Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

South Africa

Stellenbosch vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Stellenbosch is 24.7% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Stellenbosch
Groceries: pay 5.0% more in Stellenbosch
Transportation: pay 41.6% more in Stellenbosch
Housing: pay 35.9% more in Stellenbosch
Childcare: pay 75.6% less in Stellenbosch
Entertainment and Sports: pay 78.6% more in Stellenbosch
Clothing: pay 1.7% more in Stellenbosch

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

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Stellenbosch vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$7.21 ZAR118.93	+274.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$4.81 ZAR79.29	+4.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.96 ZAR15.86	+79.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.74 ZAR12.22	+123.4%
Average			+111.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.0% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$1.13 ZAR18.58	+4.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$4.39 ZAR72.41	-27.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$4.99 ZAR82.36	-18.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.88 ZAR47.44	+77.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$2.63 ZAR43.46	+60.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$0.79 ZAR13.03	-42.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.65 ZAR10.79	+13.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.77 ZAR12.72	+6.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.71 ZAR11.69	+23.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.48 ZAR7.86	-12.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.68 ZAR11.24	+29.1%
Average			+5.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.6% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.30 ZAR87.50	+49.4%
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	$12.62 ZAR208.13	+117.5%
Average			+41.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.9% more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$34.05 ZAR561.70	+225.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$681.00 ZAR11,232.40	+16.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$480.71 ZAR7,928.76	+61.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$77.26 ZAR1,274.26	-2.5%
Average			+35.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - Cost of housing

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pay 75.6% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$261.38 ZAR4,311.26	-40.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$2,343.44 ZAR38,652.68	-90.1%
Average			-75.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - Cost of childcare

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pay 78.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.70 ZAR44.60	+161.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$2.06 ZAR33.94	+13.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$3.61 ZAR59.47	+192.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$28.54 ZAR470.77	+10.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$8.71 ZAR143.71	+151.5%
Average			+78.6%

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

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pay 1.7% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Stellenbosch
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$52.84 ZAR871.52	+2.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$29.04 ZAR479.03	-16.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$119.84 ZAR1,976.68	+30.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	-4.7%
Average			+1.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Stellenbosch - 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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