Cologne vs Gwangju - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cologne	Gwangju
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1968	$1081
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4619	$2620
🏠 One person rent	$1091	$462
🏘️ Family rent	$1830	$793
🍽️ Food expenses	$536	$422
🚐 Transport expenses	$196	$114
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3266	$2442
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	91	58
😀 Quality of life	96	87
🏙️ Population	1.09M	1.49M

The cost of living in Cologne is 82% more expensive than in Gwangju. Cities ranked 2104th and 5038th ($1968 vs $1081) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 26th in Germany and South Korea, respectively. Check Germany vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cologne compared to 2.3 months in Gwangju. Cologne ranked 1st best city to live in Germany vs Gwangju ranked 7th in South Korea, while ranked 23rd and 363rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cologne vs Gwangju 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/cologne/gwangju.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cologne vs Gwangju infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cologne/gwangju" target="_blank">Cologne vs Gwangju - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cologne vs Gwangju

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

	Cologne	Gwangju
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$6.64
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$35.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$5.63
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.26	$2.78
☕ Cappuccino	$4.06	$3.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.38	$1.32
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1103	$390
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$870	$307
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1997	$709
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1478	$560
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$119
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$183
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.8	$19.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.8%	3.94%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6855	$7419
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5848	$4877
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.93	$0.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$67.6	$63.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$7.55
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.03	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$2.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$2.64
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.16	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$6.98
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$6.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.3	$12.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$7.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$2.79
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$6.11
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$5.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$3.28
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.35
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$0.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$1.69
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.3	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$1.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.05	$3.14
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$8.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.45	$3.5
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$3.24
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.3	$45.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$8.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$34.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.9	$6.38
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$47.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$61.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$253
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19386	$10915

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1759
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$2037
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1745
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1744
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1741
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1740
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1726
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1750
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1699
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1740
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1711
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1702
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1727
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1736
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1708
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1695
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1770
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1694
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1678
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1716
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1642
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1747
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1957
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1674
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1691
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1654
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1630
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1645
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1650
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1666
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1659
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1608
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1661
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1611
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1674
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1650
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1613
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1662
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1689
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1979

Cities near Gwangju

Distance	City	Cost of living
24 km or 15 mi	Naju	$1001
45 km or 28 mi	Jeongeup	$981
50 km or 31 mi	Namwon	$980
57 km or 36 mi	Suncheon	$1016
64 km or 39 mi	Mokpo	$1005
71 km or 44 mi	Gimje	$982
76 km or 47 mi	Gwangyang	$991
76 km or 47 mi	Jeonju	$831
82 km or 51 mi	Yeosu	$994
86 km or 54 mi	Iksan	$998
92 km or 57 mi	Gunsan	$1020
106 km or 66 mi	Jinju	$1064
116 km or 72 mi	Nonsan	$1046
127 km or 79 mi	Gyeryong	$976
131 km or 81 mi	Sacheon	$984
132 km or 82 mi	Asan	$1050
133 km or 82 mi	Boryeong	$1085
138 km or 86 mi	Daejeon	$959
142 km or 88 mi	Tongyeong	$934
145 km or 90 mi	Gongju	$1063
148 km or 92 mi	Masan	$1008
150 km or 93 mi	Sejong	$1020
151 km or 94 mi	Gimcheon	$934
156 km or 97 mi	Geoje	$913
158 km or 98 mi	Changwon	$1084
170 km or 106 mi	Miryang	$1038
171 km or 106 mi	Daegu	$1062
171 km or 107 mi	Cheongju	$924
174 km or 108 mi	Gumi	$949
179 km or 111 mi	Sangju	$957
179 km or 111 mi	Gimhae	$975
180 km or 112 mi	Gyeongsan	$1001
184 km or 114 mi	Cheonan	$1153
184 km or 115 mi	Seosan	$1068
188 km or 117 mi	Jeju	$1069
193 km or 120 mi	Busan	$1108
194 km or 120 mi	Yangsan	$1039
194 km or 120 mi	Dangjin	$1059
196 km or 122 mi	Mungyeong	$973
203 km or 126 mi	Jeju Island	$1100