Average Economic Development Specialist Salary in Cook Islands for 2026

In this article, we will look at the average Economic Development Specialist salary for 2026 in Cook Islands and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the New Zealand dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the NZD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does an Economic Development Specialist Make in Cook Islands?

An Economic Development Specialist working in Cook Islands will typically earn around 88,020 NZD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 47,120 NZD to the highest average salary of 136,200 NZD.

These are average salaries for an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for an Economic Development Specialist to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Economic Development Specialist salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Economic Development Specialist Salaries in Cook Islands

So we've looked at the average salaries an Economic Development Specialist will earn in Cook Islands. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that an Economic Development Specialist can earn between 47,120 NZD and 136,200 NZD on average in Cook Islands. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands is 84,740 NZD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 84,740 NZD, and 50% of the population earn more than 84,740 NZD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Economic Development Specialist salary in Cook Islands, 25% of the population are earning less than 58,280 NZD while 75% of the population earn more than 58,280 NZD.

75% of the population earn less than 108,120 NZD, and 25% of the population earn more than 108,120 NZD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

Economic Development Specialist Salary by Experience Level in Cook Islands

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Economic Development Specialist salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

• 0 - 2 Years Experience. An Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 53,860 NZD.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Economic Development Specialist salary would increase to 69,260 NZD.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as an Economic Development Specialist, the average salary would be 89,980 NZD.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 111,700 NZD.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. An Economic Development Specialist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 119,900 NZD.
• 20+ Years Experience. For an Economic Development Specialist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 125,700 NZD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Economic Development Specialist Salary by Education Level in Cook Islands

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

• Bachelor's Degree. An Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 67,300 NZD.
• Master's Degree. An Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 83,300 NZD.
• PhD. An Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands with a phd education can earn an average salary of 136,100 NZD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Economic Development Specialist Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Cook Islands, a male economic development specialist will earn an average of 93,880 NZD, while a female economic development specialist will earn around 84,800 NZD.

This means that a male economic development specialist earns approximately 11% more than a female economic development specialist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Cook Islands

Economic Development Specialist Average Pay Raise in Cook Islands

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands is around 8% every 29 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in Cook Islands is around 4% every 29 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 8 ÷ 29 ) × 12  = 3%

What this means is that an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 3% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Cook Islands for 2026

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in Cook Islands.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Economic Development Specialist Bonus and Incentive Rates in Cook Islands

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

An Economic Development Specialist is a low bonus based job, with 37% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

63% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 5%.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in Cook Islands earn approximately 15% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to an Economic Development Specialist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to an Economic Development Specialist in Cook Islands.