Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Malaysia

Kuching vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Kuching is 5.4% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 38.6% more in Kuching
Groceries: pay 20.4% more in Kuching
Transportation: pay 14.6% more in Kuching
Housing: pay 32.4% less in Kuching
Childcare: pay 69.9% less in Kuching
Entertainment and Sports: pay 95.8% more in Kuching
Clothing: pay 2.6% less in Kuching

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

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Kuching vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.6% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$3.43 MYR14.00	+78.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$4.89 MYR19.99	+6.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$0.77 MYR3.17	+44.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$0.37 MYR1.50	+10.6%
Average			+38.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.4% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$1.23 MYR5.04	+14.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$5.44 MYR22.24	-10.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$8.83 MYR36.06	+44.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$2.43 MYR9.95	+50.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$1.98 MYR8.08	+20.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$1.47 MYR6.00	+7.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.62 MYR2.52	+6.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$1.11 MYR4.53	+53.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$0.82 MYR3.34	+42.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$0.62 MYR2.53	+13.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$0.53 MYR2.16	+0.1%
Average			+20.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.6% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$3.24 MYR13.25	-8.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	$12.24 MYR49.98	+6.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$41,736.41 MYR171K	+35.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$10.77 MYR43.99	+85.6%
Average			+14.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - Cost of transportation

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pay 32.4% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$25.53 MYR104.30	+144.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$364.12 MYR1,487.53	-37.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$240.79 MYR983.69	-19.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$27.04 MYR110.46	-65.9%
Average			-32.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - Cost of housing

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pay 69.9% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$133.36 MYR544.83	-69.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$7,014.80 MYR28,657.55	-70.2%
Average			-69.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - Cost of childcare

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pay 95.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$4.65 MYR18.99	+349.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$3.23 MYR13.21	+78.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$4.64 MYR18.94	+276.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$29.98 MYR122.46	+15.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$4.89 MYR19.99	+41.3%
Average			+95.8%

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

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pay 2.6% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Kuching
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$62.95 MYR257.17	+22.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$37.19 MYR151.95	+7.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$90.85 MYR371.13	-0.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$65.40 MYR267.16	-30.9%
Average			-2.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kuching - 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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