Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Santo Domingo is 30.6% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.8 times more in Santo Domingo
Groceries: pay 21.3% more in Santo Domingo
Transportation: pay 35.7% more in Santo Domingo
Housing: pay 21.4% more in Santo Domingo
Childcare: pay 57.5% less in Santo Domingo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 80.9% more in Santo Domingo
Clothing: pay 10.6% more in Santo Domingo

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

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Santo Domingo vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.8 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$9.95 DOP611.16	+416.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.54 DOP463.46	+63.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.04 DOP63.95	+93.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.57 DOP35.01	+71.8%
Average			+180.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.3% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.51 DOP93.03	+40.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$3.62 DOP222.50	-40.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$5.19 DOP318.59	-15.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.34 DOP143.71	+44.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$2.53 DOP155.32	+53.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$1.45 DOP88.96	+6.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.37 DOP22.53	-36.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$1.24 DOP75.89	+70.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.83 DOP51.09	+44.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.91 DOP56.14	+67.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$1.00 DOP61.45	+89.6%
Average			+21.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.7% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.38 DOP330.30	+51.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$18.24 DOP1,120.45	+58.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$23,212.79 DOP1M	-24.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$21.22 DOP1,303.80	+265.8%
Average			+35.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.4% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	+247.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$721.96 DOP44,352.33	+23.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$350.20 DOP21,513.82	+17.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	-10.5%
Average			+21.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of housing

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pay 57.5% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$252.26 DOP15,497.20	-42.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$7,399.96 DOP455K	-68.6%
Average			-57.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - Cost of childcare

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pay 80.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.49 DOP152.79	+140.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$2.27 DOP139.64	+25.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$5.32 DOP326.97	+332.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$29.64 DOP1,820.74	+14.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$7.46 DOP458.37	+115.4%
Average			+80.9%

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

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pay 10.6% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Santo Domingo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$45.80 DOP2,813.91	-11.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$46.66 DOP2,866.62	+34.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$87.04 DOP5,346.99	-5.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$124.34 DOP7,638.61	+31.4%
Average			+10.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santo Domingo - 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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