4. The public transportation within towns and cities is not great. In Nelson the south the bus stops running at 7pm! For this reason I would say Nelson is very much a car city.

All of these extra considerations have work-arounds, it's just about being prepared and aware of some of the nuances of being an expat in NZ.

Are You Ready to Move to New Zealand?

Moving to New Zealand is a dream that is totally obtainable! The biggest obstacle isn't logistics (applying for the Visa as a North American or Commonwealth is easy) it's your own mental hurdles. I can't recommend the experience of living abroad enough. Especially in such beautiful land at Aotearoa New Zealand.

Moving to Nelson was the best decision, even though the year came with struggles. It can be isolating to move somewhere alone, but there is a great community of locals and expats alike… you just need the courage to join them!

Your first step should be heading over to the immigration website and getting an application in for the visa that suits you best.