Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Taiwan

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Taichung is 23.9% more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 73.9% more in Taichung
Groceries: pay 68.6% more in Taichung
Transportation: pay 44.5% more in Taichung
Housing: pay 11.3% less in Taichung
Childcare: pay 25.8% less in Taichung
Entertainment and Sports: pay 81.8% more in Taichung
Clothing: pay 12.9% more in Taichung

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

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Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 73.9% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$4.71 NT$153.43	+144.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$4.71 NT$153.43	+1.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$1.01 NT$32.84	+87.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$0.75 NT$24.32	+125.0%
Average			+73.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - Cost of restaurants

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pay 68.6% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$1.73 NT$56.26	+60.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$14.39 NT$468.81	+137.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$12.19 NT$397.15	+98.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$2.54 NT$82.85	+56.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$3.58 NT$116.74	+117.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$1.95 NT$63.41	+42.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.87 NT$28.50	+51.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$1.39 NT$45.24	+92.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$1.00 NT$32.59	+73.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$0.55 NT$17.98	+1.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$0.87 NT$28.42	+65.3%
Average			+68.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.5% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$3.93 NT$128.06	+10.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	$31.39 NT$1,022.85	+171.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$33,523.97 NT$1M	+9.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$10.20 NT$332.43	+75.8%
Average			+44.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.3% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$21.18 NT$690.08	+102.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$398.65 NT$12,990.21	-32.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$277.01 NT$9,026.66	-7.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$95.01 NT$3,096.13	+19.9%
Average			-11.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - Cost of housing

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pay 25.8% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$340.05 NT$11,080.89	-22.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$16,741.06 NT$546K	-28.9%
Average			-25.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - Cost of childcare

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pay 81.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$1.57 NT$51.14	+51.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$2.79 NT$90.92	+53.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$3.85 NT$125.30	+212.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$32.43 NT$1,056.78	+25.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$9.73 NT$317.08	+180.9%
Average			+81.8%

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

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pay 12.9% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Taichung
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$72.12 NT$2,350.00	+39.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$36.02 NT$1,173.72	+4.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$84.23 NT$2,744.65	-8.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$115.09 NT$3,750.46	+21.6%
Average			+12.9%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung - 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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