Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Honiara Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 23.8% more expensive than Honiara.

Restaurants: pay 58.0% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 10.4% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 37.1% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 22.2% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.8% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 14.8% less in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, transportation, and groceries in Vientiane are more expensive than in Honiara. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, and clothing are lower in Vientiane. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Honiara Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Honiara, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.0% less for restaurants

	Honiara	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.08 SBD50.04	$2.31 LAK50,054	-62.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.16 SBD100.08	$5.54 LAK120,129	-54.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.37 SBD11.26	$0.62 LAK13,442	-54.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 SBD8.76	$0.42 LAK9,010	-60.9%
Average			-58.0%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.4% more for groceries

	Honiara	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 SBD12.22	$1.17 LAK25,309	-21.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.99 SBD16.35	$13.94 LAK302,259	+601.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.73 SBD80.10	$7.32 LAK158,700	-24.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.49 SBD45.19	$1.81 LAK39,281	-67.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.92 SBD32.23	$2.99 LAK64,879	-23.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.20 SBD26.33	$0.90 LAK19,424	-72.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.17 SBD9.65	$0.50 LAK10,847	-57.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.54 SBD29.14	$0.94 LAK20,357	-73.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.50 SBD12.35	$0.61 LAK13,168	-59.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SBD7.49	$0.74 LAK16,044	-18.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.52 SBD12.48	$0.47 LAK10,090	-69.3%
Average			+10.4%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.1% more for transportation

	Honiara	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.90 SBD40.31	$5.18 LAK112,301	+5.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.32 SBD200.16	$50.18 LAK1,088,125	+106.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$28,736.24 LAK623,136,050
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.94 SBD90.07	$10.86 LAK235,461	-0.8%
Average			+37.1%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.2% less for housing

	Honiara	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$88.16 SBD725.60	$11.39 LAK246,932	-87.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$547.19 SBD4,503.70	$866.78 LAK18,795,832	+58.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$638.39 SBD5,254.32	$784.74 LAK17,016,800	+22.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$325.45 SBD2,678.67	$55.21 LAK1,197,166	-83.0%
Average			-22.2%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Honiara	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$97.28 SBD800.66	$338.54 LAK7,341,095	+248.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,796.75 SBD23,018.93	$9,334.55 LAK202,416,649	+233.8%
Average			+240.9%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Honiara	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.82 SBD15.01	$1.50 LAK32,535	-17.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.13 SBD25.77	$1.73 LAK37,539	-44.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.01 SBD33.03	$1.96 LAK42,546	-51.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$50.52 LAK1,095,580
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.34 SBD27.52	$3.56 LAK77,163	+6.4%
Average			-26.8%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.8% less for clothing

	Honiara	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$20.59 SBD169.47	$27.70 LAK600,645	+34.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$91.20 SBD750.62	$69.25 LAK1,501,613	-24.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.01 SBD633.85	$58.22 LAK1,262,426	-24.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.01 SBD633.85	$42.19 LAK914,851	-45.2%
Average			-14.8%

Honiara vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Honiara vs.

Hanoi

Honiara vs.

Hong Kong

Honiara vs.

Washington

Honiara vs.

Vienna

Honiara vs.

Nairobi

Honiara vs.

Dodoma

Honiara vs.

Kiev

Honiara vs.

Mexico City

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Solomon Islands vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Solomon Islands and Laos.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Honiara

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vientiane or Honiara. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.