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Young people who move to greater Seoul see nearly 25% rise in income

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 18:33

Job seekers read notices for positions at a job festival held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, on Dec. 2. [YONHAP]

Young people who moved from provincial areas to the greater Seoul area saw their income rise by an average of 23 percent, according to a new report Wednesday.

The increase was particularly notable among women — a reflection, analysts say, of the lower quality of jobs available to women outside of the capital region.

Seven out of 10 income earners who relocated from noncapital regions to the Seoul metropolitan area in 2023 were below 39, according to a report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Their average annual income rose from 24.39 million won ($16,620) in 2022 to 29.96 million won in 2023, a 22.8 percent increase. That figure is nearly double the 12.1 percent increase for young people who remained in noncapital regions.

In contrast, those who moved from the capital area to noncapital regions saw their income rise by just 7.6 percent. Even those who stayed in the capital area posted an average increase of 11.2 percent — suggesting a relative income disadvantage for those leaving the Seoul area.

Women who moved to the capital region saw their income increase by 25.5 percent, 4.2 percentage points higher than the 21.3 percent increase for men. The Data Ministry noted that noncapital regions tend to have more manufacturing-oriented jobs, which are typically male-dominated, making it harder for women to find high-quality employment.

However, the income gap by gender remained wide. In the capital region, men earned an average of 35.31 million won, more than 10 million won higher than women, who earned 24.06 million won on average.

Job seekers fill out application forms at a job fair held at Bexco in Busan on Oct. 27. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Men were also less likely to fall into the lowest income quintile, with 17.1 percent in the bottom tier compared to 25.2 percent of women.

Regionally, young women from Daegu and North Gyeongsang showed the most dramatic income gains after relocating to the capital, seeing a 37.4 percent rise in income — the highest among all five major regions, including the capital.

Even those from the Daegu-North Gyeongsang region who moved to other noncapital regions saw a 16.4 percent income increase, creating a 21 percentage point gap depending on whether they moved to the capital or not. This suggests that youth in the Daegu- North Gyeongsang area face significant barriers to finding well-paying jobs in their home region.

In terms of upward income mobility, 35.1 percent of young people from the region who relocated elsewhere moved into a higher income bracket — the highest proportion in the country.

That was followed by the southeast region at 33.8 percent, the southwest at 31.7 percent, the Chungcheong region at 30.7 percent and the capital area at 24.1 percent.

A person reads a book at a bookstore in Seoul on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

The steady outflow of young people from provincial areas continues to fuel labor shortages for local businesses and exacerbate economic stagnation — a vicious cycle that has persisted for decades.

Meanwhile, the capital region faces its own challenges, including traffic congestion, soaring housing prices and declining birth rates due to population concentration.

Experts say reducing wage and industrial disparities between regions will require creating quality jobs in regional hub cities.

“Large corporations and sectors like AI and information and communication technologies are heavily concentrated in Seoul and the surrounding area,” said Yoon Dong-yeol, a professor of business administration at Konkuk University. “The capital simply offers more specialized and high-paying job opportunities.”

“Rather than trying to lure young people back to the provinces with subsidies,” Yoon added. “We need to foster anchor industries tailored to each region to generate more high-income jobs.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM KYUNG-HEE [[email protected]]