Cost of living comparison
compared to
Seoul vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
Seoul is 35.0% cheaper than Chicago.
Seoul vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Seoul instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 52.4% less for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.25
|
$8.96
₩11,955
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$7.46
₩9,962
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$1.58
₩2,112
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$0.79
₩1,049
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.3% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.92
|
$3.10
₩4,134
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.07
|
$8.84
₩11,798
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.97
|
$7.79
₩10,403
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.78
|
$3.61
₩4,813
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.65
|
$4.74
₩6,328
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$3.46
₩4,624
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$1.57
₩2,091
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.87
|
$2.59
₩3,462
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$2.83
₩3,782
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.66
₩2,211
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.23
|
$1.16
₩1,542
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries
pay 16.4% less for transportation
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.66
|
$5.53
₩7,384
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$46.28
₩61,767
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,531.00
|
$29,385.60
₩39M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.45
|
$8.51
₩11,357
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation
pay 56.7% less for housing
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.13
|
$20.82
₩27,787
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,400.00
|
$886.39
₩1M
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,679.31
|
$620.25
₩828K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$147.87
|
$162.69
₩217K
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of housing
pay 5.2% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,536.88
|
$1,927.59
₩3M
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$31,537.78
|
$22,602.27
₩30M
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare
pay 35.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$3.73
₩4,981
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.70
|
$4.10
₩5,473
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.00
|
$3.36
₩4,483
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.47
|
$58.22
₩77,707
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$11.20
₩14,944
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 31.4% less for clothing
|
Chicago
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.94
|
$57.88
₩77,255
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$51.67
|
$32.77
₩43,743
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.58
|
$69.99
₩93,417
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.78
|
$82.45
₩110K
|
|
Chicago vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Chicago vs. Seoul
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cost of living in United States vs. South Korea.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and South Korea.
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