Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary
Iowa is 31.8% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.
Iowa vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa instead of Cook Islands, you would:
pay 38.8% more for restaurants
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.01
NZ$24.77
|
$17.44
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.60
NZ$9.91
|
$10.71
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.24
NZ$3.96
|
$2.66
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.24
NZ$3.96
|
$1.93
|
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of restaurants
pay 29.5% less for groceries
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.80
NZ$4.95
|
$2.86
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$3.64
NZ$6.44
|
$5.29
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$10.60
NZ$18.75
|
$3.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.05
NZ$10.70
|
$3.35
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | ?? |
$4.87
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$2.11
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$2.01
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.93
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.07
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.29
|
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of groceries
pay 18.8% more for transportation
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.38
NZ$11.29
|
$3.52
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$34.83
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$11,204.09
NZ$19,812.72
|
$32,592.26
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$15.02
|
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of transportation
pay 2.0 times more for housing
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$102.89
NZ$181.95
|
$67.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$448.16
NZ$792.51
|
$1,095.70
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$448.16
NZ$792.51
|
$867.32
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$74.97
NZ$132.57
|
$143.75
|
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$1,080.37
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$19,409.87
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of childcare
pay 13.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.04
NZ$8.92
|
$4.61
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.36
NZ$5.94
|
$5.52
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.20
NZ$19.81
|
$9.16
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$61.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$13.85
|
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Cook Islands
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$51.95
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$38.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$88.30
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$107.49
|
Cook Islands vs. Iowa - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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cost of living in Cook Islands vs. United States.
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