Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Hanoi Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 60.0% more expensive than Hanoi.

Restaurants: pay 37.5% more in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 41.7% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 95.5% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 12.7% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.6% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 23.4% more in Vientiane

The cost of transportation, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Vientiane are more expensive than in Hanoi. Notably, transportation and housing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Hanoi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Hanoi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.5% more for restaurants

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.89 ₫49,824	$2.31 LAK49,962	+21.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.32 ₫113,598	$5.54 LAK119,908	+28.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ₫12,456	$0.62 LAK13,417	+30.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 ₫6,469	$0.42 LAK8,993	+69.0%
Average			+37.5%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.7% more for groceries

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 ₫23,820	$1.17 LAK25,263	+28.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.95 ₫130,338	$13.94 LAK301,703	+181.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.27 ₫138,746	$7.32 LAK158,409	+38.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.51 ₫39,652	$1.81 LAK39,209	+20.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.59 ₫41,792	$2.99 LAK64,760	+88.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.44 ₫37,756	$0.90 LAK19,388	-37.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 ₫12,368	$0.50 LAK10,827	+6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.66 ₫17,384	$0.94 LAK20,320	+42.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ₫13,149	$0.61 LAK13,144	+21.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 ₫11,623	$0.74 LAK16,015	+67.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 ₫12,128	$0.47 LAK10,072	+0.9%
Average			+41.7%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.20 ₫84,298	$5.18 LAK112,095	+61.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.58 ₫199,294	$50.18 LAK1,086,126	+562.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,880.00 ₫996,471,280	$28,736.24 LAK621,991,096	-24.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.61 ₫147,478	$10.86 LAK235,028	+93.7%
Average			+173.4%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 95.5% more for housing

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.67 ₫228,192	$11.39 LAK246,478	+31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$348.52 ₫9,168,206	$866.78 LAK18,761,296	+148.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$258.44 ₫6,798,631	$784.74 LAK16,985,533	+203.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$56.25 ₫1,479,584	$55.21 LAK1,194,967	-1.8%
Average			+95.5%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 12.7% more for childcare

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$231.49 ₫6,089,547	$338.54 LAK7,327,607	+46.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,784.89 ₫310,013,287	$9,334.55 LAK202,044,727	-20.8%
Average			+12.7%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 ₫24,912	$1.50 LAK32,475	+58.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 ₫47,146	$1.73 LAK37,470	-3.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.33 ₫34,876	$1.96 LAK42,468	+48.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.93 ₫734,784	$50.52 LAK1,093,567	+80.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.79 ₫99,647	$3.56 LAK77,021	-6.1%
Average			+35.6%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% more for clothing

	Hanoi	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.82 ₫1,100,025	$27.70 LAK599,542	-33.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.94 ₫603,419	$69.25 LAK1,498,854	+201.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.52 ₫2,276,000	$58.22 LAK1,260,106	-32.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.39 ₫1,904,367	$42.19 LAK913,170	-41.7%
Average			+23.4%

Hanoi vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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