Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Jose vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary
San Jose is 3.6 times more expensive than P'yongyang.
San Jose vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Jose instead of P'yongyang, you would:
pay 30.4% more for restaurants
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$4.81
KPW4,327
|
$12.18
CRC5,543.94
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$21.26
KPW19,136
|
$11.62
CRC5,289.15
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.21
KPW1,985
|
$2.69
CRC1,222.04
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.28
KPW1,153
|
$1.89
CRC858.35
|
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants
pay 81.0% more for groceries
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.30
KPW2,071
|
$3.09
CRC1,407.40
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) | ?? |
$5.33
CRC2,425.82
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.55
KPW3,195
|
$8.95
CRC4,075.15
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.00
KPW1,798
|
$3.49
CRC1,590.09
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) | ?? |
$4.71
CRC2,145.07
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$2.32
CRC1,054.99
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.73
CRC330.88
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$2.15
CRC979.64
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.76
CRC799.36
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.73
CRC787.71
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.66
CRC755.96
|
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries
pay (unknown) more for transportation
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | ?? |
$5.80
CRC2,637.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$65.71
CRC29,903.89
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$21,990.00
CRC10M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$15.13
CRC6,887.86
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation
pay 9.4 times more for housing
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$59.17
CRC26,929.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$89.58
KPW80,621
|
$942.15
CRC429K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$89.58
KPW80,621
|
$758.77
CRC345K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
?? |
$72.33
CRC32,916.13
|
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$980.95
CRC446K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$17,102.76
CRC8M
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare
pay 2.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$13.44
KPW12,093
|
$3.29
CRC1,495.19
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.12
KPW1,008
|
$4.44
CRC2,020.72
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$5.91
CRC2,691.35
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$75.02
KPW67,520
|
$72.94
CRC33,194.61
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$7.67
CRC3,488.79
|
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
P'yongyang
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$71.32
CRC32,458.76
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$55.79
CRC25,389.75
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$128.46
CRC58,460.15
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$131.42
CRC59,807.77
|
P'yongyang vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing
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
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