Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Indonesia

Batam vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Batam is 30.8% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 4.6% less in Batam
Groceries: pay 8.8% less in Batam
Transportation: pay 8.6% less in Batam
Housing: pay 45.2% less in Batam
Childcare: pay 83.7% less in Batam
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.2% more in Batam
Clothing: pay 50.5% less in Batam

Expenses including childcare, clothing, housing, groceries, transportation, and restaurants are lower in Batam.

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Batam vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.6% less for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$1.96 IDR35,387.21	+1.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$3.91 IDR70,774.42	-15.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$0.63 IDR11,363.01	+16.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$0.30 IDR5,349.47	-10.9%
Average			-4.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.8% less for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$1.09 IDR19,715.73	+1.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$3.69 IDR66,792.48	-39.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$4.39 IDR79,416.28	-28.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$1.26 IDR22,799.47	-22.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$1.11 IDR20,064.23	-32.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$1.01 IDR18,229.79	-26.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.91 IDR16,523.25	+58.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$0.93 IDR16,833.40	+28.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$0.46 IDR8,407.87	-19.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$0.42 IDR7,643.52	-22.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$0.88 IDR15,912.65	+66.7%
Average			-8.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.6% less for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$3.14 IDR56,807.93	-11.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$27,939.41 IDR506M	-9.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$6.03 IDR109K	+4.0%
Average			-8.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.2% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$23.28 IDR421K	+122.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$272.41 IDR5M	-53.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$149.01 IDR3M	-50.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$53.50 IDR968K	-32.5%
Average			-45.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - Cost of housing

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pay 83.7% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$83.82 IDR2M	-80.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$3,259.60 IDR59M	-86.2%
Average			-83.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$2.51 IDR45,497.84	+143.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$2.10 IDR37,914.87	+15.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$2.79 IDR50,553.15	+126.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$27.01 IDR489K	+4.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$2.65 IDR48,025.50	-23.4%
Average			+26.2%

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

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pay 50.5% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Batam
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$31.66 IDR573K	-38.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$18.63 IDR337K	-46.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$65.19 IDR1M	-28.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$24.21 IDR438K	-74.4%
Average			-50.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Batam - 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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