New York City vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	New York City	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$4441	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$10033	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$2960	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$5380	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$886	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$364	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5544	$2911
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	95
🏙️ Population	8.8M	9.67M

The cost of living in New York City is 233% more expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 3rd and 4104th ($4441 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in the United States and South Korea, respectively. Check the United States vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in New York City compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. New York City ranked 2nd best city to live in the United States vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 22nd and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in New York City vs Seoul infographic

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Prices in New York City vs Seoul

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

	New York City	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$29.7	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$133	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.94	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$5.95	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.2	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3501	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2603	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4776	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5236	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$171	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.5	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.55%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$17935	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12929	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$132	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.5	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.04	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.95	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.54	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.6	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.05	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.84	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.72	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.41	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.89	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.1	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.89	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.44	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$6.94	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$71	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$20.1	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$173	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$36.1	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$67.3	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1784	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21465	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111

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