Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

United States

Detroit vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Detroit is 2.6 times more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 5.6 times more in Detroit
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in Detroit
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Detroit
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Detroit
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Detroit
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.4 times more in Detroit
Clothing: pay 16.0% more in Detroit

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, childcare, and groceries in Detroit are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Detroit.

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Detroit vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.6 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$18.00	+835.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$13.00	+181.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$3.17	+491.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$1.98	+496.2%
Average			+460.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$3.53	+228.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$6.78	+12.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$3.84	-37.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$3.90	+140.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$5.14	+212.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$2.27	+66.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.71	+23.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$2.05	+183.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$2.17	+276.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$1.15	+110.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$1.39	+164.3%
Average			+100.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$4.22	+18.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$120.00	+939.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$36,033.00	+17.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$15.40	+165.4%
Average			+120.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$68.92	+558.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$1,520.00	+159.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$922.33	+209.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$164.69	+107.8%
Average			+182.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$1,368.37	+212.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$32,070.71	+36.1%
Average			+106.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$8.00	+674.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$5.61	+209.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$10.40	+744.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$34.00	+31.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$12.00	+246.4%
Average			+241.1%

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

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pay 16.0% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Detroit
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$59.09	+14.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$41.44	+19.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$96.30	+5.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$118.63	+25.4%
Average			+16.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Detroit - 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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