Everyone asks how expensive Seoul really is, and the honest answer is: it depends on your lifestyle, but it’s gotten noticeably more expensive in the last few years. Here’s a real breakdown, from someone actually living here.
Photo by Zequn Gui on Unsplash
Housing: wolse and jeonse
For a small studio (about 6 pyeong, roughly 20 square meters), monthly rent (wolse) usually runs 600,000–900,000 KRW ($440–$660 USD). For a slightly bigger place around 15 pyeong (50 square meters), jeonse — Korea’s lump-sum deposit system instead of monthly rent — typically costs 100–200 million KRW ($73,000–$146,000 USD) upfront.
For more on how Korea’s rental system works, see our guide to Korea’s wolse system.
Food
For a single person, a realistic monthly food budget is around 500,000 KRW ($365). If you order delivery often, that can easily climb past 1,000,000 KRW ($730) a month.
Lunch out typically runs 10,000–15,000 KRW per meal. If eating out every day feels like too much, more people are turning to convenience stores, fast food, or packing their own lunch instead.
Coffee averages around 4,500 KRW at a regular café, or as low as 2,000 KRW at budget coffee chains.
Transportation
Seoul’s public transit is genuinely cheap per ride:
- Local/branch bus: 1,500 KRW
- Circular bus: 1,400 KRW
- Express bus: 3,000 KRW
- Late-night bus: 2,500 KRW
- Village bus: 1,200 KRW
- Subway: 1,550 KRW
But because of transit discount card systems (like T-money’s transfer discounts), commuters who ride daily usually only spend around 60,000–70,000 KRW ($44–$51) a month total — much less than you’d expect from the per-ride prices.
Utility bills
The three basics are electricity, water, and gas:
- Summer: electricity spikes due to air conditioning, usually around 100,000 KRW ($73)
- Winter: gas spikes due to heating, usually around 150,000 KRW ($110)
- Spring/fall: usually under 100,000 KRW total
These numbers don’t vary hugely by region — they depend more on what kind of AC unit or gas system you have. One exception: standalone houses not connected to city gas can see winter gas bills over 500,000 KRW ($365), which is a common complaint.
Going out
A casual date or hangout with friends — think lunch, a café stop, and maybe some light shopping — usually runs 50,000–100,000 KRW ($36–$73) if you want it to actually be fun, not just the bare minimum.
For a broader comparison, Numbeo’s cost of living index tracks how Seoul stacks up against other major cities.
The inflation is real
When I first moved out on my own at 21, a tray of 30 eggs cost around 3,000 KRW. Now, at 29, that same tray costs close to 10,000 KRW. Basic groceries have gone up by similar margins — I’m regularly surprised every time I go to the supermarket. Salaries haven’t kept pace with these price increases, which is a big part of why cost of living has become such a common complaint here.
Prices also shift a lot by neighborhood — the same menu item costs noticeably more in Seoul’s pricier districts, so unless there’s a specific reason to go, most people just avoid eating out in those areas.
So how much do you actually need?
Assuming you’re not spending heavily on hobbies, a single person in Seoul generally needs to earn around 2,300,000 KRW ($1,680) a month to cover rent, food, and still save a small amount.
Quick cost snapshot
- Studio wolse: 600,000–900,000 KRW/month
- 15-pyeong jeonse: 100–200 million KRW deposit
- Food (moderate): ~500,000 KRW/month
- Commuting: ~60,000–70,000 KRW/month
- Utilities: 100,000–150,000 KRW/month depending on season
- Minimum comfortable income (single, no big hobbies): ~2,300,000 KRW/month