Busan vs Ulaanbaatar - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Busan	Ulaanbaatar
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1060	$906
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2838	$2335
🏠 One person rent	$390	$471
🏘️ Family rent	$797	$1016
🍽️ Food expenses	$436	$307
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$44.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2181	$407
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	72	43
😀 Quality of life	89	56
🏙️ Population	3.45M	1.4M

The cost of living in Busan is 17% more expensive than in Ulaanbaatar. Cities ranked 5092nd and 6004th ($1060 vs $906) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 1st in South Korea and Mongolia, respectively. Check South Korea vs Mongolia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Busan compared to 0.4 months in Ulaanbaatar. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs Ulaanbaatar ranked 1st in Mongolia, while ranked 201st and 5778th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Busan vs Ulaanbaatar infographic

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Prices in Busan vs Ulaanbaatar

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

	Busan	Ulaanbaatar
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.69	$4.74
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28	$29.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$5.27
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.28	$1.62
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$2.59
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$392	$503
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$248	$385
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$1382
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$584	$815
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.3	$45.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$70.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.7	$17.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7716	$1765
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7051	$978
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.2	$8.74
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.2	$5.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.05	$1.45
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.95	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.1	$2.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$13.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$4.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.4	$5.77
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$3.44
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$2.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$4.43
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$0.71
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$0.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$9.15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$1.14
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.11	$1.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.4	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$3.74
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.58	$2.59
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$1.89
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.7	$63.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$20
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.84	$4.81
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$65.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$90.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$175
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13395	$6410

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$959
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1027
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1075
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$998
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$887
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1030
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1059
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$924
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$983
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$901
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$991
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1388
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1054
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$995
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1115
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$903
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$988
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$1002
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$989
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$992
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$977
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1059
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$987
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$902
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$880
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$1000
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$979
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$854
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1101
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$964
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$891
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$916
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$916
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$913
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$921
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$919
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$910
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$895
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$992
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$970

Cities near Ulaanbaatar

Distance	City	Cost of living
268 km or 167 mi	Bulgan	$879
437 km or 272 mi	Ulan-Ude	$616
520 km or 323 mi	Irkutsk	$770
559 km or 347 mi	Angarsk	$624
656 km or 408 mi	Chita	$651
794 km or 493 mi	Manzhouli	$612
798 km or 496 mi	Bayannur	$979
835 km or 519 mi	Xilinhot	$660
840 km or 522 mi	Baotou	$648
875 km or 544 mi	Hohhot	$563
914 km or 568 mi	Ulanqab	$620
917 km or 570 mi	Wuhai	$1339
934 km or 581 mi	Ordos	$651
954 km or 593 mi	Hulunbuir	$639
969 km or 602 mi	Fengzhen	$616
985 km or 612 mi	Bratsk	$470
992 km or 616 mi	Shizuishan	$781
1008 km or 626 mi	Datong	$703
1012 km or 629 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
1025 km or 637 mi	Yakeshi	$603
1028 km or 639 mi	Huairen	$624
1050 km or 652 mi	Shenmu	$588
1051 km or 653 mi	Yinchuan	$549
1051 km or 653 mi	Shuozhou	$600
1094 km or 680 mi	Lingwu	$566
1103 km or 685 mi	Qingtongxia	$563
1106 km or 687 mi	Wuzhong	$592
1113 km or 692 mi	Jinchang	$469
1124 km or 698 mi	Yuanping	$550
1126 km or 700 mi	Zhangye	$469
1131 km or 703 mi	Chifeng	$623
1131 km or 703 mi	Jiuquan	$458
1156 km or 718 mi	Xinzhou	$555
1164 km or 723 mi	Wuwei	$403
1165 km or 724 mi	Chengde	$711
1166 km or 724 mi	Ulanhot	$532
1166 km or 724 mi	Zhongwei	$586
1169 km or 726 mi	Beijing	$1016
1169 km or 727 mi	Yumen	$426
1176 km or 731 mi	Zalantun	$598