Cost of Living inDaejeon, South Korea

Daejeon, South Korea1.4MHigh incomeRemote-work friendly

Image credit: 대한민국역사박물관 현대사아카이브

Purchasing Power vs. United States

Your money goes 1.96x further

Based on GDP per capita (PPP). South Korea: $55,071/capita.

How Far Your Money Goes

Prices are 38% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).

Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.

Overall

1.6x further

Prices are 38% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).

Rent

6.2x further

Prices are 84% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).

Groceries

1.3x further

Prices are 22% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).

Restaurants

2.8x further

Prices are 64% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).

Income Category

High

World Bank GNI

Happiness

6.1 / 10

#51 globally

GDP per Capita

$55,071

PPP, International $

City Population

1.4M

Child Education

Public-school quality + expat access, alongside international and private school cost — the two paths a relocating family weighs.

Public schools

Public-schooling rules are set nationally for South Korea; Daejeon-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.

Excellent public schools

Quality

Excellent public schools

Expat access

Legally possible, hard in practice

hard

Instruction

Korean

Language fit is more manageable.

PISA / outcomes

Qualitative only

Using curated quality notes for now.

Why this quality rating

South Korea’s public system is academically elite, especially in math and science, with very strong national outcomes.

Why the expat-access rating looks like this

Resident families can sometimes access local schools, but the Korean-language classroom and exam culture make it a difficult fit for most expat families.

⚠️ Homeschooling

Legally possible but culturally unusual

South Korea requires school attendance but allows alternatives including homeschooling with education office approval. In practice, approval is difficult and homeschooling is culturally unusual. Some families use registered alternative schools instead.

Homeschool legality in South Korea — check current regulations before committing.

Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)

International & private schools

Median tuition

1 school listed

$23,480/yr

American1

Childcare & Domestic Help

Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in South Korea.

Full-time nanny (5 days)

$1,150-$2,250

Estimate-only country fallback

Live-in / 24-7 nanny

$2,200-$4,250

Estimate-only country fallback

Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)

Getting Around

Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Daejeon is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.

Healthcare

System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in South Korea.

Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.

745 facilities tracked

Facilities updated 2 months ago

Healthcare system

Strong

High national coverage, deep nursing capacity, and solid hospital-bed capacity support this rating.

Public care

Good

Broad public coverage and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.

Private care

Mixed

A large tracked hospital and clinic network help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.

UHC coverage

88/100

2023

Physicians

2.61/1k

2022

Hospital beds

12.8/1k

2022

Out of pocket

34%

2024

Outcome signals

Life expectancy

83.6 yrs

2024

Maternal mortality

4/100k

2023

Neonatal mortality

1.2/1k

2024

International patient readiness

Mixed

There is visible specialty depth and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but price transparency is still sparse.

Pricing transparency

Limited

Published self-pay prices are scarce weigh on this rating.

Facility coverage

Dentist: 368Doctor: 235Hospital: 92Pharmacy: 27Clinic: 23

Self-pay pricing visibility

No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in South Korea yet.

This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.

Notable facilities

대전보훈병원

Hospital · Emergency

Website

유성웰니스재활병원

Hospital · Emergency

닥터스미 옴므

Hospital · Emergency

대전한국병원

Hospital · Emergency

한남요양전문병원

Hospital · Emergency

조이소아병원

Hospital · Emergency

System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01

Safety & Governance

City-level perceived-crime data is not sourced for Daejeon yet. Showing South Korea national safety and governance signals until a matched city row lands.

Street Safety

Safety Index68/100

Crime Index32/100

Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.

Political Stability

Political Stability+0.64

World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.

Wages by Sector

Sector	Median	Mean	25th	75th
Administrative & Support Services	—	₩37,768,200/yr	—	—
Agriculture & Farming	—	₩41,313,600/yr	—	—
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation	—	₩37,905,000/yr	—	—
Construction	—	₩47,469,600/yr	—	—
Education	—	₩42,111,600/yr	—	—
Finance & Insurance	—	₩75,502,200/yr	—	—
Healthcare & Social Work	—	₩34,393,800/yr	—	—
Hospitality & Food Service	—	₩28,237,800/yr	—	—
Information & Technology	—	₩55,905,600/yr	—	—
Manufacturing	—	₩49,966,200/yr	—	—
Mining & Quarrying	—	₩51,026,400/yr	—	—
Other Services	—	₩37,836,600/yr	—	—
Professional & Scientific Services	—	₩59,200,200/yr	—	—
Real Estate	—	₩34,393,800/yr	—	—
Retail & Wholesale Trade	—	₩46,842,600/yr	—	—
Transport & Logistics	—	₩43,377,000/yr	—	—
Utilities	—	₩47,959,800/yr	—	—

2022 annual wages in Daejeon, South Korea · Source: KOSTAT (region-adjusted)

Price Comparison vs. US

beer

$4.00Estimated48% cheaper

big mac

$3.60Estimated41% cheaper

bread 500g

$3.19Estimated6% cheaper

budget hotel

$231.02Survey-verified537% more

childcare preschool

$781.39Estimated50% cheaper

cinema

$10.00Estimated39% cheaper

coca cola

$1.50Estimated30% cheaper

eggs dozen

$2.29Estimated52% cheaper

gasoline liter

$1.27Estimated23% more

inexpensive meal

$5.09Estimated76% cheaper

internet 60mbps

$15.34Estimated77% cheaper

International School (Annual)

$23480.28Estimated24% cheaper

iphone

$1149.00Estimated15% more

jeans

$65.00Estimated27% more

latte

$4.30Estimated19% cheaper

luxury hotel

$231.02Survey-verified52% cheaper

mcmeal

$6.50Estimated36% cheaper

milk liter

$2.00Estimated64% more

monthly pass

$29.70Estimated57% cheaper

nike shoes

$85.00Estimated7% cheaper

rent 1br

$620.36Estimated66% cheaper

rent 2br

$1305.00Estimated70% cheaper

rent 3br

$1378.26Estimated57% cheaper

subway fare

$1.10Estimated54% cheaper

taxi km

$0.55Estimated71% cheaper

utilities basic

$105.19Estimated51% cheaper

Visa Information (US passport)

Short-stay entry

visa freeUp to 90 days

US passport holders can stay up to 90 days without a visa.

Long-Term Visa Programs

digital nomad

Workcation Visa (K-ETA Extension)

12 monthsMin. $5,000/mo income

Migrated from legacy digital_nomad_visas row 35

working holiday

Working Holiday Visa (H-1)

12 months

Quick comparison FAQ

Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.

How far does your money go in Daejeon compared with the US?

Your money goes about 2.0x further in Daejeon than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for South Korea here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.

Is Daejeon cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?

Daejeon is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 38% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Daejeon. We are using the country-level cost index for South Korea here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.

How does rent in Daejeon compare with New York City?

Rent in Daejeon is about 84% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for South Korea here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.

How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Daejeon?

Groceries in Daejeon are about 23% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 64% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for South Korea here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.

About Daejeon

Daejeon is the fifth-largest city in South Korea, a central metropolis of about 1.44 million roughly midway between Seoul and Busan on the KTX high-speed line, with Seoul reachable in about an hour. The economy is unusually research-heavy: it hosts Daedeok Innopolis, the country's largest cluster of government research institutes and KAIST, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Relocators should weigh a humid continental climate with cold winters and hot, wet summers, Korean-dominant daily life with English clustered in KAIST and a handful of multinational R&D offices, and housing costs that run meaningfully below Seoul. The foreign community is modest and concentrated in academia, research postings, and English teaching, with international flights routing through Incheon.

Excellent 5G/fiber internet (fastest in Korea)Small but tight-knit expat communityVery walkable city with metro/bus systemCold winters (-5 to 5°C), hot humid summersGrowing coworking/digital nomad sceneAuthentic Korean food culture, fewer Western chainsModerate nightlife—quieter than Seoul, still vibrantSafe city with low crime rates

More cities in South Korea

SeoulCapital10.3M Busan3.3M Incheon3.0M Daegu2.4M Gwangju1.4M Suwon1.2M Ulsan1.1M Goyang-si1.1M Changwon1.0M Seongnam-si915K Cheongju-si852K Bucheon-si851K

See all cities in South Korea →

← More cities in South Korea See where you're sorta rich →

Cost of Living inDaejeon, South Korea

Purchasing Power vs. United States

How Far Your Money Goes

Child Education

Public schools

Why this quality rating

Why the expat-access rating looks like this

⚠️ Homeschooling

International & private schools

Childcare & Domestic Help

Getting Around

Healthcare

Healthcare system

Public care

Private care

Outcome signals

International patient readiness

Pricing transparency

Facility coverage

Self-pay pricing visibility

Notable facilities

Safety & Governance

Street Safety

Political Stability

Wages by Sector

Price Comparison vs. US

Visa Information (US passport)

Long-Term Visa Programs

Workcation Visa (K-ETA Extension)

Quick comparison FAQ

How far does your money go in Daejeon compared with the US?

Is Daejeon cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?

How does rent in Daejeon compare with New York City?

How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Daejeon?

About Daejeon

See the full breakdown — free

More cities in South Korea