Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Philippines

Cebu vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Cebu is 5.9% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 35.4% more in Cebu
Groceries: pay 27.6% more in Cebu
Transportation: pay 4.7% less in Cebu
Housing: pay 2.3% more in Cebu
Childcare: pay 53.7% less in Cebu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.3% more in Cebu
Clothing: pay 23.0% less in Cebu

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, and housing in Cebu are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and transportation are lower in Cebu.

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Cebu vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 35.4% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,427	$3.02 ₱190.63	+57.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$3.98 ₱251.49	-13.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,793	$1.58 ₱99.44	+193.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,520	$0.51 ₱32.47	+55.1%
Average			+35.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.6% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,617	$1.39 ₱87.81	+29.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫155K	$4.99 ₱314.64	-17.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫157K	$7.45 ₱470.31	+21.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,667	$2.01 ₱126.68	+23.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,224	$2.04 ₱128.61	+24.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫34,975	$1.54 ₱97.24	+13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,832	$0.65 ₱40.78	+11.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,564	$1.06 ₱67.20	+47.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,797	$0.69 ₱43.29	+19.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫13,990	$1.08 ₱68.33	+98.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,552	$0.88 ₱55.49	+66.6%
Average			+27.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.7% less for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,204	$5.11 ₱322.37	+43.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫297K	$12.43 ₱784.66	+7.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫789M	$21,359.52 ₱1M	-30.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫149K	$2.49 ₱156.93	-57.1%
Average			-4.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫269K	$27.82 ₱1,755.69	+165.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$508.05 ₱32,062.99	-13.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$303.66 ₱19,163.72	+2.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$92.43 ₱5,833.21	+16.6%
Average			+2.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - Cost of housing

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pay 53.7% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$276.74 ₱17,464.80	-36.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫605M	$8,014.25 ₱506K	-66.0%
Average			-53.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,545	$1.75 ₱110.66	+69.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,596	$2.52 ₱159.28	+39.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,633	$2.94 ₱185.36	+138.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫665K	$32.41 ₱2,045.47	+25.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫88,969	$5.58 ₱352.09	+61.1%
Average			+54.3%

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

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pay 23.0% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cebu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$48.78 ₱3,078.69	-5.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫889K	$25.04 ₱1,580.12	-27.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$76.71 ₱4,841.08	-16.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$58.05 ₱3,663.52	-38.7%
Average			-23.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cebu - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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