City comparison
Cost of living in Rome vs Seoul
One person needs about €1,777 a month in Rome and €1,639 in Seoul, rent included — Seoul is 8% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Seoul the way you live in Rome on €3,000, you need
€2,767/ month net
8% less than today (-€233)
- Rome today
- Basket €1,777 · left over €1,223 (41%)
- Seoul at the matched salary
- Basket €1,639 · left over €1,128 (41%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 207% over in Seoul (strong) vs 129% in Rome. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇮🇹 Rome
Cheap transport and cheap coffee; bureaucracy and low local wages are the trade-off.
Monthly budget: €1,777
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇰🇷 Seoul
Fast everything, plus jeonse deposits that catch foreigners off guard.
Monthly budget: €1,639
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Rome or Seoul?
On salary, Seoul pays more for tech roles (€3,400 versus €2,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,761 in Seoul at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,150 in Rome against €1,050 in Seoul. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Rome at 72 and Seoul at 71 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.