Cost of living comparison
compared to
Seoul vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary
Seoul is 44.9% cheaper than Washington.
Seoul vs. Washington Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Seoul instead of Washington, you would:
pay 58.1% less for restaurants
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$28.00
|
$8.96
₩12,006
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$7.46
₩10,005
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.17
|
$1.58
₩2,121
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.64
|
$0.79
₩1,054
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants
pay 1.7% less for groceries
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.11
|
$3.10
₩4,152
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.53
|
$8.84
₩11,848
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.95
|
$7.79
₩10,447
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.64
|
$3.61
₩4,833
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.63
|
$4.74
₩6,355
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.17
|
$3.46
₩4,643
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.06
|
$1.57
₩2,100
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.27
|
$2.59
₩3,477
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.64
|
$2.83
₩3,798
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.29
|
$1.66
₩2,221
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.73
|
$1.16
₩1,548
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries
pay 23.8% less for transportation
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.19
|
$5.53
₩7,416
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$120.00
|
$46.28
₩62,031
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,375.00
|
$29,385.60
₩39M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.73
|
$8.51
₩11,406
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation
pay 64.1% less for housing
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.77
|
$20.82
₩27,906
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,717.33
|
$886.39
₩1M
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,228.89
|
$620.25
₩831K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$161.22
|
$162.69
₩218K
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of housing
pay 42.9% less for childcare
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,221.33
|
$1,927.59
₩3M
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$41,506.00
|
$22,602.27
₩30M
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare
pay 49.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$9.00
|
$3.73
₩5,002
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.15
|
$4.10
₩5,497
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.94
|
$3.36
₩4,502
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$114.30
|
$58.22
₩78,039
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$11.20
₩15,007
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 28.2% less for clothing
|
Washington
|
Seoul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$71.42
|
$57.88
₩77,585
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.11
|
$32.77
₩43,930
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.50
|
$69.99
₩93,816
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$125.16
|
$82.45
₩111K
|
|
Washington vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Washington vs. Seoul
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See the
cost of living in United States vs. South Korea.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and South Korea.
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