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A view of apartment complexes in Seoul. / Source: Yonhap News

The average annual household income among high earners in Seoul was 124.81 million won, 4.6 times higher than that of low-income households.

According to the Seoul Institute’s “2024 Seoul Welfare Survey” released on Thursday, the top 20% of households earned an average of 124.81 million won a year, compared with 27.04 million won for the bottom 20%. Across the 3,004 households surveyed, the average total income was 64.23 million won, higher than the median income of 58 million won—suggesting a relatively larger share of low-income households. The institute cautioned, however, that the sample may have underrepresented low-income groups and “should be interpreted with care.”

Among respondents, 7.3% experienced at least one form of deprivation—such as arrears on rent or utilities, heating cutoffs, or foregoing medical treatment—at least once. A further 2.3% were categorized as poor, unable to sustain basic living standards in areas like holidays, leisure, or meals. Poverty incidence was highest among those aged 70 and older at 5.3%.

Spending gaps between poor and non-poor households were also pronounced.

Non-poor households reported average monthly living expenses of 2.86 million won, 2.3 times the 1.15 million won reported by poor households. Notably, poor households spent more on medical costs (42,000 won versus 35,000 won). The share citing medical expenses as a burden was more than double among the poor (37.0%) than the non-poor (16.7%).

Average assets per surveyed household stood at 600 million won, with average liabilities of 45 million won and net assets of 560 million won. Overall, 38.9% of households carried debt, with debtor households owing an average of 115.65 million won. More than half (58.3%) reported repayment burdens.

Housing costs remain heavy. Seoul’s price-to-income ratio (PIR) averaged 11.4, while the rent-to-income ratio (RIR) for tenant households was 37.7%.

On mental health, 23.6% reported experiencing depressive symptoms over the past year, with the rate highest among seniors (32.6%).

Feelings of loneliness were reported by 46.6% of respondents overall, with seniors (62.0%) outpacing middle-aged adults (54.0%), those in their 40s (44.9%), and young adults (36.5%). Social isolation was reported by 7.7%.

The share of youth aged 15–29 classified as NEET—neither in employment, education, nor training—rose to 4.6%, up from 3.6% in the 2022 survey.