Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Philippines

Makati vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Makati is 46.5% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 95.0% more in Makati
Groceries: pay 53.9% more in Makati
Transportation: pay 37.1% more in Makati
Housing: pay 48.0% more in Makati
Childcare: pay 24.2% less in Makati
Entertainment and Sports: pay 98.8% more in Makati
Clothing: pay 5.2% more in Makati

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

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Makati vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 95.0% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$6.38 ₱405.63	+231.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$4.78 ₱304.22	+3.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$1.10 ₱69.72	+104.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$0.52 ₱33.24	+57.5%
Average			+95.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.9% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$1.26 ₱80.28	+17.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$3.61 ₱229.43	-40.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$7.09 ₱451.28	+15.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$2.42 ₱154.00	+49.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$2.23 ₱142.06	+35.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$1.85 ₱117.71	+35.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.90 ₱57.08	+55.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$1.46 ₱93.14	+102.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$1.06 ₱67.46	+84.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$1.61 ₱102.42	+195.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$1.59 ₱101.19	+201.5%
Average			+53.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$4.87 ₱310.02	+37.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	$57.38 ₱3,650.64	+397.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$21,359.52 ₱1M	-30.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$2.42 ₱154.14	-58.2%
Average			+37.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.0% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$32.27 ₱2,052.98	+208.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$819.67 ₱52,145.57	+39.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$423.47 ₱26,940.38	+42.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$118.47 ₱7,537.07	+49.5%
Average			+48.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - Cost of housing

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pay 24.2% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$797.00 ₱50,703.34	+81.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$7,438.64 ₱473K	-68.4%
Average			-24.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - Cost of childcare

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pay 98.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$2.39 ₱152.11	+131.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$2.62 ₱166.69	+44.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$2.62 ₱166.81	+112.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$54.99 ₱3,498.53	+112.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$7.17 ₱456.33	+107.1%
Average			+98.8%

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

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pay 5.2% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Makati
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$60.56 ₱3,852.95	+17.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$37.19 ₱2,366.16	+7.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$81.29 ₱5,171.74	-11.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$103.61 ₱6,591.43	+9.5%
Average			+5.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Makati - 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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