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Cost of Living in Seoul
Summary about cost of living in Seoul:
- Four-person family monthly costs: 3,888.45$ (4,565,349.40₩) without rent (using our estimator).
- A single person monthly costs: 1,065.92$ (1,251,469.51₩) without rent.
- Cost of living rank 22th out of 356 cities in the world.
- Seoul has a cost of living index of 85.78.
| Restaurants | [ Edit ] | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 6.81 $ | |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 38.33 $ | |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 5.54 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) | 3.41 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 5.11 $ | |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 4.10 $ | |
| Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) | 1.45 $ | |
| Water (12 oz small bottle) | 0.81 $ | |
| Markets | [ Edit ] | |
| Milk (regular), (1 gallon) | 8.07 $ | |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) | 2.44 $ | |
| Rice (white), (1 lb) | 1.75 $ | |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | 2.95 $ | |
| Local Cheese (1 lb) | 8.75 $ | |
| Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1 lb) | 4.05 $ | |
| Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 14.68 $ | |
| Apples (1 lb) | 3.07 $ | |
| Banana (1 lb) | 1.72 $ | |
| Oranges (1 lb) | 2.85 $ | |
| Tomato (1 lb) | 2.90 $ | |
| Potato (1 lb) | 1.89 $ | |
| Onion (1 lb) | 1.41 $ | |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 2.39 $ | |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 1.23 $ | |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 17.03 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 2.10 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 2.49 $ | |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 3.83 $ | |
| Transportation | [ Edit ] | |
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 1.06 $ | |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 46.85 $ | |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 3.24 $ | |
| Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) | 1.07 $ | |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 10.22 $ | |
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | 4.95 $ | |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 27,255.38 $ | |
| Toyota Corolla 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 23,627.01 $ | |
| Utilities (Monthly) | [ Edit ] | |
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment | 163.86 $ | |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 0.12 $ | |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 22.00 $ | |
| Sports And Leisure | [ Edit ] | |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 60.50 $ | |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 20.56 $ | |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 9.37 $ | |
| Childcare | [ Edit ] | |
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 353.03 $ | |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 16,719.16 $ | |
| Clothing And Shoes | [ Edit ] | |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 64.53 $ | |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) | 47.47 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 85.86 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 131.75 $ | |
| Rent Per Month | [ Edit ] | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 701.10 $ | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 479.81 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 1,933.91 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 1,112.32 $ | |
| Buy Apartment Price | [ Edit ] | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 1,127.61 $ | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 547.67 $ | |
| Salaries And Financing | [ Edit ] | |
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 2,274.95 $ | |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | 3.58 |
Prices in Seoul
These data are based on 2181 entries in the past 18 months from 307 different contributors.
Last update: October 2019
Last update: October 2019
This page in other languages:
DeutschLebenshaltungskosten in Seoul
PortuguêsCusto de Vida em Seul
ItalianoCosto della Vita a Seul
FrançaisCoût de la Vie à Séoul
EspañolCosto de Vida en Seúl
77 Comments so far
- Milk
- White Bread
- Cheese
- Tomatos
- Bananas
- Beef
Sound like a typical Korean diet to you? Me neither... of course groceries for eating a Western diet will be more expensive in EAST ASIA.
And ₩2,388 for .5L of domestic beer at the grocery store? More like 1.5L for domestic at near that price.
Also, Seoul has the most expensive 1kg of Potatoes... in the world. Apparently. Seems like a dubious claim to me.
its trap
to get the salary it described you might work 13hours every day and of course have to go work saturday and sunday.
and you will be very sick and all the money goes to hospital
From the annual report for yearly income, Korean earn about 3.2k( 30k usd) krw and 2.5k (22k usd).
Monthly income should around 2m krw.
The truth is the half of people cannot make even that money, means less than 2m krw.
The workers who work for global big companies or some specialists make twice or bigger money of that( 4m ~ 10m krw / 3.7k ~ 8k ) .
Why this happening is that Korea is one of the highly exports nations.
Absorb global money => strong KRW => increases price index => demands of wage enlargement =>
global company press down products costs => sub contractors hold increasing wage but big companies.
If you guys get a job at one of the global big companies, you can afford a pretty nice life.
The Salary data in Numeo is not high.
if you work for well-known large companies or good one, your salary level is way higher.
It is a capitalistic country. so if you are capable or young, you can have more opportunities.
If you want to add an Asian experience in your resume, Seoul is one of the best city in Asia.
People here don't make that money at all.
Only IT workers, most people only make half.
I lived in Seoul for 30 years. My English is bad. Sorry.
The problem in Korea is the house price.
It starts at $ 450. It is a very small room.
And the deposit starts at $ 3,000~5,000
But the price of eating out is not bad.
The price is $ 7 or $ 10.
If you are frugal and do not live luxuriously.
You can live for even $ 800 a month. (Excluding deposit rental fee)
But your life will be little pain.
and no have fun.
I'm 18/5 years old and would probably move to S. Korea next year. I live in Iran and I'm really trying to get a scholarship which I think it would be the one that only pays for tuition fee of the university (wanna study music). With this, how much do I need to have for just having a place for sleep and a single meal everyday? (Yes just a place for sleeping like a 3×1 room will work for me/ I don't have problems with walking long distances and wearing the same cloth for a whole year, so pathetic HAHA) and how hard I can find a job that actually provides me with the money needed and a little bit more for saving?(i gave it a second thought. Is their anyone who will let me stay in the work place for the nights? Or we just see it in k-drama?)
Oh I forgot! I can speak Persian and Arabic too. Can I work as a traslator or A language teacher (persian and english)?
My Email is tiktaak13@gmail.com
thank you!
Most absurd thing I see is about the examples they used for the comparison of price of cars: VW Golf and Toyota Corolla. Both are considered "upscale" in Korea since they are priced higher than most domestic brand vehicles like Hyundai's or KIA's. Korea tax heavily for the import vehicles in order to protect their domestic brands' market, resulting in ridiculous prices for the most cars that are considered basic in other countries. Given that Korean domestic car manufacturer's known practice of cutting corners in their domestic products (yes, they do make it better for the export products, and it's always been a hot subject to be discussed in car forums in Korea), these import brands are considered more reliable and upscale. This result in pretty interesting vehicle lineups for the import brands. They really go for the upscale image for their brands as import manufacturers, ditch their most basic cars (they won't even sell very well anyways since Koreans don't like to have compacts/hatchbacks due to the pervasive assumption of bigger cars being safer in accidents, and bigger car having more "road authority") and make their lineup starting from mid-sized sedan and compact SUVs, priced almost x1.5 compared to their counterparts in North America. You'll see something like meticulously maintained Honda mid 2000's CR-Vs in Korea, while in the city I'm currently at, they're nothing more than 10-year beaters that are starting to show their age in paint bubbles or rusted out wheel wells. If you want to have a car in Korea, be prepared to buy either Hyundai or Kia, or Chevrolet (due to Korea-US free trades agreement, they are rather affordable there) made sub-par than their NA counterparts, or to pay whopping x2 price for the most basic import cars you'd usually see in any NA cities. Most of Korean domestic vehicles' price start at about the same as any other entry cars in NA market.
On a similar note, don't expect to buy any import goods for a reasonable price there... you'd better love Korean domestic products (which have gotten quite competitive in recent years, I gotta say) or you'll be paying above average for your groceries.
Next being the most important subject, housing. Rent per month for 1BR here seems about right, but for 3BRs in Korea, you'd almost never go for monthly rent. There is a form of leasing an apartment which you'd make a deposit for about its half to about 75% of its market value to the owner, called "전세" (pronounced "Jeon-seh"), that you just forget about the monthly rent and get back that deposit when you move out. These are becoming the norm of getting a dwelling for newer families in Seoul. Also in relation to the rents, while it looks cheaper to rent a place in Korean in comparison to other big NA cities, the minimum wage in Korea, which is not listed here, is still at about 7 USD. If you'd be working a minimum wage job in Korea, you'd be working about the same hours to earn yourself a living as you would in any other big NA cities.
Meanwhile, some stuffs like fast internet, cigarettes, eating out, fashionable clothing and public transports, are much more affordable than where I'm currently living at. If you're dependent on any of those, you'd be enjoying your life there. Great thing about Korea is that there is abundance of cheaply priced eateries which are already so much better in comparison to similarly priced ones in NA (in relation to the different minimum wages). You'd be hanging out with your friends a lot, which is never a bad thing, especially as an immigrant or a foreign worker. Also for the internet, I'd get 10x speed for the half price in Korea in comparison to what I'm paying for my plan in my current city. You'd be spoiled if you frequent video streaming services or downloading games on Steam.
The other things that I didn't mention are quite well addressed in Megustastu's comment down there. I might have dropped out a few things that are also equally important as those stated above... but I'm too drunk right now to go over my rant checking everything. Let me know if there's anything that you'd like to know. I might check back later sometime.
These being said, as a Korean who lived there for 25 years and moved over to somewhere in NA few years back, I really do miss my country. Not a day goes by nowadays without me pondering about the idea of giving up and going back. I miss my friends there, and the ability to speak to people without checking my grammar, pronunciation and intonations in this foreign language I speak. But then, I like being able to drive my convertible breathing clean air (yeah, being able to breath clean air is also a thing in NA) which never would have been possible if I had stayed in Korea. I also like the selection of great domestic craft beer which is priced at about 2.5 USD per 350ml bottle over here. Something I'd never get in Korea.
From Pheonix
Actually im living in morocco , and im thinking to move to korea , but i'm still in need of more information about life there , if someome can mail me to give me more infos ill be thankful
ps: if someone needs infos about living in morocco i'm here this is my mail "akram.slayko@gmail.com
First, I saw Paris page, it is so gloomy.
You can ask anything about seoul.. maybe I can answer it.
Cost of living too high, not a place to live.
If anyone is planning to get a job here you should get paid at least KRW 30,000,000 a year as an entry level position to have a minimum life standard (housing costs not included).
Overtime work is (literally) endless in some jobs, so take that into account, because it could ruin your health and life condition.
* 1000 krw = 1 usd for convenience
(Currently 1 usd = 1058 krw)
Many people ask 'how much money is enough to live on avg in seoul'. For that, I think you need to know 'how much is minimal fee'.
I defined 'minimal' includes 2~3 meals/day, basic cellphone fee, transport fee. In that case, it only costs around 450 usd.
(Cellphone 30 usd, transport 1.25 usd * 20 = 25 usd
6 usd * 2.3 meals/day * 30 = 400 usd)
We also need to consider rental fee. If you live alone, you can get a small room(including small kitchen & toilet - usually 13~19m^2) with 400~600 usd per month. Of course, there is a deposit fee, usually starts from 5000 usd. One of past comment is explained well.
If you need further information about living in Seoul or near, you can mail me. But I only can give you a infos from native Korean's view.
If you want some life information of Korea city, send email to me.
If you're coming from countries like the US, UK, Europe, cost of living should be similar.
Korea is beauty place to have a good life if you have money and education. if not, then it can be very harsh to live there.
The prices here on numbeo are quite accurate but make sure before come to Seoul, to have a enough (or little bit more money) for what you want to do.
But, two things are very various depend on the situation.
1. Monthly Salary : In small, medium companies, office workers' annual salary starts around USD20,000(Highschool degree). But in big companies like Samsung, LG, etc. the salary would start around USD35,000 or more(Bac degree). This is based on new employees.
2. Rent : This is very uneven. Usually we rent flat/studio/apartment with deposit and rent.
Deposit is the money you give the landlord in case of breaking facilities in the house or delayed rent. They will deduct the amount when you move out. This starts from USD4,500 ~ 265,000. Of course there are contracts without deposit but I guess this is hard to find and may apply high rent. Also you can adjust the rent with more or less deposit. With more deposit, less rent you pay.
Here you can check the lists of rents. These are the most famous house rental website. But they only offer Korean language.
https://www.zigbang.com/
https://www.dabangapp.com/
Below are supermarket chains websites. You can order stuff from those websites and they deliver it to your home whenever the time you pick. You can see how much actual stuff cost in Korea.
http://www.homeplus.co.kr/
http://emart.ssg.com/
http://www.lottemart.com/
And Korean people living in big cities kinda speak English. Not much hard to find someone speak English. Most of young people understand what you are saying but they just don't know how to explain. lol
How much is the average earnings of a manager in Seoul?
Fast reply please... thanks.
Can also email to : shirleygan77@yahoo.com
We need a general/average price p/year for housing and study + basic item expenses so we can start saving
if you currently live in korea and can tell me the basic price of housing, ect. p/year for 4 people that would be a great help!!
Email: mathchick48@gmail.com
thankyou!!
Housing will be covered by work so trying to work out if living here is possible based on food expenses.
Thanks for any answers in advance!
It is vital for me to research where to go to because need to visit South Korea very soon.
I'd also like many pen pals.
Thanks
If someone has a house in Seoul and monthly stipend of 1.5 million won, can two people manage an average life ??? Without rental prices how much does it cost for each person to live in Seoul?//
They only give me 1300 USD/ month, and it's about the whole rental prices.
I would say it's hard to live in South Korea.
A part time job working at the grocery store pays about $1,000 per month.
Salary here is not like that, probably just half.
Just about 1300 USD/ month
Those prices shown above are the lowest or most cheap prices you can get with.
+20~30% or higher for CBD area.
Salary will be your major problem that you will faced.
Half the price, that's what can get.
Not a joke.
Some young people just get half.
And the office culture in S.Korea is goddam sick.
As someone who has lived in Seoul for 13 years, I can say with confidence that the situation looks more like as I have described below:
Correct prices are:
Domestic beer by bottle (in a convenience store): 3,000 won, (in a restaurant/bar): 5-6,000won
Imported beer by bottle (in a convenience store): 4,500 won, (in a restaurant/bar): 8-12,000won
Milk (quality milk--not the cheap, make-you-sick-stuff, per liter): 3,600 won, (per gallon, if such a thing existed here): 15,000won
Chicken breast (per 500 grams): 10,000won (or 9,000 won/per pound)
Utilities (electric/gas--water, garbage disposal NOT included), 915 square feet/85 m2 apartment: spring/fall: 90,000won, winter/summer: 410,000won, annual average: 250,000won/month
Average monthly disposable salary is also, on average, around 2,000,000won/month (after tax deductions).
This does not take into consideration deductions for pension plans and the national health insurance plan. When you factor those deductions, the average South Korean is probably looking at 1,700,00won/month in disposable income.--far less than the 2,670,000won stated above (which would be above the monthly per capita GDP for 2015!).
South Korea is a tough place to cut it if you are earning less than 4,000,000won/month. There is a reason (beyond culture) why adult children continue to live with their parents. To be "comfortable" as a single person (not a family or couple), you really need to be making at least 6,000,000won/month. If you are looking to come here and have been offered a job/position that will pay you less than 4,000,000won/month (especially so if your housing isn't subsidized by your employer), you really need to rethink your options. If you are earning 6,000,000won/month or more, you will be fine.
Yes, it should be enough :) But don't expect to live too luxuriously. But it should be enough to get by and by yourself stuff from time to time.
i think i am getting the same offer as u get , But i am not sure [ or waiting any feedback ] to know more about all those fees as electrical ,gas, water,internet bills ...
i think the transportation will be low as i will stay on the university BUT the website mentioned something about Residing Period will be 6 months .
so i am still confused ...
hope to hear form u if u know any details
Br
i am intending to visit university in Seoul for 6 months research visit for my phd research work. my stipend is $800 per month. i don't drink or smoke. would 800 will be enough for me per month including all utilities , living, house rent etc?
Well that's the tricky part. If I assume that I will workout and eat accordingly:
$70 gym membership, $60 chicken, $55 transportation, $45 for rice, $20 water. SUM = $250
looks like unsustainable. So lets forget working out and stuff:
$55 trans., $20 water, $40 rice, $10 phone, $25 candy n stuff, $100 going out 4 times a month. SUM = $250 seems legit. Maybe that $100 can be spent for grocery instead of enjoying a few weekend. I hope there are places which hires foreign students as part-timers :/