Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Diego vs. North Korea Cost of Living Summary

San Diego is 6.9 times more expensive than North Korea overall.

Restaurants
pay 72.0% more in San Diego
Groceries
pay 99.9% more in San Diego
Housing
pay 21.1 times more in San Diego
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.8 times more in San Diego

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and restaurants in San Diego are more expensive than in North Korea. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are significantly more expensive in San Diego.

San Diego vs. North Korea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Diego instead of North Korea, you would:

pay 72.0% more for restaurants

 
North Korea
San Diego
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant ?? $21.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
?? $15.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.34
KPW2,102
$3.03
 

Improve prices ·

pay 99.9% more for groceries

 
North Korea
San Diego
Bread
1 loaf
$2.40
KPW2,161
$4.57
 
Local cheese (8 oz) ?? $7.36
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.70
KPW3,332
$4.78
 

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
North Korea
San Diego
Gasoline (1 gallon) ?? $4.76
 
Monthly public transit pass ?? $72.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $31,965.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 21.1 times more for housing

 
North Korea
San Diego
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
?? $82.19
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $93.44
KPW84,095
$3,033.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $262.80
KPW236,518
$2,538.64
 

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
North Korea
San Diego
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $1,750.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $28,750.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

 
North Korea
San Diego
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $14.02
KPW12,614
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.17
KPW1,051
$5.90
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
?? $12.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
North Korea
San Diego
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $60.72
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $58.44
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $105.68
 

Improve prices ·
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
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in North Korea vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within North Korea and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Diego or North Korea. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.