Busan vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Busan	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1084	$3420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2785	$7800
🏠 One person rent	$427	$2177
🏘️ Family rent	$736	$3742
🍽️ Food expenses	$428	$761
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$263
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2425	$4482
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	72	99
😀 Quality of life	91	93
🏙️ Population	3.45M	3.9M

The cost of living in Busan is 68% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5063rd and 62nd ($1084 vs $3420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 47th in South Korea and the United States, respectively. Check South Korea vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.2 months in Busan compared to 1.3 months in Los Angeles. Busan ranked 3rd best city to live in South Korea vs Los Angeles ranked 8th in the United States, while ranked 120th and 50th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Busan vs Los Angeles

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

	Busan	Los Angeles
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.61	$22.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$33	$104
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.41	$14.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$8.92
☕ Cappuccino	$3.37	$6.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.62	$3.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$489	$2356
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$270	$1856
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$882	$4109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$498	$3268
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$236
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.8	$69.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	6.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9604	$8186
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7017	$7185
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.99	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$46.9	$95.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.86	$19.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.11	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.91	$1.32
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.45	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.41	$4.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.48	$6.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.89	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22.1	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.76	$5.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.1	$5.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.74	$5.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$2.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$2.91
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.81	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.2	$15.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.93	$2.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.91	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.99	$9.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.47	$6.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.47	$5.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.2	$2.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$46.7	$70.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.35	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.9	$164
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.04	$29.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.6	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$74.9	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$529	$1748
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17592	$23685

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$1014
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1044
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1013
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$992
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$946
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1023
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$957
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$982
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$974
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$899
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$943
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$924
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1051
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$992
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$964
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$896
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$989
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$955
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$954
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$914
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$887
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$973
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$930
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$892
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$883
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$919
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$931
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$771
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$957
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$961
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$885
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$914
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$907
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$928
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$901
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$898
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$890
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$881
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$905
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$922

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000