Cost of living comparison
compared to
Cartagena vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary
Cartagena is 85.7% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.
Cartagena vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Cartagena instead of Ho Chi Minh City, you would:
pay 3.1 times more for restaurants
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$1.92
₫49,427
|
$5.71
COP18,489.52
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$4.62
₫119K
|
$10.21
COP33,031.91
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.54
₫13,793
|
$2.51
COP8,138.85
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.33
₫8,520
|
$2.31
COP7,472.56
|
|
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.2 times more for groceries
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.08
₫27,617
|
$2.78
COP8,994.90
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.05
₫155K
|
$6.61
COP21,387.88
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.13
₫157K
|
$7.05
COP22,811.88
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$1.62
₫41,667
|
$4.86
COP15,741.08
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$1.64
₫42,224
|
$7.82
COP25,296.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.36
₫34,975
|
?? | |
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.58
₫14,832
|
?? | |
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.72
₫18,564
|
?? | |
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.58
₫14,797
|
?? | |
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.54
₫13,990
|
?? | |
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.53
₫13,552
|
?? | |
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of groceries
pay 83.8% more for transportation
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.55
₫91,204
|
$4.91
COP15,878.35
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$11.55
₫297K
|
$57.81
COP187K
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$30,715.02
₫789M
|
$23,157.99
COP75M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$5.80
₫149K
|
$34.28
COP111K
|
|
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of transportation
pay 59.5% more for housing
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$10.46
₫269K
|
?? | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$585.86
₫15M
|
$1,028.35
COP3M
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$297.81
₫8M
|
$574.35
COP2M
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$79.24
₫2M
|
$59.04
COP191K
|
|
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of housing
pay 41.6% less for childcare
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$438.36
₫11M
|
$617.63
COP2M
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,561.82
₫605M
|
$5,713.07
COP18M
|
|
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of childcare
pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.03
₫26,545
|
$3.21
COP10,394.11
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.81
₫46,596
|
$4.32
COP13,992.07
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$1.23
₫31,633
|
?? | |
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$25.91
₫665K
|
$93.02
COP301K
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$3.46
₫88,969
|
$8.03
COP25,985.28
|
|
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Ho Chi Minh City
|
Cartagena
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.59
₫1M
|
?? | |
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$34.61
₫889K
|
?? | |
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.59
₫2M
|
?? | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$94.62
₫2M
|
?? |
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cartagena - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this
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