Cost of living comparison

Cambodia

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Cambodia Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 28.4% more expensive than Cambodia overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.0% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 7.4% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 37.6% more in Laos
Housing: pay 85.0% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 22.4% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.8% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 49.6% more in Laos

The cost of housing, clothing, transportation, and childcare in Laos are more expensive than in Cambodia. Expenses including restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Laos. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Laos.

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Laos vs. Cambodia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Cambodia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.0% less for restaurants

	Cambodia	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.38 KHR13,738.35	$2.23 LAK50,211	-34.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.88 KHR27,985.53	$5.35 LAK121K	-22.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KHR4,363.14	$0.79 LAK17,779	-26.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 KHR2,361.81	$0.46 LAK10,439	-20.2%
Average			-28.0%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.4% less for groceries

	Cambodia	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 KHR6,717.92	$1.14 LAK25,737	-30.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.35 KHR29,907.76	$12.87 LAK290K	+75.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.40 KHR34,176.45	$6.94 LAK156K	-17.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 KHR7,093.06	$1.87 LAK42,101	+7.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.70 KHR6,906.92	$2.81 LAK63,330	+65.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 KHR7,202.01	$0.84 LAK18,975	-52.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 KHR2,534.96	$0.52 LAK11,662	-16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.84 KHR7,504.61	$1.19 LAK26,832	-35.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 KHR2,959.38	$0.69 LAK15,639	-4.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 KHR2,503.42	$0.66 LAK14,918	+7.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 KHR2,159.27	$0.49 LAK10,995	-8.0%
Average			-7.4%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.6% more for transportation

	Cambodia	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.99 KHR20,294.27	$5.01 LAK113K	+0.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.30 KHR50,068.65	$52.98 LAK1M	+330.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,666.67 KHR129M	$27,872.00 LAK628M	-12.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.04 KHR40,862.10	$9.14 LAK206K	-9.0%
Average			+37.6%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 85.0% more for housing

	Cambodia	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.97 KHR81,299.37	$9.51 LAK214K	-52.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$399.26 KHR2M	$885.68 LAK20M	+121.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$267.29 KHR1M	$631.74 LAK14M	+136.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.60 KHR287K	$65.79 LAK1M	-6.8%
Average			+85.0%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 22.4% more for childcare

	Cambodia	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$425.04 KHR2M	$435.49 LAK10M	+2.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,825.90 KHR28M	$9,982.68 LAK225M	+46.2%
Average			+22.4%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Cambodia	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.09 KHR4,452.24	$1.32 LAK29,812	+21.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 KHR8,832.73	$1.66 LAK37,366	-23.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 KHR6,465.50	$1.78 LAK40,169	+12.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.12 KHR200K	$64.54 LAK1M	+31.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 KHR20,353.11	$3.32 LAK74,750	-33.7%
Average			-3.8%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 49.6% more for clothing

	Cambodia	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$27.42 KHR112K	$48.46 LAK1M	+76.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.11 KHR77,794.11	$62.95 LAK1M	+229.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.47 KHR340K	$64.36 LAK1M	-22.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.28 KHR168K	$46.02 LAK1M	+11.5%
Average			+49.6%

Cambodia vs. Laos - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Cambodia vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 4.6 times more likely to be unemployed in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Cambodia is about 1.3 times smaller than Laos.

Moving from Cambodia to Laos · UN DESA 2020

3,667 people born in Cambodia live in Laos.

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