South Korea
Latest Average Wage
+3.1% · 5 years
$61,259
Country Comparison
South Korea vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
South Korea
vs
United States
$61,2592025
Latest Average Wage
United States +42.0%
(vs South Korea)
$86,9772025
+3.1%2025
5-Year Wage Change
South Korea +1.0 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+18.3%2025
10-Year Wage Change
South Korea +5.4 pts
(vs United States)
+13.0%2025
60.12024
Overall Price Level
United States +39.9 index points
(vs South Korea)
1002024
Wages are PPP-adjusted average annual wages; price levels use the United States reference of 100. Years shown are each country's latest reported observation.
How Wages Have Changed
Follow PPP-adjusted average annual wages in constant prices across both economies.
USD PPP, constant prices · missing years shown as gaps, never interpolated
United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Wage Milestones
South Korea
10 Years Ago
$51,769 (2015)
Historical Peak
$61,259 (2025)
Latest Wage
$61,259 (2025)
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Compare Everyday Price Levels
See how eight consumer price categories compare with the United States reference value of 100.
United States = 100 · Differences shown in index points
South Korea (KOR)United States (USA)
Overall
−39.9 index points
100
60.1vs100
Food
+36.0 index points
100
136vs100
Clothing
+3.0 index points
100
103vs100
Housing
−62.0 index points
100
38vs100
Health
−63.0 index points
100
37vs100
Transport
−26.2 index points
100
73.8vs100
Recreation
−28.4 index points
100
71.6vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
−17.6 index points
100
82.4vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 42.0% higher than South Korea's $61,259 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. Per year, that works out to roughly $25,718 on the shared purchasing-power basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +0.6% for South Korea. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — South Korea at +3.1% and United States at +2.1% — so the latest year is not the whole story. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Health shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 37 for South Korea against 100 for United States. That is a separation of 63.0 index points on the US=100 scale, with United States on the higher side and South Korea on the lower one. The gap is stated in index points, which are not interchangeable with percentages.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: South Korea reads 103 and United States 100 for 2024, just 3.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Restaurants & Accommodation at 17.6 index points apart. Closeness here describes the index readings only, not the baskets behind them.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
United States holds a clear wage lead in this pairing: $86,977 for 2025, against South Korea's $61,259 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 42.0% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $25,718 a year. No extra conversion is needed here: each figure is already a purchasing-power-adjusted annual amount in constant prices. For scale, neither series has moved by that much within any single reported year, so the gap is structural rather than the product of one unusual observation. Over ten years South Korea recorded +18.3% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
Both wage series rise over the five-year horizon, though not at the same pace. South Korea sits at the highest point of its series — $61,259 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +18.3%. United States sits at the highest point of its series — $86,977 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +13.0%. South Korea's five-year change of +3.1% outpaces United States' +2.1% in magnitude, so the common direction does not mean the two levels are holding a fixed distance. Each percentage is a real, PPP-adjusted change; nominal pay movements are outside what this dataset reports.
Price Profile
South Korea's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 60.1, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. One side of this pairing dominates the price profile: United States sits higher in 6 of the 8 comparable categories. Health separates the two most: South Korea reads 37 and United States 100, 63.0 index points apart. The two sit closest in Clothing (103 versus 100), only 3.0 index points apart. Counted against the US reference of 100, 2 of South Korea's 8 reported categories sit above the line, against 0 of United States' 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
