Where to live in South Korea
We track 10 cities in South Korea, including Seoul, Busan and Incheon. Average temperatures run from 12°C to 15°C. We estimate a couple needs €3,218 to €3,749 a month to live centrally. South Korea sits in our high tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency is possible, with conditions.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- Korean
- Some English
- Safety
- 72/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 82/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~170 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 10 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busan | large | coastal | 14°C | 1,389 mm | €3,570 |
| Changwon | large | coastal | 15°C | 1,332 mm | €3,412 |
| Daegu | large | near the coast | 14°C | 1,039 mm | €3,525 |
| Daejeon | large | near the coast | 13°C | 1,239 mm | €3,458 |
| Gwangju | large | coastal | 14°C | 1,236 mm | €3,454 |
| Gyeongju | mid-sized | coastal | 14°C | 1,114 mm | €3,218 |
| Incheon | large | coastal | 12°C | 1,141 mm | €3,558 |
| Seoul | major | coastal | 12°C | 1,250 mm | €3,749 |
| Suwon | large | coastal | 12°C | 1,241 mm | €3,437 |
| Ulsan | large | coastal | 14°C | 1,215 mm | €3,421 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
South Korea sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Possible, with conditions. Long-term residency is realistic via the points-based F-2-7 skilled-professional track, E-series employment visas that ladder into F-2 residence and then F-5 permanent residence, or capital-based investor schemes; there is no pure passive-income or retirement visa.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for South Korea:
- Investment: about $988k (Immigrant Investor Scheme for Public Business (IISPB) public-interest fund, KRW 1.5 billion for F-2 residence (KRW 3bn grants F-5 directly); converted at 1,517.65 KRW/USD. Cheaper real-estate route (IISRE, ~KRW 0.7-1bn) lapsed at its 30 Apr 2026 sunset with no confirmed renewal.; as of June 2026)
For short visits, 62 of 198 passports can enter visa-free and 136 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).