Cost of living comparison

North Carolina, USA

compared to

Cook Islands

Cook Islands vs. North Carolina Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 16.1% cheaper than North Carolina.

Restaurants: pay 1.7% more in Cook Islands
Groceries: pay 4.4% less in Cook Islands
Transportation: pay 27.5% more in Cook Islands
Housing: pay 36.8% less in Cook Islands
Childcare: pay 94.4% less in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.6% less in Cook Islands
Clothing: pay 2.5% less in Cook Islands

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

Cook Islands vs. North Carolina Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cook Islands instead of North Carolina, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.7% more for restaurants

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.06	$11.54 NZ$20.27	-32.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.47	$7.93 NZ$13.94	-24.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.28	$2.88 NZ$5.07	+26.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.82	$2.50 NZ$4.39	+37.1%
Average			+1.7%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.4% less for groceries

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$3.79	$3.11 NZ$5.46	-18.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.80	$4.98 NZ$8.74	-26.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.73	$7.37 NZ$12.95	+97.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.98	$5.57 NZ$9.78	+39.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.20	$3.40 NZ$5.98	-34.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.47	$1.30 NZ$2.29	-47.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71	$1.05 NZ$1.84	+48.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.20	$1.56 NZ$2.75	-29.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.38	$2.75 NZ$4.83	+15.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.74	$1.05 NZ$1.84	-39.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.80	$0.82 NZ$1.45	-54.2%
Average			-4.4%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.5% more for transportation

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.98	$6.56 NZ$11.53	+120.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.67	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,588.64	$11,538.70 NZ$20,271.78	-65.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.99	??
Average			+27.5%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.8% less for housing

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.77	$105.96 NZ$186.16	+45.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,488.15	$305.77 NZ$537.20	-79.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.77	$305.77 NZ$537.20	-75.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.31	$82.72 NZ$145.33	-37.5%
Average			-36.8%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 94.4% less for childcare

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,261.89	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,633.15	$1,384.64 NZ$2,432.61	-94.4%
Average			-94.4%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.6% less for entertainment and sports

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.12	$5.99 NZ$10.52	+16.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.82	$3.80 NZ$6.67	-21.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.77	$14.42 NZ$25.34	+85.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.40	$24.04 NZ$42.23	-50.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.98	$6.63 NZ$11.66	-48.9%
Average			-3.6%

North Carolina vs. Cook Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5% less for clothing

	North Carolina	Cook Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.30	$64.62 NZ$113.52	+31.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.76	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.37	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.01	$70.96 NZ$124.67	-36.1%
Average			-2.5%

North Carolina vs. Cook 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: April 2026

Compare further: North Carolina vs. Cook Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

Make 73.7% less money in Cook Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

North Carolina is about 535 times bigger than Cook Islands.

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