Cost of living comparison

Cook Islands

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.2 times more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.6% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 13.6% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 27.9% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 7.7 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.6% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 15.0% more in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including groceries and restaurants are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare and housing 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 9.6% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 NZ$15.63	$9.75 CRC4,861.38	+8.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.21 NZ$14.33	$9.08 CRC4,529.24	+10.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 NZ$4.95	$2.01 CRC1,002.75	-29.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.09 NZ$3.65	$1.49 CRC743.89	-28.6%
Average			-9.6%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$3.22 NZ$5.62	$2.53 CRC1,262.89	-21.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 NZ$8.99	$3.76 CRC1,876.61	-27.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.63 NZ$13.32	$6.98 CRC3,479.13	-8.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.76 NZ$10.06	$3.21 CRC1,602.04	-44.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 NZ$6.15	$3.97 CRC1,980.43	+12.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 NZ$2.35	$1.79 CRC892.43	+32.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$0.62 CRC307.67	-43.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.62 NZ$2.82	$1.22 CRC606.66	-24.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.84 NZ$4.96	$1.22 CRC609.28	-57.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$1.09 CRC545.77	+1.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 NZ$1.49	$1.11 CRC555.45	+30.5%
Average			-13.6%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.9% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.86	$5.63 CRC2,806.40	-17.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$49.00 CRC24,437.54
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,944.29 NZ$20,845.19	$35,063.37 CRC17,487,364.97	+193.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$212.01 NZ$370.00	$15.62 CRC7,791.37	-92.6%
Average			+27.9%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$104.21 NZ$181.87	$48.50 CRC24,188.91	-53.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$155.28 NZ$270.99	$778.04 CRC388,035.38	+401.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$155.28 NZ$270.99	$547.50 CRC273,059.59	+252.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.92 NZ$139.48	$68.26 CRC34,042.58	-14.6%
Average			+146.4%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 7.7 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$519.07 CRC258,877.67
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,433.32 NZ$2,501.42	$10,987.74 CRC5,479,982.83	+666.6%
Average			+666.6%

Cook Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.23 NZ$9.12	$2.73 CRC1,360.13	-47.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.83 NZ$6.69	$3.65 CRC1,822.50	-4.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 NZ$26.06	$4.58 CRC2,285.36	-69.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.88 NZ$43.43	$59.46 CRC29,655.13	+139.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.87 NZ$11.99	$8.63 CRC4,302.05	+25.6%
Average			+8.6%

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

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pay 15.0% more for clothing

	Cook Islands	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.89 NZ$116.73	$65.32 CRC32,579.25	-2.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.54 CRC22,213.88
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$110.39 CRC55,053.23
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.46 NZ$128.20	$97.22 CRC48,485.54	+32.3%
Average			+15.0%

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: March 2025

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