Today's Korean Minimum Wage in US Dollars

Today's Korean Minimum Wage
한국어
Holiday — last ECB quote · Jun 22, 2026
Converted to USD
$6.71/ hour
Less than last year (USD)
-$0.51/hr
More than last year (KRW)
+2.9%
KRW ₩10,320
FX Rate ₩1,537.08 / $

Purchasing Power — How long to buy one?

How many hours of minimum wage (2026 ₩10,320) to buy one item — tap a tab to switch

🍔
33 min

One piece = 33 min of work

1 piece = ₩5,700

McDonald's Korea menu price ₩5,700 (raised Feb 2026)

Hours needed over the years — Hours to afford one item per year — item price / hourly wage of that year

USD Minimum Wage — 2026 Daily

KRW wage ₩10,320 fixed — USD value fluctuates with FX rate

USD line ($, left axis)

Breakdown — KRW Minimum Wage

Applied rate ₩1,537.08 / $1

Steps up once each January — never once cut (shown as a smooth trend)

USD Wage Rankings

Based on annual average FX rate — 1988–2025

▲ TOP 5Highest years

YearUSDKRW
2021$7.62₩8,720
2023$7.37₩9,620
2020$7.28₩8,590
2024$7.23₩9,860
2019$7.17₩8,350

▼ BOTTOM 5Lowest years

YearUSDKRW
1988$0.63₩462.5
1989$0.89₩600
1990$0.97₩690
1998$1.09₩1,525
1991$1.12₩820

Sources

Frankfurter (ECB) — this year's daily FXFRED EXKOUS — historical monthly FXMin. of Employment & Labor / Min. Wage CommissionWorld Bank / IRS — annual avg FX (verification)Korea Consumer Agency — naengmyeon, jajangmyeon, gimbap, pork belly, kalguksu, bibimbap, samgyetangThe Economist Big Mac IndexKyochon Chicken / Yupdduk brand prices (bonus)
Methodology (expand)
  • Mixed FX resolution — historical (1988–2025) uses monthly FRED EXKOUS, current year (2026) uses daily Frankfurter/ECB. The two periods have different base FX granularity.
  • Minimum wage is annual — flat within each year, steps up every January. Line fluctuations come from FX rate changes.
  • ECB quote date — today's value uses the latest ECB quote; weekends/holidays use the most recent available quote.
  • USD wage = KRW wage / FX rate — the numerator is fixed, only the denominator (FX rate) moves.
  • Year-over-year comparison — all change metrics (hero cards, body) are vs. the previous year.
  • 1988 representative value — that year had two industry-group rates (Group 1 ₩462.5 / Group 2 ₩487.5); the lower floor (Group 1) is used.
  • 2025 FX source — 1988–2024 use World Bank annual avg; 2025 (₩1,421.78) uses IRS annual avg as World Bank has not published yet.
  • 2026 FX is provisional — the 2026 annual average FX rate is not yet finalized, so YTD average is used. The 2026 annual USD wage in the hero and main chart is provisional.
  • Purchasing power — core tabs: naengmyeon ₩12,538 (Mar 2026), jajangmyeon ₩7,692 (Feb 2026), gimbap ₩3,800 (Apr 2026), pork belly 200g ₩21,218 (Mar 2026) from Korea Consumer Agency (Seoul avg); kalguksu, bibimbap, samgyetang from Korea Consumer Agency (Seoul avg, Mar 2026); Big Mac from McDonald's Korea actual price (Feb 2026 ₩5,700) / The Economist Big Mac Index.
  • Purchasing power — bonus tabs (disclaimer): chicken is Kyochon Honey Combo Seoul delivery app ₩26,000 (2026, delivery fee extra), tteokbokki is Yupdduk basic (~3-person serving, frozen at ₩14,000 since 2012). These are reference/fun values.
About

License: Big Mac data CC-BY 4.0, Korean public data Attribution Type 1.