Kyoto vs Seoul for couples
Kyoto, in Japan, and Seoul, in South Korea, are about 835 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Kyoto leads on cost and safety; Seoul on getting by in English.
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Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Kyoto is cheaper: we estimate about €3,375 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,749 in Seoul. That is €374 a month, or 10%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Japan and South Korea both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Kyoto is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 15°C against 12°C in Seoul. Seoul is drier, with about 1,250 mm of rain a year against 1,562 mm in Kyoto (20% less).
Safety
Kyoto is the safer pick: Japan scores 80 out of 100 on safety, 8 points above South Korea (72).
Healthcare
Close: Japan scores 80 out of 100 on healthcare and South Korea 82.
Internet
Close: about 160 Mbps median fixed download in Kyoto and about 170 Mbps in Seoul.
Language
Main languages: Japanese in Kyoto; Korean in Seoul. English goes further in Seoul (some English) than in Kyoto (limited English).
Residency and visas
Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency. For short visits, 71 of 198 passports can enter Japan visa-free and 62 can enter South Korea.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts cost (€3,375 against €3,749 a month) and safety (80 against 72 out of 100) first, Kyoto comes out ahead. If the other cares more about getting by in English (some English against limited English), Seoul does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Kyoto (15°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Seoul (12°C).
Size differs too: Kyoto is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Seoul a major one (over 5 million people). Kyoto is near the coast; Seoul is coastal.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Kyoto, Seoul and 913 other cities for both of you at once.