Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 36.9% cheaper than Chicago.

Restaurants: pay 59.1% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 15.2% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 22.4% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 58.2% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 71.5% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.3% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 12.7% less in South Korea

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing are lower in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 59.1% less for restaurants

	Chicago	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.50	$6.72 ₩9,907	-67.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$5.50 ₩8,102	-54.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.96	$1.47 ₩2,161	-50.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.33	$0.82 ₩1,216	-64.6%
Average			-59.1%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.2% more for groceries

	Chicago	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$4.01	$2.87 ₩4,235	-28.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.05	$5.63 ₩8,290	-20.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.30	$7.67 ₩11,311	+78.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02	$2.84 ₩4,180	-43.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.55	$3.34 ₩4,917	-49.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.31	$3.24 ₩4,768	+40.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79	$1.39 ₩2,045	+74.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85	$2.80 ₩4,121	+50.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.09	$2.40 ₩3,543	+15.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16	$1.78 ₩2,627	+54.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26	$1.20 ₩1,775	-4.4%
Average			+15.2%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.4% less for transportation

	Chicago	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81	$4.40 ₩6,485	+15.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.00	$47.17 ₩69,524	-37.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,691.85	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	-25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.43	$8.33 ₩12,280	-42.3%
Average			-22.4%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 58.2% less for housing

	Chicago	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.83	$21.68 ₩31,958	-67.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,418.00	$473.91 ₩698,442	-80.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,692.50	$357.19 ₩526,420	-78.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$141.41	$132.53 ₩195,326	-6.3%
Average			-58.2%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 71.5% less for childcare

	Chicago	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,050.00	$378.52 ₩557,869	-81.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$39,114.29	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	-61.5%
Average			-71.5%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Chicago	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00	$3.12 ₩4,595	-55.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.53	$3.57 ₩5,258	-35.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$17.00	$3.18 ₩4,693	-81.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.80	$49.86 ₩73,483	-30.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.00	$10.12 ₩14,912	-43.8%
Average			-49.3%

Chicago vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.7% less for clothing

	Chicago	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.24	$66.46 ₩97,948	+3.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.62	$50.68 ₩74,697	+2.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.48	$72.74 ₩107,204	-26.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.50	$103.23 ₩152,146	-29.5%
Average			-12.7%

Chicago 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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