Pyongyang vs Zhengzhou - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Pyongyang	Zhengzhou
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1675	$512
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4114	$1559
🏠 One person rent	$959	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$2118	$431
🍽️ Food expenses	$496	$185
🚐 Transport expenses	$168	$64.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$411	$680
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	19	78
😀 Quality of life	20	66
🏙️ Population	2.86M	12.6M

The cost of living in Pyongyang is 227% more expensive than in Zhengzhou. Cities ranked 2779th and 8544th ($1675 vs $512) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 499th in North Korea and China, respectively. Check North Korea vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Pyongyang compared to 1.3 months in Zhengzhou. Pyongyang ranked 1st best city to live in North Korea vs Zhengzhou ranked 33rd in China, while ranked 8868th and 3982nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Pyongyang vs Zhengzhou infographic

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Prices in Pyongyang vs Zhengzhou

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

	Pyongyang	Zhengzhou
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.46	$2.08
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$112	$16.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.05	$4.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.87	$0.83
☕ Cappuccino	$1.89	$2.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.51	$0.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$892	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$805	$124
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3191	$451
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1625	$330
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.2	$42.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$66.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.5	$10.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.14%	4.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1656	$3147
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$984	$1568
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.38	$0.14
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.4	$13.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19	$3.61
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.52	$1.59
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$1.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$0.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.54	$1
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.54	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.1	$2.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.86	$11.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.15	$1.09
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.95	$1.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$0.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$0.54
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.32	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.15	$1
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.94	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.71	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.82	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.34	$2.02
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.9	$3.24
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.52	$0.92
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.43	$1.02
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.2	$91
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.24	$5.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16	$13.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.35	$4.32
👖 Brand Jeans	$28.4	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$63	$75.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$103	$251
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3399	$19343

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Pyongyang

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Pyongsong	$1548
44 km or 27 mi	Nampo	$1570
46 km or 29 mi	Sunchon	$1574
59 km or 36 mi	Sariwon	$1561
65 km or 41 mi	Anju	$1554
76 km or 47 mi	Kaechon	$1565
77 km or 48 mi	Chongju	$1547
95 km or 59 mi	Tokchon	$1546
111 km or 69 mi	Haeju	$1550
115 km or 71 mi	Kusong	$1549
135 km or 84 mi	Huichon	$1538
138 km or 86 mi	Kaesong	$1565
149 km or 92 mi	Wonsan	$1568
163 km or 102 mi	Paju	$1075
165 km or 102 mi	Sinuiju	$1572
165 km or 103 mi	Donggang	$505
167 km or 104 mi	Dandong	$503
170 km or 106 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
178 km or 111 mi	Gimpo	$1099
180 km or 112 mi	Yangju	$974
180 km or 112 mi	Pocheon	$1040
181 km or 112 mi	Goyang	$1171
183 km or 113 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
184 km or 114 mi	Hamhung	$1597
192 km or 119 mi	Incheon	$1092
193 km or 120 mi	Bucheon	$1163
195 km or 121 mi	Seoul	$1334
199 km or 124 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
202 km or 125 mi	Guri	$1122
202 km or 125 mi	Namyangju	$1129
209 km or 130 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
210 km or 130 mi	Anyang	$1022
210 km or 131 mi	Hanam	$1161
212 km or 132 mi	Ansan	$1070
213 km or 132 mi	Fengcheng	$492
213 km or 133 mi	Gunpo	$1098
215 km or 134 mi	Seongnam	$1400
216 km or 134 mi	Uiwang	$1063
216 km or 134 mi	Siheung	$1283
217 km or 135 mi	Chuncheon	$865

Cities near Zhengzhou

Distance	City	Cost of living
25 km or 15 mi	Xingyang	$519
35 km or 22 mi	Xinmi	$528
40 km or 25 mi	Xinzheng	$538
60 km or 37 mi	Changge	$547
62 km or 38 mi	Gongyi	$522
62 km or 39 mi	Kaifeng	$545
64 km or 40 mi	Xinxiang	$575
66 km or 41 mi	Jiaozuo	$479
66 km or 41 mi	Dengfeng	$529
69 km or 43 mi	Yuzhou	$552
77 km or 48 mi	Qinyang	$504
80 km or 50 mi	Huixian	$551
81 km or 50 mi	Yanshi	$509
81 km or 51 mi	Weihui	$571
82 km or 51 mi	Xuchang	$586
82 km or 51 mi	Mengzhou	$505
99 km or 61 mi	Ruzhou	$538
105 km or 65 mi	Jiyuan	$520
111 km or 69 mi	Changyuan	$787
111 km or 69 mi	Jincheng	$547
113 km or 70 mi	Luoyang	$505
118 km or 73 mi	Pingdingshan	$591
125 km or 78 mi	Hebi	$625
134 km or 83 mi	Luohe	$591
134 km or 83 mi	Gaoping	$573
147 km or 91 mi	Linzhou	$588
154 km or 96 mi	Zhoukou	$580
162 km or 101 mi	Anyang	$578
162 km or 101 mi	Wugang	$571
168 km or 104 mi	Puyang	$800
169 km or 105 mi	Changzhi	$726
170 km or 106 mi	Heze	$1385
185 km or 115 mi	Xiangcheng	$577
185 km or 115 mi	Shangqiu	$736
200 km or 124 mi	Zhumadian	$637
220 km or 137 mi	Handan	$610
221 km or 137 mi	Nanyang	$632
221 km or 138 mi	Wu'an	$587
225 km or 140 mi	Sanmenxia	$564
228 km or 142 mi	Jieshou	$591