Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Austin Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 24.7% cheaper than Austin.

Restaurants: pay 55.5% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 24.4% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 3.5% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 55.5% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 51.8% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.1% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 3.2% more in South Korea

The cost of groceries, transportation, and clothing in South Korea are more expensive than in Austin. Expenses including restaurants, housing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are lower in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Austin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Austin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 55.5% less for restaurants

	Austin	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00	$6.72 ₩9,907	-66.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00	$5.50 ₩8,102	-50.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67	$1.47 ₩2,161	-45.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.09	$0.82 ₩1,216	-60.6%
Average			-55.5%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.4% more for groceries

	Austin	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40	$2.87 ₩4,235	-15.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.17	$5.63 ₩8,290	-8.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.93	$7.67 ₩11,311	+95.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85	$2.84 ₩4,180	-41.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.15	$3.34 ₩4,917	-35.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20	$3.24 ₩4,768	+47.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70	$1.39 ₩2,045	+98.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96	$2.80 ₩4,121	+42.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.75	$2.40 ₩3,543	+37.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.18	$1.78 ₩2,627	+50.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.24	$1.20 ₩1,775	-2.6%
Average			+24.4%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5% more for transportation

	Austin	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79	$4.40 ₩6,485	+58.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.38	$47.17 ₩69,524	+14.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,900.00	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	-5.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.67	$8.33 ₩12,280	-52.9%
Average			+3.5%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.5% less for housing

	Austin	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.20	$21.68 ₩31,958	-68.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,134.75	$473.91 ₩698,442	-77.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,434.41	$357.19 ₩526,420	-75.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.86	$132.53 ₩195,326	-1.0%
Average			-55.5%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 51.8% less for childcare

	Austin	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,343.18	$378.52 ₩557,869	-71.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,093.75	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	-31.9%
Average			-51.8%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Austin	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$3.12 ₩4,595	-48.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.56	$3.57 ₩5,258	-35.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.00	$3.18 ₩4,693	-64.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.33	$49.86 ₩73,483	-24.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$10.12 ₩14,912	-32.5%
Average			-41.1%

Austin vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.2% more for clothing

	Austin	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.74	$66.46 ₩97,948	+26.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.79	$50.68 ₩74,697	+15.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.55	$72.74 ₩107,204	-16.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.47	$103.23 ₩152,146	-12.1%
Average			+3.2%

Austin vs. South Korea - 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: December 2025

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