Cost of living comparison

Hawaii, USA

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Hawaii Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 55.1% cheaper than Hawaii.

Restaurants: pay 68.2% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 35.7% less in South Korea
Transportation: pay 24.7% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 74.4% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 46.6% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.7% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 5.0% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Hawaii Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 68.2% less for restaurants

	Hawaii	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$30.50	$7.06 ₩9,627	-76.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.21	$6.17 ₩8,410	-56.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.38	$1.53 ₩2,083	-54.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.82	$0.88 ₩1,207	-68.6%
Average			-68.2%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.7% less for groceries

	Hawaii	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$7.91	$3.04 ₩4,143	-61.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.88	$6.12 ₩8,352	-38.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.39	$8.23 ₩11,221	+11.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$8.21	$2.94 ₩4,009	-64.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.56	$4.11 ₩5,604	-45.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.94	$4.00 ₩5,458	+1.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.54	$1.55 ₩2,114	+0.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.89	$3.00 ₩4,087	-23.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$4.77	$2.63 ₩3,590	-44.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.62	$2.03 ₩2,774	-22.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.82	$1.26 ₩1,722	-55.2%
Average			-35.7%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% less for transportation

	Hawaii	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07	$5.01 ₩6,830	-1.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.40	$46.10 ₩62,878	-38.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,814.00	$28,394.53 ₩39M	-20.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.59	$8.59 ₩11,720	-58.3%
Average			-24.7%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.4% less for housing

	Hawaii	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.95	$24.34 ₩33,198	-67.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,389.72	$561.73 ₩766K	-76.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,073.89	$387.83 ₩529K	-81.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$227.50	$153.72 ₩210K	-32.4%
Average			-74.4%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 46.6% less for childcare

	Hawaii	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,779.83	$545.93 ₩745K	-69.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,749.17	$20,214.53 ₩28M	-7.1%
Average			-46.6%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Hawaii	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.67	$3.30 ₩4,499	-57.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$7.08	$3.66 ₩4,995	-48.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.25	$3.35 ₩4,565	-74.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.03	$57.32 ₩78,173	-4.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.09	$11.28 ₩15,390	-25.2%
Average			-40.7%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.0% less for clothing

	Hawaii	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.60	$67.53 ₩92,101	+9.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.66	$53.43 ₩72,869	+22.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.78	$78.10 ₩107K	-20.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$134.12	$102.84 ₩140K	-23.3%
Average			-5.0%

Hawaii vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Hawaii vs. South Korea

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