Riyadh vs Seoul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Riyadh	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1637	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3629	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$944	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$1530	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$375	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$183	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2731	$2911
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	72	100
😀 Quality of life	78	95
🏙️ Population	7.01M	9.67M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 23% more expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 2911th and 4104th ($1637 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Saudi Arabia and South Korea, respectively. Check Saudi Arabia vs South Korea comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Riyadh compared to 2.2 months in Seoul. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 733rd and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Riyadh vs Seoul infographic

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

Prices in Riyadh vs Seoul

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

	Riyadh	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.31	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$53.6	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.02	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.88	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$4.16	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1001	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$748	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2174	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1140	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$69.4	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$107	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$75.4	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.42%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2485	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1703	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.07	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.2	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.61	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.71	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.28	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.75	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.14	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.75	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.14	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.71	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.72	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.19	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.8	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.03	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.23	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.22	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$102	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.2	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.23	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.2	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$404	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10598	$20197

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Riyadh

Distance	City	Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
316 km or 196 mi	Unaizah	$969
350 km or 217 mi	Ar Rass	$861
389 km or 242 mi	Dhahran	$1068
394 km or 245 mi	Dammam	$1056
395 km or 245 mi	Jubail	$901
417 km or 259 mi	Qatif	$897
420 km or 261 mi	Riffa	$1223
421 km or 262 mi	Isa Town	$1243
426 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
460 km or 286 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
480 km or 298 mi	As Sulayyil	$1041
491 km or 305 mi	Doha	$1779
496 km or 308 mi	Al Khor	$1709
540 km or 336 mi	Kuwait City	$1393
595 km or 369 mi	Ha'il	$846
611 km or 379 mi	Umm Qasr	$740
618 km or 384 mi	Al-Faw	$736
631 km or 392 mi	Bushehr	$551
646 km or 401 mi	Az Zubayr	$723
652 km or 405 mi	Abadan	$547
658 km or 409 mi	Basra	$904
659 km or 410 mi	Khorramshahr	$544
668 km or 415 mi	Bisha	$905
680 km or 423 mi	Borazjan	$546
701 km or 436 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$548
713 km or 443 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
714 km or 443 mi	Nasiriyah	$672
719 km or 447 mi	Medina	$1215
737 km or 458 mi	Kazerun	$557
747 km or 464 mi	Behbahan	$536
754 km or 469 mi	Samawah	$582
766 km or 476 mi	Ahvaz	$597
775 km or 481 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
790 km or 491 mi	Mecca	$979
798 km or 496 mi	Shiraz	$589
800 km or 497 mi	Amarah	$683
804 km or 499 mi	Bareq	$902
804 km or 500 mi	Jahrom	$547
823 km or 511 mi	Yasuj	$529

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