Busan vs Niigata - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Busan	Niigata
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1114	$1024
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2827	$2607
🏠 One person rent	$430	$414
🏘️ Family rent	$741	$695
🍽️ Food expenses	$443	$347
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$159
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2595	$1617
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	72	54
😀 Quality of life	92	74
🏙️ Population	3.45M	791K

The cost of living in Busan is 9% more expensive than in Niigata. Cities ranked 5007th and 5487th ($1114 vs $1024) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 361st in South Korea and Japan, respectively. Check South Korea vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.3 months in Busan compared to 1.6 months in Niigata. Busan ranked 3rd best city to live in South Korea vs Niigata ranked 214th in Japan, while ranked 121st and 2415th 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 Niigata

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

	Busan	Niigata
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.89	$5.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.2	$22.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.33	$4.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.24	$3.67
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$3.13
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.65	$1.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$478	$301
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$269	$242
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$873	$538
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$493	$444
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.3	$130
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$203
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$30.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.2%	1.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8921	$2772
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7114	$2779
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.03	$1.39
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.9	$52.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.6	$28.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.09
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.97	$1.25
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$0.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.07
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$7.85
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.37	$6.08
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.1	$19.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.87	$3.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.57	$2.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$2.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.64	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$1.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.81	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$6.35
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.94	$1.98
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.07	$3.64
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.27	$21
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.7	$1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$0.74
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.27	$1.3
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.6	$48.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.72	$12.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$39.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$24.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$83.9	$38.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$45.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$465	$65.8
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15370	$16483

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 Niigata

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Agano	$984
26 km or 16 mi	Shibata	$999
28 km or 17 mi	Kamo	$1011
28 km or 18 mi	Tsubame	$1016
32 km or 20 mi	Sanjo	$1024
33 km or 21 mi	Gosen	$1031
37 km or 23 mi	Tainai	$1015
44 km or 27 mi	Mitsuke	$1056
52 km or 32 mi	Murakami	$1023
57 km or 35 mi	Nagaoka	$1099
60 km or 37 mi	Sado	$1037
70 km or 43 mi	Ojiya	$1072
74 km or 46 mi	Kashiwazaki	$1060
76 km or 47 mi	Uonuma	$1083
79 km or 49 mi	Kitakata	$1018
91 km or 56 mi	Nagai	$975
91 km or 56 mi	Tokamachi	$1085
91 km or 57 mi	Aizuwakamatsu	$1031
95 km or 59 mi	Yonezawa	$968
95 km or 59 mi	Minamiuonuma	$1100
99 km or 61 mi	Nan'yo	$961
102 km or 63 mi	Takahata	$954
111 km or 69 mi	Joetsu	$1058
111 km or 69 mi	Kaminoyama	$941
113 km or 70 mi	Tsuruoka	$1022
119 km or 74 mi	Yamagata	$948
120 km or 75 mi	Sagae	$958
120 km or 75 mi	Myoko	$1035
124 km or 77 mi	Koriyama	$1058
127 km or 79 mi	Fukushima	$942
127 km or 79 mi	Tendo	$948
128 km or 79 mi	Motomiya	$983
128 km or 80 mi	Nihonmatsu	$961
128 km or 80 mi	Shonai	$1035
131 km or 81 mi	Sakata	$1041
132 km or 82 mi	Higashine	$958
134 km or 83 mi	Murayama	$969
134 km or 84 mi	Date	$926
136 km or 84 mi	Shirakawa	$1045
137 km or 85 mi	Sukagawa	$1032