Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 21.7% more expensive than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 19.3% more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 47.5% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 2.9% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 5.2% less in Seoul
Childcare: pay 7.5 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 63.3% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 29.3% less in Seoul

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Seoul are more expensive than in San Salvador. Expenses including clothing and housing are lower in Seoul. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Seoul.

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Seoul vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Seoul instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.3% more for restaurants

	San Salvador	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC58.99	$8.96 ₩11,943	+32.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.17	$7.46 ₩9,953	+6.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.00	$1.58 ₩2,110	+38.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.28	$0.79 ₩1,048	-5.7%
Average			+19.3%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.5% more for groceries

	San Salvador	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.91	$3.10 ₩4,130	+8.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.68	$8.84 ₩11,786	+129.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.74	$7.79 ₩10,392	+12.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.36	$3.61 ₩4,808	+19.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.62	$4.74 ₩6,322	+50.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.04	$3.46 ₩4,619	+51.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.53	$1.57 ₩2,089	+147.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.34	$2.59 ₩3,458	+119.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.66	$2.83 ₩3,778	+81.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.64	$1.66 ₩2,209	+24.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.03	$1.16 ₩1,540	-22.6%
Average			+47.5%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.9% more for transportation

	San Salvador	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.55	$5.53 ₩7,377	+16.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC327.71	$46.28 ₩61,706	+23.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC218K	$29,385.60 ₩39M	+17.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.17	$8.51 ₩11,346	-71.6%
Average			+2.9%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2% less for housing

	San Salvador	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.41	$20.82 ₩27,759	-51.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,856.30	$886.39 ₩1M	-1.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,729.04	$620.25 ₩827K	-19.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC868.25	$162.69 ₩217K	+63.8%
Average			-5.2%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 7.5 times more for childcare

	San Salvador	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,421.55	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+1085.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,248.16	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+378.9%
Average			+653.3%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 63.3% more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.48	$3.73 ₩4,976	+86.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC30.98	$4.10 ₩5,468	+15.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.96	$3.36 ₩4,479	-16.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.15	$58.22 ₩77,630	+84.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.70	$11.20 ₩14,929	+123.9%
Average			+63.3%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.3% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC586.82	$57.88 ₩77,178	-13.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC410.73	$32.77 ₩43,700	-30.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,034.12	$69.99 ₩93,325	-40.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,022.46	$82.45 ₩110K	-29.5%
Average			-29.3%

San Salvador vs. Seoul - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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