Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 12.8% more expensive than Northern Mariana Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 36.3% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 2.5% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 36.5% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 39.1% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.7% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 60.0% more in South Korea

The cost of childcare, clothing, and groceries in South Korea are more expensive than in Northern Mariana Islands. Expenses including housing, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in South Korea. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in South Korea.

South Korea vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Northern Mariana Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.3% less for restaurants

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.50	$6.72 ₩9,865	-41.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$5.50 ₩8,068	-54.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$1.47 ₩2,152	-12.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.32	$0.82 ₩1,211	-37.4%
Average			-36.3%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5% more for groceries

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.33	$2.87 ₩4,217	-13.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$5.63 ₩8,255
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.44	$7.67 ₩11,264	-9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.33	$2.84 ₩4,162	-55.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.00	$3.34 ₩4,896	-44.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.99	$3.24 ₩4,748	+8.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00	$1.39 ₩2,037	+38.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.99	$2.80 ₩4,104	-6.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$2.40 ₩3,528
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95	$1.78 ₩2,616	+88.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03	$1.20 ₩1,767	+16.4%
Average			+2.5%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.5% less for transportation

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49	$4.40 ₩6,458	-19.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$47.17 ₩69,233
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,999.00	$26,440.41 ₩38,804,738	-28.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.41	$8.33 ₩12,228	-61.1%
Average			-36.5%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.1% less for housing

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$21.68 ₩31,824	-63.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$625.00	$473.91 ₩695,518	-24.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$450.00	$357.19 ₩524,216	-20.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$254.42	$132.53 ₩194,509	-47.9%
Average			-39.1%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$378.52 ₩555,533
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00	$15,055.40 ₩22,095,763	+150.9%
Average			+150.9%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$3.12 ₩4,576	-48.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12	$3.57 ₩5,236	-30.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.18 ₩4,673
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.50	$49.86 ₩73,176	+5.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00	$10.12 ₩14,850	+26.5%
Average			-11.7%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 60.0% more for clothing

	Northern Mariana Islands	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$30.00	$66.46 ₩97,538	+121.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$50.68 ₩74,384	+26.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.00	$72.74 ₩106,755	+3.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.00	$103.23 ₩151,509	+87.7%
Average			+60.0%

Northern Mariana Islands 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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