Cost of living comparison

Ohio, USA

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Ohio Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 24.3% cheaper than Ohio.

Restaurants: pay 48.8% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 35.9% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 14.8% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 47.5% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 35.3% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.5% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 15.2% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Ohio Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.8% less for restaurants

	Ohio	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.46	$7.06 ₩9,422	-57.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.26	$6.17 ₩8,230	-39.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.29	$1.53 ₩2,039	-33.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.77	$0.88 ₩1,181	-50.0%
Average			-48.8%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.9% more for groceries

	Ohio	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.88	$3.04 ₩4,055	+5.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80	$6.12 ₩8,174	+5.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.15	$8.23 ₩10,982	+161.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63	$2.94 ₩3,923	-19.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.15	$4.11 ₩5,484	-20.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.13	$4.00 ₩5,342	+87.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66	$1.55 ₩2,069	+136.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.12	$3.00 ₩4,000	+41.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.00	$2.63 ₩3,513	+31.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.15	$2.03 ₩2,715	+77.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19	$1.26 ₩1,685	+5.7%
Average			+35.9%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.8% less for transportation

	Ohio	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.77	$5.01 ₩6,685	+32.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$73.85	$46.10 ₩61,538	-37.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,980.09	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-21.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52	$8.59 ₩11,470	-51.0%
Average			-14.8%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.5% less for housing

	Ohio	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.71	$24.34 ₩32,490	-61.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,095.29	$561.73 ₩750K	-48.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$897.28	$387.83 ₩518K	-56.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$148.41	$153.72 ₩205K	+3.6%
Average			-47.5%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 35.3% less for childcare

	Ohio	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,296.41	$545.93 ₩729K	-57.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,315.71	$20,214.53 ₩27M	-0.5%
Average			-35.3%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Ohio	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.06	$3.30 ₩4,403	-34.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.90	$3.66 ₩4,888	-25.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.71	$3.35 ₩4,467	-65.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.93	$57.32 ₩76,507	+59.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.79	$11.28 ₩15,062	-4.3%
Average			-13.5%

Ohio vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.2% more for clothing

	Ohio	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.76	$67.53 ₩90,139	+35.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.91	$53.43 ₩71,316	+30.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.91	$78.10 ₩104K	-4.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.84	$102.84 ₩137K	+4.0%
Average			+15.2%

Ohio 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Ohio vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Ohio is around the same size as South Korea.

Moving from Ohio to South Korea · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Columbus vs Seoul

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