Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 2.1 times more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 4.4 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 82.5% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 89.1% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 27.4% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 44.3% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.4 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+533.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+151.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+400.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$1.89 CRC858.35	+468.5%
Average			+342.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+187.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	-11.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+46.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+115.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+186.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+70.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.73 CRC330.88	+25.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$2.15 CRC979.64	+197.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$1.76 CRC799.36	+204.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$1.73 CRC787.71	+217.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$1.66 CRC755.96	+214.8%
Average			+114.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 82.5% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+63.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+469.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-28.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+160.8%
Average			+82.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.1% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+465.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$942.15 CRC429K	+60.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$758.77 CRC345K	+154.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	-8.7%
Average			+89.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 27.4% more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$980.95 CRC446K	+123.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$17,102.76 CRC8M	-27.4%
Average			+27.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+217.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+144.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+380.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+181.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	+121.3%
Average			+178.6%

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

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pay 44.3% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+38.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+61.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+40.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+38.9%
Average			+44.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Jose - 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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