Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Mexico

Xalapa vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Xalapa is 8.9% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Xalapa
Groceries: pay 15.1% more in Xalapa
Transportation: pay 14.0% more in Xalapa
Housing: pay 47.0% less in Xalapa
Childcare: pay 59.7% less in Xalapa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 78.4% more in Xalapa
Clothing: pay 1.6% more in Xalapa

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

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Xalapa vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$6.06 MX$112.06	+214.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$6.68 MX$123.46	+44.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.98 MX$18.17	+82.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.78 MX$14.39	+134.6%
Average			+120.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.1% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$2.24 MX$41.48	+108.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$3.22 MX$59.47	-46.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$4.93 MX$91.10	-19.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$2.32 MX$42.91	+43.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$3.18 MX$58.72	+93.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$1.43 MX$26.42	+4.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.60 MX$11.04	+3.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.71 MX$13.05	-2.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.64 MX$11.89	+11.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.87 MX$16.17	+60.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.53 MX$9.79	+0.3%
Average			+15.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.0% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.61 MX$103.72	+57.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$15.00 MX$277.39	+29.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-29.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$6.54 MX$120.88	+12.7%
Average			+14.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.0% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$24.10 MX$445.60	+130.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$235.80 MX$4,360.69	-59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$165.17 MX$3,054.50	-44.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$47.71 MX$882.34	-39.8%
Average			-47.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - Cost of housing

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pay 59.7% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$139.08 MX$2,571.98	-68.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$12,045.70 MX$223K	-48.9%
Average			-59.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - Cost of childcare

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pay 78.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.23 MX$41.15	+115.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$3.80 MX$70.36	+109.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$4.17 MX$77.16	+238.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$25.00 MX$462.32	-3.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$6.68 MX$123.46	+92.7%
Average			+78.4%

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

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pay 1.6% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Xalapa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$37.25 MX$688.91	-27.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$53.64 MX$991.98	+55.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	+19.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$75.63 MX$1,398.65	-20.1%
Average			+1.6%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Xalapa - 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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