Cost of living comparison

compared to

Solomon Islands vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Solomon Islands is 15.3% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 26.0% less in Solomon Islands
Groceries: pay 22.1% more in Solomon Islands
Transportation: pay 25.4% less in Solomon Islands
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Solomon Islands
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Solomon Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.2% less in Solomon Islands
Clothing: pay 29.8% less in Solomon Islands

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

Solomon Islands vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Solomon Islands instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.0% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$19.97	$6.08 SBD50.04	-47.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.73	$12.16 SBD100.08	+53.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$4.99	$1.37 SBD11.26	-52.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.33	$1.06 SBD8.76	-57.4%
Average			-26.0%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.1% more for groceries

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.38	$1.49 SBD12.22	-52.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.61	$1.99 SBD16.35	-60.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.76	$9.73 SBD80.10	+32.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.64	$5.49 SBD45.19	-1.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.89	$3.92 SBD32.23	+15.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.25	$3.20 SBD26.33	+145.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.81	$1.17 SBD9.65	+12.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.71	$3.54 SBD29.14	+126.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.76	$1.50 SBD12.35	-45.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.81	$0.91 SBD7.49	-13.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.43	$1.52 SBD12.48	+84.0%
Average			+22.1%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.4% less for transportation

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.36	$4.90 SBD40.31	-25.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$24.32 SBD200.16
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$19,973.52	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$10.94 SBD90.07
Average			-25.4%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$183.42	$88.16 SBD725.60	-16.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$529.30	$547.19 SBD4,503.70	+79.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$529.30	$638.39 SBD5,254.32	+108.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$143.19	$325.45 SBD2,678.67	+293.4%
Average			+116.1%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$97.28 SBD800.66
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,396.82	$2,796.75 SBD23,018.93	+102.0%
Average			+102.0%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.36	$1.82 SBD15.01	-69.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.57	$3.13 SBD25.77	-17.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$24.97	$4.01 SBD33.03	-72.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.61	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.48	$3.34 SBD27.52	-49.6%
Average			-52.2%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.8% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Solomon Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$111.85	$20.59 SBD169.47	-68.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$91.20 SBD750.62
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$77.01 SBD633.85
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$122.84	$77.01 SBD633.85	+8.5%
Average			-29.8%

Cook Islands vs. Solomon Islands - 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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