Gwangju vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gwangju	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1081	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2620	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$462	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$793	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$422	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$114	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2442	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	58	82
😀 Quality of life	87	90
🏙️ Population	1.49M	468K

The cost of living in Gwangju is 54% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 5038th and 1213th ($1081 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 26th and 1060th 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 Gwangju compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Gwangju ranked 7th best city to live in South Korea vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 363rd and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Gwangju vs Raleigh

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

	Gwangju	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.64	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$35.2	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.63	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$3.46	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.32	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$390	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$307	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$709	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$560	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$183	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.6	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.94%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7419	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4877	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.2	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.55	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.27	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.52	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.38	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.11	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.79	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.52	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.14	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.13	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.5	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.24	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.39	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.4	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.33	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.8	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.38	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.8	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$61.1	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$253	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10915	$24117

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766