Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Iowa Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 17.9% cheaper than Iowa.

Restaurants: pay 50.1% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 37.1% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 4.4% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 45.3% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 43.8% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.8% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 6.9% more in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. Iowa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.1% less for restaurants

	Iowa	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.83	$6.72 ₩9,907	-57.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.57	$5.50 ₩8,102	-48.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46	$1.47 ₩2,161	-40.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.82	$0.82 ₩1,216	-54.7%
Average			-50.1%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.1% more for groceries

	Iowa	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77	$2.87 ₩4,235	+3.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.89	$5.63 ₩8,290	-4.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.33	$7.67 ₩11,311	+130.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.30	$2.84 ₩4,180	-14.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.57	$3.34 ₩4,917	-27.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.96	$3.24 ₩4,768	+64.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65	$1.39 ₩2,045	+112.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.93	$2.80 ₩4,121	+45.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93	$2.40 ₩3,543	+24.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.99	$1.78 ₩2,627	+79.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30	$1.20 ₩1,775	-7.3%
Average			+37.1%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.4% more for transportation

	Iowa	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.02	$4.40 ₩6,485	+45.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.07	$47.17 ₩69,524	+23.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,093.10	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	-5.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.46	$8.33 ₩12,280	-46.1%
Average			+4.4%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.3% less for housing

	Iowa	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.62	$21.68 ₩31,958	-67.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,069.66	$473.91 ₩698,442	-55.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$852.78	$357.19 ₩526,420	-58.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.13	$132.53 ₩195,326	-0.4%
Average			-45.3%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 43.8% less for childcare

	Iowa	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,152.45	$378.52 ₩557,869	-67.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,898.50	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	-20.3%
Average			-43.8%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Iowa	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.44	$3.12 ₩4,595	-29.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.43	$3.57 ₩5,258	-34.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.55	$3.18 ₩4,693	-62.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$63.76	$49.86 ₩73,483	-21.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.58	$10.12 ₩14,912	-25.5%
Average			-34.8%

Iowa vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.9% more for clothing

	Iowa	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.34	$66.46 ₩97,948	+20.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.65	$50.68 ₩74,697	+21.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.56	$72.74 ₩107,204	-10.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.86	$103.23 ₩152,146	-3.4%
Average			+6.9%

Iowa 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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