Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Cook Islands

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 12.3% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.8% less in Cook Islands
Groceries: pay 12.6% more in Cook Islands
Transportation: pay 24.1% less in Cook Islands
Housing: pay 27.1% less in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.3% more in Cook Islands

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

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Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.8% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$14.01 NZ$24.77	+25.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$5.60 NZ$9.91	-48.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$2.24 NZ$3.96	-7.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$2.24 NZ$3.96	+25.4%
Average			-10.8%

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.6% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$2.80 NZ$4.95	+1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$3.64 NZ$6.44	-24.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$10.60 NZ$18.75	+26.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$6.05 NZ$10.70	+66.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	??
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	??
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	??
Average			+12.6%

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.1% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$6.38 NZ$11.29	+10.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$11,204.09 NZ$19,812.72	-50.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	??
Average			-24.1%

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.1% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$102.89 NZ$181.95	+99.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$448.16 NZ$792.51	-46.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$448.16 NZ$792.51	-25.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$74.97 NZ$132.57	+9.3%
Average			-27.1%

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	??

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$5.04 NZ$8.92	+73.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$3.36 NZ$5.94	-17.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$11.20 NZ$19.81	+111.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	??
Average			+34.3%

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

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Cook Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	??

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands - Cost of clothing

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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

Compare further: Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 12 statistics

Be 25.7% less likely to have internet access in Cook Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 217 times bigger than Cook Islands.

Moving from Costa Rica to Cook Islands · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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