Cost of Living in Seoul

"A single person estimated monthly costs are 1,432,775.68₩ without rent."

This is just nonsense. There is no way, it costs this much to live in Seoul. A rather reasonable number would be around 800,000 to 1,000,000KRW

Apartment prices in Seoul for the past four years
It went up very high
When purchasing an apartment in Seoul, the price per m² is about 40,000 dollars, and the center of Gangnam-gu is about 65,000 dollars per m²

I am a upper middle class in Seoul. And compare to Berlin and Sydney cost of living here is much higher especially fresh fruits and meat products. But it is quite safe city with low crime rate. And services are very fast. Free wifi is available virtually everywhere. If you leave a MacBook on a table in a Cafe nobody touches it. Women can stroll around safely midnight. In a nutshell it is convenient city if you have enough budget.

Say goodbye to fruits and vegetables and eggs then you are good to go.

Totally accurate. Been living in Gangnam for 4 years. Rent is dependent on your key money.

Yes Seoul is more expensive than other countries but you get what you pay for. Seoul is a very nice and developed city full of progression,a modern city.If you're looking for cities on a budget try Cambodia, Vietnam, or Bangkok.But none of those cities can compare with Seoul's modern and efficient transportation systems and only Japan comes close.

Everything is quite correct but apartment price.
It is increased a lot for last a year

Cost of living in seoul –

Minimum wage is about $8, 8 hours * 25 days (when you work for 5 days a week, you get paid for extra day)

$1,600 is the minimum wage per month

Private child care starts from 1800~ 3000 depending on the number of kids, and what nationality you are.

400 USD is not even close.

And preliminary school for expats start from 35,000 to 40,000 usd, equivalent to the tuition level in US.

Hi. Is this data still accurate? I am trying to check on the monthly expenses for a 3-month stay in Seoul next year for a quick study. Appreciate your help on the matter.Thank you.

for argument about salary.
if you are healthy and get a job at construction industry as a unskilled worker,
you can get a 220~260k won at a month. (26days/month)
and minimum wage is about 160k at a month. (5days/week) (in every industry)

Someone told me that average salary of management person coming out of SKKU is around 60000$ per month? is this true?

These comparions are so Western-centric they are basically worthless. For example, look at the groceries being compared:

- 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.

Are these numbers correct for rent? Seems very cheap!

skip this
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

# Loren Seoul will take a devastating blow to it's economy by late 2019.I've made my money and then some over the past 15 years.Before years end I'll sell my house and business and leave.The $1,500 per month number will apply then.

I am not promiting the city nor have any reason for it. I am just telling people that numbers are not exaggerated. We are talking about average here. Yes. You can merely make 1500 USD per month if you work as a foreign worker while those working in global corporations can eaily make 7000 to 8000 a month. It is tight for a large number of people. I know. But the average shown above seems just about right to me. The gap between the rich and the poor is a social problem here abd whoever expecting to make money as a foreigner should not come here. 2500 is the average of one guy with 10,000 and other seven with 1,400.

Whoever clamming the salary is exaggerated don't know much of this city. Maybe people around your English institutes get paid not as much because they are one of low paied jobs here. I have moved here from Hong Kong 12 years ago and work for a financial firm handling numbers so I think I know much more of this city when it comes to income. In fact, it is still common for people to report less of their income and I assume that actual income would be even higher. Remember, it is the 8th highest paid country in the world according to IMF's recent data.