Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Chile

Santiago vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 34.7% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 3.4 times more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 20.5% more in Santiago
Transportation: pay 41.3% more in Santiago
Housing: pay 16.8% more in Santiago
Childcare: pay 32.3% less in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Santiago
Clothing: pay 15.9% less in Santiago

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

Planning a move to Chile? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Santiago vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$10.23 CLF0.2600	+431.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$8.70 CLF0.2200	+88.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.71 CLF0.0400	+217.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$1.25 CLF0.0300	+276.1%
Average			+239.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.5% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.81 CLF0.0500	+68.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$5.64 CLF0.1400	-6.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$4.81 CLF0.1200	-21.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$4.18 CLF0.1000	+157.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$3.11 CLF0.0800	+89.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$0.90 CLF0.0200	-33.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.70 CLF0.0200	+20.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.74 CLF0.0200	+2.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.78 CLF0.0200	+35.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.49 CLF0.0100	-9.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.68 CLF0.0200	+28.3%
Average			+20.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.3% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.77 CLF0.1400	+62.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$40.93 CLF1.0200	+254.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$17,743.12 CLF443.5100	-42.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$7.37 CLF0.1800	+27.0%
Average			+41.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.8% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$19.07 CLF0.4800	+82.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$552.81 CLF13.8200	-5.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$376.90 CLF9.4200	+26.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$113.86 CLF2.8500	+43.7%
Average			+16.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.3% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$432.52 CLF10.8100	-1.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$10,959.69 CLF273.9500	-53.5%
Average			-32.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$4.09 CLF0.1000	+296.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$3.25 CLF0.0800	+79.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$5.22 CLF0.1300	+323.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$33.92 CLF0.8500	+30.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$7.52 CLF0.1900	+117.1%
Average			+122.0%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.9% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$50.25 CLF1.2600	-2.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$28.71 CLF0.7200	-17.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$66.29 CLF1.6600	-27.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$80.84 CLF2.0200	-14.6%
Average			-15.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santiago

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Santiago?

Size Comparison · See true size

Ho Chi Minh City is about 3.3 times bigger than Santiago.

More cost comparisons

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Moscow

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Warsaw

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Quito

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Reykjavik

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Madrid

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Vienna

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Beijing

Ho Chi Minh City vs.

Ottawa

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Vietnam vs. Chile. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Vietnam and Chile.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ho Chi Minh City

Add prices for Santiago

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Santiago or Ho Chi Minh City. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.