Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

South Africa

Sandton vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Sandton is 31.4% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.8 times more in Sandton
Groceries: pay 12.5% more in Sandton
Transportation: pay 37.1% more in Sandton
Housing: pay 29.4% more in Sandton
Childcare: pay 57.3% less in Sandton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 78.3% more in Sandton
Clothing: pay 10.2% more in Sandton

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

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Sandton vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.8 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$10.82 ZAR178.40	+462.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$5.71 ZAR94.15	+23.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.06 ZAR17.48	+97.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.85 ZAR14.04	+156.6%
Average			+175.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.5% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.10 ZAR18.21	+2.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$4.31 ZAR71.09	-28.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$4.45 ZAR73.36	-27.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+64.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$2.23 ZAR36.86	+35.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-31.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.82 ZAR13.49	+41.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.83 ZAR13.63	+14.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.83 ZAR13.71	+44.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.70 ZAR11.46	+27.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.79 ZAR13.04	+49.8%
Average			+12.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.75 ZAR94.81	+61.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$7.51 ZAR123.89	+29.4%
Average			+37.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.4% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$36.83 ZAR607.50	+252.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$540.64 ZAR8,917.37	-7.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$440.65 ZAR7,268.03	+48.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$126.36 ZAR2,084.21	+59.5%
Average			+29.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - Cost of housing

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pay 57.3% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$260.78 ZAR4,301.35	-40.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$7,210.58 ZAR119K	-69.4%
Average			-57.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - Cost of childcare

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pay 78.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.25 ZAR37.17	+118.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$2.44 ZAR40.27	+34.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$3.25 ZAR53.60	+163.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$36.05 ZAR594.66	+39.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+108.2%
Average			+78.3%

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

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pay 10.2% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Sandton
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+11.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+32.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$96.14 ZAR1,585.75	+5.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-4.7%
Average			+10.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Sandton - 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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