South Korea
United StatesCompare countries · South Korea vs United States
South Korea vs United States
South KoreaEastern Asia
United StatesNorth America
South Korea is cheaper (cost of living 61.6 vs 68.8), more peaceful (Global Peace Index 1.839 vs 2.535) and has the longer life expectancy (83.6 vs 78.9 years).The United States has the higher income per person ($88,810 vs $37,880).About the same on human development (South Korea 0.937, the United States 0.938).
Safety
South Korea is the more peaceful
- Global Peace Indexlower is more peaceful
- South Korea1.839High safety#56 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- United States2.535Low safety#133 of 161IEP GPI · 2026
- Homicidesper 100,000 people a year
- South Korea0.5Very lowUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- United States5.8HighUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- Safety indexNumbeo's safety index, higher is safer
- South Korea71HighNumbeo · 2026
- United States50.8ModerateNumbeo · 2026
- UK travel adviceFCDO, for British travellers
- South KoreaNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-12
- United StatesNo advice against travelFCDO foreign travel advice, GOV.UK · read 2026-10-12
Money
Income per person is higher in the United States
- GNI per personnational income per person, US dollars
- South Korea$37,880Very highWorld Bank · 2025
- United States$88,810Very highWorld Bank · 2025
- Cost of living indexexcluding rent, New York = 100
- South Korea61.6ModerateNumbeo · 2026
- United States68.8ExpensiveNumbeo · 2026
Health
People live longer in South Korea
- Life expectancyyears, at birth
- South Korea83.6Very high#11 of 195World Bank · 2024
- United States78.9High#47 of 195World Bank · 2024
Work and internet
Broadband is faster in the United States
- Fixed broadbandmedian download speed
- South Korea253 MbpsVery fast#18 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
- United States308 MbpsVery fast#6 of 149Ookla Speedtest · 2025
How it changed
Human development: United States 0.938, South Korea 0.937
South KoreaUnited States
UNDP Human Development Report, 1990–2023.
Year by year:South KoreaUnited States
Practical facts
- Capital
- Seoul
- Washington, D.C.
- Population
- 51.7M (2025)
- 341.8M (2025)
- Languages
- Korean
- English
- Currency
- South Korean won (KRW)
- United States dollar (USD)
- Area
- 97,600 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Plug type
- Type C/F
- Type A/B
- Drives on the
- right
- right
- Short visit
- Visa-free for UK, EU and US passports
- Visa-free for UK and EU; visa needed for US
Short visits: passport-index-dataset, 2024, for UK, EU (German) and US passports. Population and area: World Bank. Languages, currency and driving side: restcountries.com. Plug types: worldstandards.eu.
Every figure
South Korea and United States, side by side
South Korea leads on 39 United States on 226 level107 figures. 5 are held for only one country; the other shows a dash. Rows such as population, religion and tax levels have no better or worse end, so they show both values and no verdict. Level means under 2% apart.
Money and cost22
- PPP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $63,125High
- $90,027High
- GDP / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $36,227Very high
- $90,027Very high
- GNI / Cap aheadWorld Bank · 2025
- $37,880Very high
- $88,810Very high
- Local purchasing power aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 111.5High
- 146Very high
- Cost of Living aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 61.6Moderate
- 68.8Expensive
- Cost of living with rent aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 41.3High
- 56.3Very high
- Rent index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 16.1Moderate
- 40.7Very expensive
- Groceries index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 77.5Very high
- 74Very high
- Restaurant prices index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 35.8Moderate
- 72.8Very high
- Property Price-to-Income aheadNumbeo Property Investment · 2026
- 24.1Very expensive
- 3.5Very affordable
- Price level ratio aheadWorld Bank ICP
- 1.053High
- 1.701Very high
- Inflation aheadWorld Bank · 2024–2025
- 2.1%Low
- 2.9%Moderate
- Pension Replacement aheadOECD Pensions at a Glance · 2024
- 33.4%Very low
- 39.7%Low
- Bank AccountLevelWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 96.9%Very high
- 97%Very high
- Send Remittance aheadWorld Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2023
- 4.2%High
- 3.5%Moderate
- Tax WedgeOECD Taxing Wages · 2025
- 24.9%
- 30%
- Top Income TaxWikipedia · 2024
- —
- 51.8%
- Corporate TaxWikipedia · 2024
- —
- 21%
- Tax RevenueWorld Bank · 2024
- 13.3%
- 10.8%
- GDP (total)World Bank · 2025
- $1,872 bn
- $30,770 bn
- FDI InflowsWorld Bank · 2025
- 0.8%
- 1.3%
- Innovation aheadWIPO Global Innovation Index · 2025
- 60Very high
- 61.7Very high
Work3
- UnemploymentWorld Bank · 2025
- 2.7%
- 4.2%
- Long Work HoursOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- —
- 10.4%High
- Public Holidaysdate.nager.at · 2025
- 14
- 12
Equality6
- Income Inequality aheadWorld Bank · 2021–2024
- 32.9Low
- 41.8Very high
- Income Share Bot. 20% aheadWorld Bank · 2021–2024
- 7.4Moderate
- 5.1Very low
- Income Share Top 10% aheadWorld Bank · 2021–2024
- 25Low
- 30.7High
- Poverty Rate aheadWorld Bank · 2021–2024
- 0.5%Very low
- 1.8%Low
- Gender Inequality aheadUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.038Very low
- 0.169Low
- Inequality-Adj. HDI aheadUNDP HDR
- 0.857Very high
- 0.832Very high
Safety9
- Peace Index aheadIEP Global Peace Index · 2026
- 1.839High safety
- 2.535Low safety
- Safety aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 71High
- 50.8Moderate
- Homicides / 100k aheadUNODC / World Bank · 2023
- 0.5Very low
- 5.8High
- Assault Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2023
- 44.3Moderate
- 277.9Very high
- Robbery Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2024
- 0.88Very low
- 63.2High
- Sexual Violence RateUNODC CTS · 2023
- 43.3High
- —
- Kidnapping Rate aheadUNODC CTS · 2022–2023
- 0.12Low
- 15.4Very high
- Road Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 6.9Low
- 14.2Moderate
- Disaster Risk aheadWorld Risk Index · 2022
- 10.5High
- 22.7Very high
Health16
- Life Expectancy aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 83.6Very high
- 78.9High
- Infant Mortality aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 2.3Very low
- 5.5Low
- Healthcare Quality aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 82.9Excellent
- 67Good
- UHC Service CoverageLevelWHO GHO · 2023
- 88Very high
- 88Very high
- Physicians / 1k aheadWorld Bank · 2022
- 2.6High
- 3.7High
- Hospital Beds aheadWorld Bank · 2022
- 12.8Very high
- 2.7Moderate
- Out-of-Pocket Health % aheadWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- 33.7%High
- 10.9%Very low
- Healthcare SpendWorld Bank · 2023–2024
- $3,137
- $13,473
- Clean WaterLevelWorld Bank · 2024
- 100%Very high
- 100%Very high
- PM2.5 concentration aheadWHO GHO · 2023
- 19.2Moderate
- 9.8Low
- Air-pollution Deaths / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 15.4Very low
- 15.9Very low
- Obesity aheadWHO GHO · 2024
- 8.4%Very low
- 41%Very high
- Tobacco Use aheadWHO GHO · 2022–2023
- 18.7%Moderate
- 16.2%Low
- Raised Blood Glucose aheadWHO GHO · 2014
- 8%Moderate
- 7.3%Low
- Suicide Rate / 100k aheadWHO GHO · 2021
- 27.5Very high
- 15.6Very high
- Alcohol L / capitaWHO GHO · 2024
- 8.3
- 9.6
Education and getting online8
- PISA Math aheadOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 527Very high
- 465Moderate
- PISA Reading aheadOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 515Very high
- 504Very high
- PISA Science aheadOECD PISA Results · 2022
- 528Very high
- 499Very high
- Education SpendWorld Bank · 2021–2022
- 5.4%
- 5.4%
- English Proficiency aheadEF English Proficiency Index · 2025
- 522Moderate
- 700Native
- Internet aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 97.9%Very high
- 94.7%Very high
- Fixed broadband aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 253 MbpsVery fast
- 308 MbpsVery fast
- Mobile internet aheadOokla Speedtest Global Index · 2025
- 257 MbpsVery high
- 212 MbpsVery high
Governance and freedom8
- Rule of Law aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.20Very high
- 0.79High
- Corruption aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.92Very high
- 0.87Very high
- Political Stability aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 0.92High
- -0.30Low
- Government Effectiveness aheadWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.50Very high
- 1.19Very high
- Regulatory QualityLevelWorld Bank WGI · 2025
- 1.00Very high
- 1.01Very high
- DemocracyLevelEIU Democracy Index · 2025
- 7.8Very high
- 7.7High
- Freedom House aheadFreedom House · 2025
- 83High
- 81High
- Press Freedom aheadRSF World Press Freedom Index · 2026
- 69.1Satisfactory
- 62.6Satisfactory
Quality of life10
- Human DevelopmentLevelUNDP Human Development Report · 2023
- 0.937Very high
- 0.938Very high
- Happiness aheadWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 6.04Moderate
- 6.82Moderate
- Quality of life index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 150.4Moderate
- 186Very high
- Climate index aheadNumbeo · 2026
- 71.9Good
- 75.8Good
- WHR: GDPWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.906
- 2
- WHR: Social SupportWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.230
- 1.516
- WHR: Healthy Life Exp.World Happiness Report · 2026
- 1.028
- 0.678
- WHR: FreedomWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.825
- 0.776
- WHR: GenerosityWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.089
- 0.155
- WHR: Corruption TrustWorld Happiness Report · 2026
- 0.149
- 0.155
People and planet23
- PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 51,684,564
- 341,784,857
- AreaWorld Bank
- 97,600 km²
- 9,147,420 km²
- Median AgeWorld Bank age-group shares
- 43.6
- 40.5
- Population GrowthWorld Bank · 2025
- -0.13%
- 0.52%
- Urban PopulationWorld Bank · 2025
- 81.2%
- 80.2%
- Net MigrationWorld Bank · 2025
- 65,731
- 1,230,663
- Foreign-Born %UN DESA International Migrant Stock · 2024
- 3.5%
- 15.2%
- Fertility RateWorld Bank · 2024
- 0.75
- 1.63
- Avg Household SizeOECD Family Database · 2024
- 2.2
- 2.5
- Single-Person HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- 35.5%
- 27.6%
- Lone-Parent HouseholdsOECD Family Database · 2021
- 9.1%
- 6.8%
- ChristianPew Research · 2020
- 32%
- 64%
- MuslimPew Research · 2020
- 0.3%
- 1.2%
- HinduPew Research · 2020
- 0.1%
- 0.9%
- BuddhistPew Research · 2020
- 19%
- 1.3%
- JewishPew Research · 2020
- 0%
- 1.7%
- UnaffiliatedPew Research · 2020
- 48.3%
- 29.7%
- Other religionsPew Research · 2020
- 0.3%
- 1.2%
- CO₂ / Capita aheadWorld Bank · 2024
- 11.4Very high
- 13.6Very high
- Renewables aheadWorld Bank · 2021
- 3.6%Very low
- 10.9%Low
- Forest CoverWorld Bank · 2023
- 64.1%
- 33.9%
- Climate Vulnerability aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.357Low
- 0.312Very low
- Climate Readiness aheadND-GAIN Country Index · 2023
- 0.722Very high
- 0.647Very high
Other2
- Mobile MoneyWorld Bank Global Findex · 2024
- 60.1%
- —
- Leisure TimeOECD Better Life Index · 2020
- 14.8
- 14.6
Quick answers
Is South Korea cheaper than United States?
Numbeo's 2026 cost-of-living index (NYC = 100) puts South Korea at 61.6 and United States at 68.8. South Korea is about 10% cheaper overall.
Is South Korea or United States safer?
On the Global Peace Index (lower = more peaceful), South Korea scores 1.84 and United States scores 2.54. South Korea ranks as the more peaceful of the two.
Which has the higher quality of life, South Korea or United States?
On the UN Human Development Index, South Korea scores 0.937 and United States scores 0.938. The two are effectively tied. Single indexes hide trade-offs; the full comparison above shows where each country wins.
What is life like in South Korea compared to United States?
GNI per capita runs $37,880 in South Korea against $88,810 in United States; people live 83.6 years on average against 78.9; Numbeo users rate healthcare 83 against 67. Those are national averages and they hide the thing you actually feel: capital-city costs run well ahead of the national figure in most countries, and rural provision of healthcare and internet often lags the number shown here. The table below splits it indicator by indicator.