Cost of living comparison

Israel

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Israel Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 43.6% cheaper than Israel overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.6% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 27.0% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 48.2% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 59.2% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 42.1% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.2% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 28.8% less in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Israel Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.6% less for restaurants

	Israel	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$23.87 ₪76.03	$7.06 ₩9,627	-70.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$18.77 ₪59.79	$6.17 ₩8,410	-67.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.33 ₪10.61	$1.53 ₩2,083	-54.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.70 ₪8.61	$0.88 ₩1,207	-67.2%
Average			-67.6%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.0% more for groceries

	Israel	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.02 ₪9.64	$3.04 ₩4,143	+0.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.49 ₪27.06	$6.12 ₩8,352	-27.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.09 ₪28.94	$8.23 ₩11,221	-9.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.78 ₪15.22	$2.94 ₩4,009	-38.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.33 ₪20.16	$4.11 ₩5,604	-35.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.96 ₪6.23	$4.00 ₩5,458	+104.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.48 ₪4.73	$1.55 ₩2,114	+4.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 ₪3.38	$3.00 ₩4,087	+182.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 ₪4.08	$2.63 ₩3,590	+105.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ₪2.62	$2.03 ₩2,774	+147.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 ₪2.33	$1.26 ₩1,722	+72.9%
Average			+27.0%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.2% less for transportation

	Israel	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.73 ₪31.01	$5.01 ₩6,830	-48.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$86.98 ₪277.10	$46.10 ₩62,878	-47.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$56,575.39 ₪180K	$28,394.53 ₩39M	-49.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.75 ₪50.19	$8.59 ₩11,720	-45.4%
Average			-48.2%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.2% less for housing

	Israel	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.16 ₪134.30	$24.34 ₩33,198	-42.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,456.98 ₪4,641.81	$561.73 ₩766K	-61.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,143.34 ₪3,642.56	$387.83 ₩529K	-66.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$221.23 ₪704.82	$153.72 ₩210K	-30.5%
Average			-59.2%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 42.1% less for childcare

	Israel	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,259.48 ₪4,012.57	$545.93 ₩745K	-56.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,132.54 ₪83,255.78	$20,214.53 ₩28M	-22.6%
Average			-42.1%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Israel	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$9.32 ₪29.68	$3.30 ₩4,499	-64.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.84 ₪15.42	$3.66 ₩4,995	-24.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.45 ₪42.84	$3.35 ₩4,565	-75.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$81.16 ₪258.57	$57.32 ₩78,173	-29.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.27 ₪45.47	$11.28 ₩15,390	-20.9%
Average			-42.2%

Israel vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.8% less for clothing

	Israel	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$83.52 ₪266.08	$67.53 ₩92,101	-19.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.14 ₪207.54	$53.43 ₩72,869	-18.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.03 ₪427.01	$78.10 ₩107K	-41.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$154.97 ₪493.72	$102.84 ₩140K	-33.6%
Average			-28.8%

Israel 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: Israel vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 40.0% less money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Israel is about 4.5 times smaller than South Korea.

Moving from Israel to South Korea · OECD 2023

89 people moved from Israel to South Korea.

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