Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Nepal

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Kathmandu is 41.7% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 10.3% more in Kathmandu
Groceries: pay 38.8% less in Kathmandu
Transportation: pay 14.2% more in Kathmandu
Housing: pay 63.7% less in Kathmandu
Childcare: pay 81.5% less in Kathmandu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.6% more in Kathmandu
Clothing: pay 47.5% less in Kathmandu

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

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Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.3% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$1.94 NPR294.83	+0.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.75 NPR1,179.32	+67.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.52 NPR78.70	-3.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.14 NPR21.97	-56.5%
Average			+10.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.8% less for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$0.59 NPR90.29	-44.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$3.64 NPR553.63	-39.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$2.79 NPR423.66	-54.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$1.69 NPR256.26	+3.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$1.40 NPR213.38	-14.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$0.91 NPR137.93	-33.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.53 NPR80.24	-8.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.63 NPR96.40	-12.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.25 NPR38.45	-56.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.18 NPR27.16	-67.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.23 NPR35.38	-55.9%
Average			-38.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.2% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.12 NPR778.50	+44.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$9.69 NPR1,474.16	-16.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$29,079.65 NPR4M	-5.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$11.08 NPR1,685.45	+91.0%
Average			+14.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - Cost of transportation

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pay 63.7% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$8.95 NPR1,360.76	-14.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$219.17 NPR33,332.28	-62.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$101.02 NPR15,363.97	-66.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$23.92 NPR3,638.09	-69.8%
Average			-63.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - Cost of housing

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pay 81.5% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$65.27 NPR9,925.98	-85.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$5,431.44 NPR826K	-76.9%
Average			-81.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$3.09 NPR469.27	+198.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$1.51 NPR230.34	-16.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$2.46 NPR373.45	+99.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$21.54 NPR3,275.90	-16.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$2.91 NPR442.25	-16.1%
Average			+17.6%

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

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pay 47.5% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kathmandu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$24.97 NPR3,797.07	-51.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$26.44 NPR4,020.42	-23.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$62.68 NPR9,532.87	-31.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$28.43 NPR4,324.19	-70.0%
Average			-47.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu - 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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