Medan vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medan	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$481	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1335	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$187	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$394	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$189	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.6	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$262	$2911
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	44	95
🏙️ Population	2.11M	9.67M

The cost of living in Medan is 64% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 8745th and 4104th ($481 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th and 3rd in Indonesia and South Korea, respectively. Check Indonesia vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medan compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Medan ranked 14th best city to live in Indonesia vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 6633rd and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Medan vs Seoul infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/medan/seoul.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Medan vs Seoul infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/medan/seoul" target="_blank">Medan vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Medan vs Seoul

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

	Medan	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.97	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.8	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.31	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.39	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$2.24	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$174	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$107	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$469	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$265	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.4	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.2	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.1	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.24%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1337	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$614	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.02	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.8	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.55	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.21	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.56	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.68	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.26	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.01	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.41	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.83	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.77	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.48	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.1	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.3	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10763	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019