Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.0 times more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 5.5% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 99.6% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 42.1% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 6.9 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.7% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 10.9% more in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including restaurants and groceries are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare and transportation are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	-15.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.83	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	+20.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$5.03	$2.00 CRC995.21	-30.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.36	$1.57 CRC781.41	-37.1%
Average			-15.7%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.5% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.42	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	-18.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.68	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-9.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.85	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	+2.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.71	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-49.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.93	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	+12.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.27	$1.78 CRC886.81	+37.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.83	$0.62 CRC305.74	-41.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.73	$1.65 CRC819.01	+5.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.79	$1.24 CRC617.46	-54.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.83	$1.28 CRC635.24	+22.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.44	$1.10 CRC547.12	+33.5%
Average			-5.5%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 99.6% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.45	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-16.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$54.59 CRC27,137.81
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$20,123.30	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+215.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.68 CRC7,794.48
Average			+99.6%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.1% more for housing

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$184.80	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-53.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$533.27	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+163.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$533.27	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+81.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$144.27	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-23.2%
Average			+42.1%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 6.9 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$517.09 CRC257,060.35
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,414.80	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+589.9%
Average			+589.9%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.44	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	-56.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.62	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+1.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	-67.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.92	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+144.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+37.3%
Average			+11.7%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.9% more for clothing

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$112.69	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	-9.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.70 CRC22,222.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$112.79 CRC56,072.28
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$123.76	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	+31.6%
Average			+10.9%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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