Cost of living comparison

compared to

Honolulu vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Honolulu is 2.4 times more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Honolulu
Groceries: pay 82.4% more in Honolulu
Transportation: pay 75.5% more in Honolulu
Housing: pay 3.6 times more in Honolulu
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Honolulu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in Honolulu
Clothing: pay 15.3% more in Honolulu

The cost of housing, restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation in Honolulu are more expensive than in South Korea. Notably, housing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Honolulu.

Honolulu vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	South Korea	Honolulu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.72 ₩9,907	$23.50	+249.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ₩8,102	$15.00	+172.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 ₩2,161	$3.63	+147.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 ₩1,216	$2.72	+230.1%
Average			+200.0%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 82.4% more for groceries

	South Korea	Honolulu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.87 ₩4,235	$6.58	+128.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.63 ₩8,290	$15.27	+171.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 ₩11,311	$7.79	+1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.84 ₩4,180	$7.51	+164.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.34 ₩4,917	$9.58	+187.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.24 ₩4,768	$3.43	+6.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 ₩2,045	$1.96	+41.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.80 ₩4,121	$2.72	-2.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.40 ₩3,543	$3.89	+61.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 ₩2,627	$2.75	+54.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 ₩1,775	$2.31	+92.1%
Average			+82.4%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.5% more for transportation

	South Korea	Honolulu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.40 ₩6,485	$4.68	+6.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.17 ₩69,524	$80.00	+69.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,440.41 ₩38,967,875	$35,265.95	+33.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.33 ₩12,280	$24.38	+192.6%
Average			+75.5%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6 times more for housing

	South Korea	Honolulu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.68 ₩31,958	$67.46	+211.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$473.91 ₩698,442	$2,197.86	+363.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$357.19 ₩526,420	$1,857.69	+420.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$132.53 ₩195,326	$200.52	+51.3%
Average			+261.6%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	South Korea	Honolulu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$378.52 ₩557,869	$1,633.33	+331.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,055.40 ₩22,188,655	$20,440.00	+35.8%
Average			+183.7%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Honolulu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 ₩4,595	$8.00	+156.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 ₩5,258	$6.46	+81.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 ₩4,693	$13.00	+308.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.86 ₩73,483	$55.37	+11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.12 ₩14,912	$18.00	+77.9%
Average			+127.0%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% more for clothing

	South Korea	Honolulu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.46 ₩97,948	$57.50	-13.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.68 ₩74,697	$55.83	+10.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.74 ₩107,204	$105.00	+44.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.23 ₩152,146	$124.17	+20.3%
Average			+15.3%

South Korea vs. Honolulu - 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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