Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

El Salvador

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

San Salvador is 64.1% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 71.9% more in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 64.7% more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 92.6% more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 72.7% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.1% more in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 29.6% more in San Salvador

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

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San Salvador vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$6.75 SVC59.06	+250.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.00 SVC61.25	+51.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.14 SVC10.01	+113.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.83 SVC7.29	+151.2%
Average			+140.6%

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

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pay 71.9% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$2.85 SVC24.94	+165.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$3.85 SVC33.72	-36.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$6.95 SVC60.81	+13.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$3.02 SVC26.39	+85.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$3.16 SVC27.66	+92.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$2.29 SVC20.07	+68.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.63 SVC5.54	+9.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$1.18 SVC10.35	+63.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$1.56 SVC13.68	+171.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$1.33 SVC11.65	+144.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$1.49 SVC13.05	+182.7%
Average			+71.9%

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

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pay 64.7% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$4.75 SVC41.60	+33.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$37.50 SVC328.13	+224.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$25,000.00 SVC219K	-18.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$30.00 SVC262.50	+417.0%
Average			+64.7%

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

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pay 92.6% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$42.50 SVC371.88	+306.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$898.99 SVC7,866.27	+53.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$770.00 SVC6,737.58	+158.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$99.35 SVC869.35	+25.4%
Average			+92.6%

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

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pay 72.7% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$162.67 SVC1,423.35	-62.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$4,720.00 SVC41,300.50	-80.0%
Average			-72.7%

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

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pay 69.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.00 SVC17.50	+93.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$3.55 SVC31.02	+95.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$4.00 SVC35.00	+224.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$31.60 SVC276.50	+22.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$5.00 SVC43.75	+44.3%
Average			+69.1%

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

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pay 29.6% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$67.15 SVC587.57	+30.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$47.00 SVC411.25	+35.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$118.33 SVC1,035.43	+29.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$117.00 SVC1,023.76	+23.7%
Average			+29.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Salvador - 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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