Cost of living comparison
compared to
Houston vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary
Houston is 4.2 times more expensive than North Korea overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 54.5% more in Houston
- Groceries
-
pay 45.4% more in Houston
- Housing
-
pay 11.3 times more in Houston
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 2.5 times more in Houston
The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries in Houston are more expensive than in North Korea. Notably, housing and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Houston.
Houston vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Houston instead of North Korea, you would:
pay 54.5% more for restaurants
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant | ?? |
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
?? |
$10.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.34
KPW2,102
|
$2.76
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.17
KPW1,051
|
$2.23
|
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of restaurants
pay 45.4% more for groceries
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.40
KPW2,161
|
$3.23
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) | ?? |
$6.32
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.70
KPW3,332
|
$3.44
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.08
KPW1,876
|
$4.35
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | ?? |
$5.20
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.88
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.67
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.67
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.12
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.20
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.05
|
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of groceries
pay (unknown) more for transportation
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | ?? |
$2.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$36,278.39
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$14.39
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of transportation
pay 11.3 times more for housing
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$70.76
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$93.44
KPW84,095
|
$1,660.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$262.80
KPW236,518
|
$1,287.77
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$145.65
|
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$1,258.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$26,120.00
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of childcare
pay 2.5 times more for entertainment and sports
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$14.02
KPW12,614
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.17
KPW1,051
|
$5.41
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$9.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$37.29
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$15.00
|
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
North Korea
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$45.57
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$44.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$98.95
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$116.43
|
North Korea vs. Houston - Cost of clothing
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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