Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

United States

Irvine vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Irvine is 3.5 times more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 6.1 times more in Irvine
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Irvine
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Irvine
Housing: pay 5.4 times more in Irvine
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Irvine
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.7 times more in Irvine
Clothing: pay 27.5% more in Irvine

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

Planning a move to United States? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Irvine vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.1 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$25.00	+1199.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$11.50	+149.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$2.75	+412.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$2.00	+502.9%
Average			+514.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$5.75	+434.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$6.22	+2.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$4.43	-27.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$5.00	+208.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$9.36	+469.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$2.50	+83.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.79	+37.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$1.91	+164.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$2.96	+414.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$1.63	+199.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$1.61	+205.1%
Average			+148.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$5.87	+65.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	$72.00	+523.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$36,998.00	+20.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$19.41	+234.6%
Average			+124.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.4 times more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$70.00	+569.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$2,890.00	+393.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$2,432.50	+716.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$164.38	+107.4%
Average			+438.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$1,950.00	+344.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$42,700.00	+81.2%
Average			+183.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.7 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$8.00	+674.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$5.67	+212.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$11.71	+850.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$42.50	+64.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$12.00	+246.4%
Average			+265.7%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.5% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Irvine
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$73.75	+43.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$40.75	+17.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$80.00	-12.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$170.00	+79.7%
Average			+27.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Ho Chi Minh City vs. Irvine

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Irvine?

Size Comparison · See true size

Ho Chi Minh City is about 40 times bigger than Irvine.

More cost comparisons

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Dublin

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Lima

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Reykjavik

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Sydney

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Cairo

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Madrid

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Berlin

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Vietnam vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Vietnam and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ho Chi Minh City

Add prices for Irvine

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Irvine or Ho Chi Minh City. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.