Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 99.8% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 69.4% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 82.5% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8 times more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 8.3% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$8.96 ₩11,955	+365.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.46 ₩9,962	+61.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.58 ₩2,112	+194.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.79 ₩1,049	+136.9%
Average			+187.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$3.10 ₩4,134	+188.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$8.84 ₩11,798	+46.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$7.79 ₩10,403	+27.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$3.61 ₩4,813	+122.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$4.74 ₩6,328	+188.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$3.46 ₩4,624	+154.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$1.57 ₩2,091	+171.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$2.59 ₩3,462	+258.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$2.83 ₩3,782	+391.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$1.66 ₩2,211	+204.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$1.16 ₩1,542	+118.9%
Average			+153.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 69.4% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.53 ₩7,384	+55.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$46.28 ₩61,767	+300.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$29,385.60 ₩39M	-4.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$8.51 ₩11,357	+46.6%
Average			+69.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.5% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$20.82 ₩27,787	+99.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$886.39 ₩1M	+51.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$620.25 ₩828K	+108.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$162.69 ₩217K	+105.3%
Average			+82.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+339.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$22,602.27 ₩30M	-4.1%
Average			+105.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$3.73 ₩4,981	+261.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$4.10 ₩5,473	+126.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$3.36 ₩4,483	+172.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$58.22 ₩77,707	+124.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$11.20 ₩14,944	+223.2%
Average			+176.2%

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

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pay 8.3% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$57.88 ₩77,255	+12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$32.77 ₩43,743	-5.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$69.99 ₩93,417	-23.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$82.45 ₩110K	-12.9%
Average			-8.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Seoul - 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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