VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
The Space Needle behind Pier 70, Seattle
SeattleThe Space Needle behind Pier 70

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Seattle by Caio, Pexels License.

Auckland or Seattle?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Auckland for

  • beaches
  • prices
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Auckland’s own page.

Choose Seattle for

  • live music and the arts
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Seattle’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Auckland 68, Seattle 30: Auckland leads by 38 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Seattle 66: Seattle leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Seattle 50: Seattle leads by 6 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Seattle 55: Seattle leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Seattle 87: Seattle leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Auckland and Seattle are level on 55.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Seattle 64: Auckland leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Seattle 60: Seattle leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Seattle 52: Seattle leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Seattle 22: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Seattle 70: Seattle leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Seattle 40: Auckland leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Seattle.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Auckland
53match

Wins on beaches and prices with your weighting.

Seattle
54match

Wins on live music and the arts and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Seattle in July

25 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
15 mmrain in the month
12 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandSeattle

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Seattle: 1991-2020 normals, Seattle-Tacoma Airport (17.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandSeattle
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori-
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m40 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsSeattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)18 km from centre135 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandSeattle
City population1,470,100737,015
People per km²2,6301,996
Museums within 10 km1527
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Seattle somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.