Vietnam vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Vietnam vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vietnam instead of Japan, you would:

pay 50.8% less for restaurants

 
Japan
Vietnam
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $6.60
¥1,034
$1.88
₫49,552
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.10
¥798
$4.13
₫108,558
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.07
¥167
$0.53
₫13,921

Improve prices ·

pay 44.5% less for groceries

 
Japan
Vietnam
Bread
1 loaf
$1.50
¥235
$0.86
₫22,600
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.07
¥793
$5.32
₫139,791
Milk (1 gallon) $5.67
¥887
$5.20
₫136,803

Improve prices ·

pay 36.5% less for transportation

 
Japan
Vietnam
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.39
¥687
$3.19
₫83,913
Monthly public transit pass $59.14
¥9,260
$6.64
₫174,695
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $22,599.51
¥3,538,292
$33,225.24
₫873,543,970

Improve prices ·

pay 54.4% less for housing

 
Japan
Vietnam
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$33.91
¥5,310
$8.68
₫228,136
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $543.18
¥85,043
$310.38
₫8,160,248
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $353.61
¥55,363
$223.57
₫5,878,051

Improve prices ·

pay 19.8% less for childcare

 
Japan
Vietnam
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $296.89
¥46,482
$199.23
₫5,238,011
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $13,159.48
¥2,060,314
$12,262.04
₫322,388,342

Improve prices ·

pay 63.8% less for entertainment and sports

 
Japan
Vietnam
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.60
¥408
$0.93
₫24,477
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.03
¥474
$1.60
₫42,019
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.89
¥608
$1.28
₫33,609

Improve prices ·

pay 11.9% less for clothing

 
Japan
Vietnam
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$44.79
¥7,013
$31.66
₫832,409
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$32.04
¥5,016
$21.29
₫559,848
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$57.37
¥8,982
$72.72
₫1,911,865

Improve prices ·
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
Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Tokyo vs. Hanoi

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

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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