Cost of living comparison

Tennessee, USA

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Tennessee Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 31.3% cheaper than Tennessee.

Restaurants: pay 53.4% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 26.0% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 2.0% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 59.2% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 32.1% less in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.6% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 5.1% more in South Korea

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

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South Korea vs. Tennessee Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.4% less for restaurants

	Tennessee	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.27	$7.06 ₩9,413	-61.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.66	$6.17 ₩8,222	-42.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.65	$1.53 ₩2,037	-42.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14	$0.88 ₩1,180	-58.6%
Average			-53.4%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.0% more for groceries

	Tennessee	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.26	$3.04 ₩4,051	-6.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.27	$6.12 ₩8,166	-2.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.85	$8.23 ₩10,971	+113.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.00	$2.94 ₩3,919	-26.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.35	$4.11 ₩5,479	-23.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.85	$4.00 ₩5,336	+40.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72	$1.55 ₩2,067	+114.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64	$3.00 ₩3,996	+83.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.94	$2.63 ₩3,510	+35.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09	$2.03 ₩2,713	+86.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.52	$1.26 ₩1,683	-16.7%
Average			+26.0%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0% more for transportation

	Tennessee	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.39	$5.01 ₩6,678	+47.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$43.71	$46.10 ₩61,477	+5.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,239.91	$28,394.53 ₩38M	-19.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.38	$8.59 ₩11,459	-47.5%
Average			+2.0%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.2% less for housing

	Tennessee	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$70.05	$24.34 ₩32,458	-65.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,477.03	$561.73 ₩749K	-62.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,212.76	$387.83 ₩517K	-68.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.79	$153.72 ₩205K
Average			-59.2%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 32.1% less for childcare

	Tennessee	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,074.20	$545.93 ₩728K	-49.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,313.44	$20,214.53 ₩27M	-9.4%
Average			-32.1%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Tennessee	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.46	$3.30 ₩4,398	-39.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.44	$3.66 ₩4,884	-32.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.64	$3.35 ₩4,463	-65.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.08	$57.32 ₩76,432	+46.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.96	$11.28 ₩15,047	-19.2%
Average			-21.6%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.1% more for clothing

	Tennessee	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.21	$67.53 ₩90,049	+31.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.52	$53.43 ₩71,245	+28.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.27	$78.10 ₩104K	-15.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.26	$102.84 ₩137K	-15.2%
Average			+5.1%

Tennessee vs. South Korea - 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: Tennessee vs. South Korea

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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

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City Size Comparison · See true size

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