Cost of living comparison

Indonesia

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Jakarta Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 16.2% more expensive than Jakarta.

Restaurants: pay 1.0% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 7.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 13.2% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 37.8% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 4.8% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Jakarta Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.0% more for restaurants

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.65 IDR47,917.07	$1.92 ₫49,832	-27.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.35 IDR60,526.83	$4.62 ₫120K	+37.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 IDR8,148.81	$0.54 ₫13,905	+19.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 IDR4,636.51	$0.33 ₫8,590	+29.2%
Average			+1.0%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.6% less for groceries

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.11 IDR20,059.21	$1.08 ₫27,843	-3.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.72 IDR85,246.59	$6.05 ₫157K	+28.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.26 IDR94,988.92	$6.13 ₫159K	+16.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 IDR32,909.88	$1.62 ₫42,008	-11.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.39 IDR25,131.46	$1.64 ₫42,570	+18.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 IDR22,961.98	$1.36 ₫35,261	+7.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.61 IDR11,085.81	$0.58 ₫14,953	-6.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 IDR21,099.32	$0.72 ₫18,715	-38.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,189.80	$0.58 ₫14,918	-7.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,256.36	$0.54 ₫14,104	-12.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 IDR17,387.87	$0.53 ₫13,662	-45.2%
Average			-7.6%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.2% more for transportation

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.17 IDR57,245.81	$3.55 ₫91,950	+12.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.73 IDR212K	$11.55 ₫299K	-1.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,939.41 IDR504M	$30,715.02 ₫795M	+9.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.20 IDR57,752.68	$5.80 ₫150K	+81.4%
Average			+13.2%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.8% more for housing

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.02 IDR343K	$10.46 ₫271K	-45.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$365.05 IDR7M	$585.86 ₫15M	+60.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$196.92 IDR4M	$297.81 ₫8M	+51.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.54 IDR1M	$79.24 ₫2M	-2.8%
Average			+37.8%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$153.00 IDR3M	$438.36 ₫11M	+186.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,208.60 IDR148M	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+187.0%
Average			+186.8%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.51 IDR45,395.12	$1.03 ₫26,762	-58.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 IDR36,041.60	$1.81 ₫46,978	-9.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.82 IDR50,943.41	$1.23 ₫31,892	-56.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.13 IDR472K	$25.91 ₫671K	-0.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.35 IDR60,526.83	$3.46 ₫89,697	+3.3%
Average			-24.0%

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

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pay 4.8% more for clothing

	Jakarta	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.46 IDR1M	$51.59 ₫1M	-11.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 IDR518K	$34.61 ₫896K	+20.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.00 IDR1M	$91.59 ₫2M	+27.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.17 IDR2M	$94.62 ₫2M	-10.9%
Average			+4.8%

Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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

Compare further: Jakarta vs. Ho Chi Minh City

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Size Comparison · See true size

Jakarta is about 10 times smaller than Ho Chi Minh City.

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