---
title: "Cost of Living: Seoul vs Warsaw — Geo-Parity"
description: "Poland is 14% cheaper than South Korea for monthly essentials ($1,153 vs $1,334). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/poland-vs-south-korea/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=PL"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · KR vs PL

# 🇰🇷 Seoul vs 🇵🇱 Warsaw: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$1,334** in South Korea vs **$1,153** in Poland — 14% cheaper.

- **Essentials, South Korea**: $1,334/mo
- **Essentials, Poland**: $1,153/mo
- **Difference**: -14%
- **1-bed city rent, Poland**: $756/mo

## Biggest differences

Much cheaper in Poland

- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: -15%
- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: -15%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: -15%

Closest to South Korea prices

- Petrol/gasoline, 1L: -3.8%
- Running shoes (brand): -4.7%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): -4.7%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | South Korea | Poland | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $894 | $756 (2,843 PLN) | -15% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $715 | $605 (2,274 PLN) | -15% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $1,635 | $1,382 (5,198 PLN) | -15% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $10.62 | $9.31 (35 PLN) | -12% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $44.25 | $38.78 (146 PLN) | -12% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $6.81 | $6.04 (23 PLN) | -11% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.75 | $0.68 (3 PLN) | -9.3% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.18 | $1.98 (7 PLN) | -9.2% |
| Eggs, dozen | $2.32 | $2.10 (8 PLN) | -9.5% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $6.81 | $6.19 (23 PLN) | -9.1% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.73 | $2.48 (9 PLN) | -9.2% |
| Apples, 1kg | $3.27 | $2.97 (11 PLN) | -9.2% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $8.18 | $7.43 (28 PLN) | -9.2% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.36 | $1.24 (5 PLN) | -8.8% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $3.54 | $3.10 (12 PLN) | -12% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $6.60 | $6.29 (24 PLN) | -4.7% |
| Cappuccino | $2.95 | $2.59 (10 PLN) | -12% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.57 | $1.42 (5 PLN) | -9.5% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $40.24 | $35.69 (134 PLN) | -11% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.70 | $1.51 (6 PLN) | -11% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $2.36 | $2.07 (8 PLN) | -12% |
| Taxi, per km | $1.06 | $0.93 (4 PLN) | -12% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.78 | $0.75 (3 PLN) | -3.8% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $124 | $110 (413 PLN) | -11% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $43.33 | $38.43 (145 PLN) | -11% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $27.86 | $24.71 (93 PLN) | -11% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $29.50 | $25.85 (97 PLN) | -12% |
| Cinema seat | $8.26 | $7.24 (27 PLN) | -12% |
| Men's haircut | $17.70 | $15.51 (58 PLN) | -12% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $45.40 | $43.27 (163 PLN) | -4.7% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $74.29 | $70.81 (266 PLN) | -4.7% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $148 | $129 (486 PLN) | -12% |

Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the [interactive tool](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=prices&base=KR&target=PL).

## Beyond prices

What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about **7,737 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 🇵🇱 Poland |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $2,316 | $1,809 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $797 | $682 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 34.4% | 37.7% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $1,058 | $326 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 2.6 | 4.0 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Seoul and Warsaw. | 76 | 73 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | strong | strong |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2 (very low) | 2.6 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 18 | 14 |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 19.2 | 15.4 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 83.6 | 78.4 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 97.9% | 88.6% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 273.4 | 244.2 |

## Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?

Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.

🇰🇷 South Korea

21.1 pts

13.3% of your income vs 34.4% of a local wage

🇵🇱 Poland

26.3 pts

11.4% of your income vs 37.7% of a local wage

Worked at $6,000/month. [Run it on your own income](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=housing)

## The whole South Korea → Poland move, in one place

Everything above is free and always will be. The relocation report is the same engines run together for this one corridor: what you keep after rent, prices, healthcare and tax; the local wage ladder you would be earning against; which visas your income qualifies for; the day count that makes you tax-resident; and the months worth being there for.

[See the South Korea → Poland report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/south-korea-to-poland/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

- [Reverse view: Poland vs South Korea](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/poland-vs-south-korea/)
- [Fair salary: South Korea → Poland](https://geo-parity.com/salary/south-korea-to-poland/)
- [How much to retire in Poland?](https://geo-parity.com/fire/poland/)
- [Cost of living in Poland vs the US](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/poland/)

## More comparisons

### South Korea compared with

- [South Korea vs Mexico](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-mexico/)
- [South Korea vs Hungary](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-hungary/)
- [South Korea vs Czechia](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-czechia/)
- [South Korea vs United Arab Emirates](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-united-arab-emirates/)
- [South Korea vs Greece](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-greece/)

### Moving to Poland from

- [Portugal vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/portugal-vs-poland/)
- [Singapore vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/singapore-vs-poland/)
- [Greece vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-poland/)
- [Japan vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/japan-vs-poland/)
- [Czechia vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/czechia-vs-poland/)
- [United Arab Emirates vs Poland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/united-arab-emirates-vs-poland/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much cheaper is Poland than South Korea?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $1,153 in Poland versus $1,334 in South Korea — 14% less. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Poland?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $3.10 in Poland (≈ 11.66 PLN), versus about $3.54 in South Korea.
- **How much is rent in Poland compared to South Korea?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $756/month in Poland versus $894/month in South Korea (-15%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- **How are these prices estimated?**: Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.

Model estimates — verify locally. Agents: GET /api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=PL.

---

Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/poland-vs-south-korea/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=KR&target=PL