Cost of living comparison

South Korea

compared to

Iowa, USA

Iowa vs. South Korea Cost of Living Summary

Iowa is 28.0% more expensive than South Korea overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Iowa
Groceries: pay 28.5% less in Iowa
Transportation: pay 9.2% less in Iowa
Housing: pay 87.8% more in Iowa
Childcare: pay 37.8% more in Iowa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.5% more in Iowa
Clothing: pay 10.2% less in Iowa

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

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Iowa vs. South Korea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	South Korea	Iowa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.06 ₩9,413	$17.44	+147.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 ₩8,222	$10.71	+73.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 ₩2,037	$2.66	+74.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 ₩1,180	$1.93	+118.3%
Average			+108.3%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.5% less for groceries

	South Korea	Iowa
Bread 1 loaf	$3.04 ₩4,051	$2.86	-5.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.12 ₩8,166	$5.29	-13.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.23 ₩10,971	$3.19	-61.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.94 ₩3,919	$3.35	+13.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.11 ₩5,479	$4.87	+18.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$4.00 ₩5,336	$2.11	-47.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.55 ₩2,067	$0.65	-57.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.00 ₩3,996	$2.01	-32.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 ₩3,510	$1.93	-26.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.03 ₩2,713	$1.07	-47.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ₩1,683	$1.29	+2.1%
Average			-28.5%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.2% less for transportation

	South Korea	Iowa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 ₩6,678	$3.52	-29.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.10 ₩61,477	$34.83	-24.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,394.53 ₩38M	$32,592.26	+14.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.59 ₩11,459	$15.02	+74.8%
Average			-9.2%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.8% more for housing

	South Korea	Iowa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.34 ₩32,458	$67.97	+179.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$561.73 ₩749K	$1,095.70	+95.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.83 ₩517K	$867.32	+123.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.72 ₩205K	$143.75	-6.5%
Average			+87.8%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of housing

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pay 37.8% more for childcare

	South Korea	Iowa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$545.93 ₩728K	$1,080.37	+97.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$20,214.53 ₩27M	$19,409.87	-4.0%
Average			+37.8%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.5% more for entertainment and sports

	South Korea	Iowa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.30 ₩4,398	$4.61	+39.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.66 ₩4,884	$5.52	+50.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.35 ₩4,463	$9.16	+173.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.32 ₩76,432	$61.55	+7.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.28 ₩15,047	$13.85	+22.7%
Average			+37.5%

South Korea vs. Iowa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.2% less for clothing

	South Korea	Iowa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.53 ₩90,049	$51.95	-23.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.43 ₩71,245	$38.14	-28.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.10 ₩104K	$88.30	+13.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.84 ₩137K	$107.49	+4.5%
Average			-10.2%

South Korea vs. Iowa - 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: South Korea vs. Iowa

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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

South Korea is about 1.4 times smaller than Iowa.

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

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

City Size Comparison · See true size

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