Cost of living comparison
compared to
Suwon vs. Iowa City Cost of Living Summary
Suwon is 30.6% cheaper than Iowa City.
Suwon vs. Iowa City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Suwon instead of Iowa City, you would:
pay 47.0% less for restaurants
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.00
|
$6.00
₩8,001
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$7.46
₩9,953
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$1.57
₩2,090
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.19
|
$0.60
₩805
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of restaurants
pay 44.2% more for groceries
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.71
|
$2.61
₩3,478
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.65
|
$5.59
₩7,454
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.02
|
$9.87
₩13,167
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.51
|
$3.17
₩4,233
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.77
|
$5.18
₩6,907
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.52
|
$2.82
₩3,761
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.54
|
$1.32
₩1,761
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$2.44
₩3,247
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$1.95
₩2,596
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$1.58
₩2,107
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.08
|
$1.20
₩1,603
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of groceries
pay 23.4% more for transportation
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.83
|
$5.10
₩6,804
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$16.00
|
$47.40
₩63,199
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,473.37
|
$28,162.26
₩38M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.00
|
$7.92
₩10,565
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of transportation
pay 62.8% less for housing
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.25
|
$17.91
₩23,886
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,199.75
|
$435.40
₩581K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,075.75
|
$348.32
₩464K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$206.36
|
$142.51
₩190K
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of housing
pay 35.6% less for childcare
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,266.67
|
$691.66
₩922K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,429.75
|
$17,773.54
₩24M
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of childcare
pay 27.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$3.73
₩4,976
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.67
|
$3.36
₩4,479
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.89
|
$3.73
₩4,976
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.33
|
$43.79
₩58,389
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$11.20
₩14,929
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 17.2% less for clothing
|
Iowa City
|
Suwon
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.22
|
$37.32
₩49,763
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.56
|
$106.98
₩143K
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.00
|
$74.37
₩99,166
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$59.02
₩78,692
|
|
Iowa City vs. Suwon - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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