🇺🇸 United States vs 🇰🇷 South Korea
Side by side on the data that actually changes your life: prices, taxes, climate, air, safety. Every number has a source and a date.
Climate (capital)
Open-Meteo historical weather
Jan -2° · Jul 27° · Washington, D.C.
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Sunny days (capital)
Open-Meteo, days with over 4.5h of sunshine
295 days / yr
—
Air quality (capital)
WAQI, capital station
AQI 45 · Good
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Big Mac price
The Economist Big Mac index (euro-area countries share one euro-area price)
$6.12
$3.74
Employment taxes (not your rate)
OECD tax wedge, single average worker
~30% of what a job costs goes to tax (2025)
—
Special tax regimes
Official tax authorities, verified June 2026
No inbound regime (worldwide taxation)
None curated
Inflation
World Bank
3.0% / yr (2024)
2.1% / yr (2025)
Unemployment
World Bank, ILO-modelled estimate
4.2% (2025)
2.7% (2025)
Internet (median fixed)
Ookla Speedtest Global Index
~250 Mbps
~170 Mbps
English proficiency
EF English Proficiency Index
native
moderate
Messenger apps
OONI network measurements, last 6 months
No known issues
No known issues
Safety advisory
U.S. State Department travel advisory
Level 1 · Exercise Normal Precautions
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Population
World Bank total population
341.8M (2025)
51.7M (2025)
Population density
World Bank, people per km²
37 / km² (2023)
530 / km² (2023)
Foreign-born residents
World Bank migrant stock
15.2% of population (2024)
3.5% of population (2024)
Life expectancy
WHO
76 yrs
84 yrs
Currency
ISO 4217
USD
KRW
Timezone (capital)
Open-Meteo
UTC-4
—
Legal
Crypto-friendly
Short-term gains
37%
0%
Long-term gains
20%
0%
Long-term holding period
—
—
Staking income
37%
45%
Mining income
37%
45%
General rates, not personal tax advice.
Climate, inflation and life expectancy verified 12 July 2026. Prices, taxes and air quality verified 7 July 2026. Sources shown per row.
Bottom line: which should you choose?
Pick 🇰🇷 South Korea if you want
lower day-to-day costs.
Based only on the sourced metrics above. Visa eligibility and paperwork depend on your passport — build a free plan for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
Is United States or South Korea cheaper?
South Korea is the cheaper of the two on our comparable cost measure (Big Mac $3.74 vs $6.12). Your real cost depends on the city and lifestyle — see the full table above, then generate a free plan for a budget matched to your exact move.
Special tax regimes, verified
Regimes change often and many sites still advertise closed ones. We link the official source for each.
🇺🇸 United States
Residents are taxed on worldwide income
Verified June 2026 · IRS
Numbers are half the story
Your visa route, paperwork and deadlines depend on where you hold a passport. Get a free checklist personalized to your exact move.