Quality of life comparison
If you lived in North Carolina instead of South Korea, you would:
Health
be 4.0 times more likely to be obese
In South Korea, 8.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In North Carolina, that number is 33.6% of people as of 2022.
Economy
make 63.7% more money
South Korea has a GDP per capita of $36,227 as of 2025, while in North Carolina, the GDP per capita is $59,308 as of 2024.
be 26.9% more likely to be unemployed
In South Korea, 2.7% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In North Carolina, that number is 3.4% as of 2025.
Sources: World Bank (2025), World Health Organization (2024), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024). How we calculate this
