Cost of living comparison

compared to
North Korea vs. Virginia Cost of Living Summary

North Korea is 33.7% cheaper than Virginia.

Restaurants
pay 30.4% less in North Korea
Groceries
pay 24.1% less in North Korea
Housing
pay 94.8% less in North Korea
Entertainment and Sports
pay 14.5% more in North Korea

Expenses including housing, restaurants, and groceries are lower in North Korea.

North Korea vs. Virginia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in North Korea instead of Virginia, you would:

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

 
Virginia
North Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $20.49
 
??
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.13
 
??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.48
 
$2.14
KPW1,929

Improve prices ·

pay 24.1% less for groceries

 
Virginia
North Korea
Bread
1 loaf
$3.44
 
$2.20
KPW1,983
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.98
 
??
Milk (1 gallon) $3.79
 
$3.40
KPW3,058

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for transportation

 
Virginia
North Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.36
 
??
Monthly public transit pass $79.15
 
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $32,788.87
 
??

Improve prices ·

pay 94.8% less for housing

 
Virginia
North Korea
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.48
 
??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,832.03
 
$85.74
KPW77,167
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,500.84
 
$85.74
KPW77,167

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Virginia
North Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,614.20
 
??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $28,849.72
 
??

Improve prices ·

pay 14.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
Virginia
North Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.17
 
$12.86
KPW11,575
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.19
 
$1.07
KPW965
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.03
 
??

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Virginia
North Korea
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$53.05
 
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.36
 
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$92.16
 
??

Improve prices ·
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: January 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United States vs. North Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and North Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about North Korea or Virginia. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.