Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

United States

Salt Lake City vs. Seoul Cost of Living Summary

Salt Lake City is 29.9% more expensive than Seoul.

Restaurants: pay 69.5% more in Salt Lake City
Groceries: pay 28.2% less in Salt Lake City
Transportation: pay 24.9% more in Salt Lake City
Housing: pay 85.4% more in Salt Lake City
Childcare: pay 21.4% less in Salt Lake City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.8% more in Salt Lake City
Clothing: pay 37.1% more in Salt Lake City

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

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Salt Lake City vs. Seoul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Salt Lake City instead of Seoul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.5% more for restaurants

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 ₩11,943	$18.00	+101.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.46 ₩9,953	$10.00	+34.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.58 ₩2,110	$2.24	+41.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 ₩1,048	$1.69	+115.3%
Average			+69.5%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.2% less for groceries

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Bread 1 loaf	$3.10 ₩4,130	$3.87	+24.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.84 ₩11,786	$5.94	-32.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.79 ₩10,392	$3.44	-55.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61 ₩4,808	$4.17	+15.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.74 ₩6,322	$5.54	+16.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.46 ₩4,619	$1.85	-46.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.57 ₩2,089	$0.64	-59.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.59 ₩3,458	$1.66	-36.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83 ₩3,778	$1.79	-36.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 ₩2,209	$1.02	-38.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.16 ₩1,540	$1.12	-3.1%
Average			-28.2%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.9% more for transportation

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.53 ₩7,377	$4.33	-21.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.28 ₩61,706	$85.00	+83.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,385.60 ₩39M	$36,628.00	+24.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.51 ₩11,346	$20.90	+145.6%
Average			+24.9%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of transportation

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pay 85.4% more for housing

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.82 ₩27,759	$79.00	+279.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$886.39 ₩1M	$1,640.90	+85.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$620.25 ₩827K	$1,372.73	+121.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.69 ₩217K	$148.48	-8.7%
Average			+85.4%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of housing

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pay 21.4% less for childcare

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,927.59 ₩3M	$1,308.40	-32.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,602.27 ₩30M	$20,595.56	-8.9%
Average			-21.4%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.73 ₩4,976	$6.00	+60.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 ₩5,468	$5.03	+22.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.36 ₩4,479	$10.16	+202.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.22 ₩77,630	$34.55	-40.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 ₩14,929	$15.00	+34.0%
Average			+20.8%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.1% more for clothing

	Seoul	Salt Lake City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.88 ₩77,178	$71.00	+22.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.77 ₩43,700	$45.52	+38.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$69.99 ₩93,325	$110.87	+58.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.45 ₩110K	$108.07	+31.1%
Average			+37.1%

Seoul vs. Salt Lake City - 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

Compare further: Seoul vs. Salt Lake City

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Seoul is about 2.1 times bigger than Salt Lake City.

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