Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Grand Rapids Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 60.0% cheaper than Grand Rapids.

Restaurants: pay 80.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 53.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 43.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 65.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 26.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 71.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 28.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, transportation, and clothing are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Grand Rapids Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Grand Rapids, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 80.9% less for restaurants

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.97	$1.92 ₫49,735	-90.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$4.62 ₫119K	-53.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.85	$0.54 ₫13,878	-81.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71	$0.33 ₫8,573	-80.6%
Average			-80.9%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.5% less for groceries

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$3.69	$1.08 ₫27,789	-70.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.68	$6.05 ₫156K	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.07	$6.13 ₫158K	+99.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.40	$1.62 ₫41,927	-63.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.27	$1.64 ₫42,487	-73.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.23	$1.36 ₫35,193	-38.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74	$0.58 ₫14,924	-22.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.53	$0.72 ₫18,679	-71.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.83	$0.58 ₫14,889	-79.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.97	$0.54 ₫14,077	-43.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66	$0.53 ₫13,636	-68.2%
Average			-53.5%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.7% less for transportation

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.07	$3.55 ₫91,772	-12.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.00	$11.55 ₫298K	-75.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,033.00	$30,715.02 ₫794M	-14.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.70	$5.80 ₫150K	-72.0%
Average			-43.7%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 65.4% less for housing

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.14	$10.46 ₫270K	-85.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,655.80	$585.86 ₫15M	-64.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,082.17	$297.81 ₫8M	-72.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.50	$79.24 ₫2M	-20.4%
Average			-65.4%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 26.5% less for childcare

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$909.29	$438.36 ₫11M	-51.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,000.00	$23,561.82 ₫609M	+12.2%
Average			-26.5%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 71.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$1.03 ₫26,710	-82.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.50	$1.81 ₫46,887	-59.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.75	$1.23 ₫31,830	-88.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.00	$25.91 ₫670K	-48.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.50	$3.46 ₫89,523	-74.3%
Average			-71.5%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.3% less for clothing

	Grand Rapids	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.00	$51.59 ₫1M	-20.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$78.33	$34.61 ₫894K	-55.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$98.75	$91.59 ₫2M	-7.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$116.67	$94.62 ₫2M	-18.9%
Average			-28.3%

Grand Rapids vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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

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