Birmingham vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Birmingham	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1951	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4641	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$1137	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$1834	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$481	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$175	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3011	$2911
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	96	100
😀 Quality of life	94	95
🏙️ Population	1.14M	9.67M

The cost of living in Birmingham is 46% more expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 1973rd and 4104th ($1951 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 86th and 3rd in the United Kingdom and South Korea, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Birmingham compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Birmingham ranked 4th best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 35th and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Birmingham vs Seoul infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/birmingham/seoul.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Birmingham vs Seoul infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/birmingham/seoul" target="_blank">Birmingham vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Birmingham vs Seoul

Prices for goods and services in Birmingham and Seoul are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Birmingham	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.87	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.15	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.15	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1083	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$872	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2013	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1380	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$187	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.8	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.86%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4882	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3808	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$78.1	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.51	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.02	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.49	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.12	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.2	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.4	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.99	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.44	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.6	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$113	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.4	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$82.3	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1512	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18058	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1819
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1824
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1766
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$1740
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1717
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1745
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1743
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1732
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1731
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1718
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1728
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1608
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1737
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1736
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1744
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1903
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1452
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$1679
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2009
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1798
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1663
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1569
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1750
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1633
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1450
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1600
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1805
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1727
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1759
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1693
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1591
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1739
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1790
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1686
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1623
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1814
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1820
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1748

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019