Busan vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Busan	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1114	$3378
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2827	$7707
🏠 One person rent	$430	$2168
🏘️ Family rent	$741	$3725
🍽️ Food expenses	$443	$743
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$257
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2595	$4258
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	72	99
😀 Quality of life	92	93
🏙️ Population	3.45M	3.9M

The cost of living in Busan is 67% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5007th and 72nd ($1114 vs $3378) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 52nd 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 2.3 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 121st and 55th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
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	$5.89	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.2	$91
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.33	$13.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.24	$8.85
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$6.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.65	$3.25
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$478	$2352
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$269	$1867
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$873	$4129
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$493	$3274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.3	$139
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$214
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$65.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.2%	6.86%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8921	$7811
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7114	$7110
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.03	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$94
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$18.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.31
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$4.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$4.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$7.67
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.37	$15.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.1	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.87	$5.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$2.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.57	$4.75
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$4.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.64	$2.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$2.78
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$3.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$3.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.27	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$7.78
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$5.45
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$2.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$77.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.72	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$144
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$32.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$83.9	$70.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$465	$1715
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15370	$28004

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	$946
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1005
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1032
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$994
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$961
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$991
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1020
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$981
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$993
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$945
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$976
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1012
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1111
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$1043
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$997
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$944
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$1030
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$996
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$1008
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$943
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$916
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1014
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$970
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$944
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$916
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$951
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$954
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$823
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1062
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$994
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$932
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$968
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$965
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$977
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$955
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$954
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$940
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$934
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$922
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$963

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2879
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2850
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2917
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2847
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2749
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2976
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2993
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2810
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3159
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2775
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3086
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2769
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2820
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3695
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3020
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2912
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2835
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2850
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3020
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3768
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2796
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3328
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2698
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2880
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3157
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3057
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2894
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2842
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2789
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2770
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3051
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2847
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3193
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3019
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2702
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2688
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3588
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2815
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3262
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2974