Cost of living comparison

Nepal

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 71.5% more expensive than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 9.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 63.3% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 12.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 5.4 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 90.4% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.3% less for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.94 NPR294.83	$1.92 ₫49,832	-0.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.75 NPR1,179.32	$4.62 ₫120K	-40.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 NPR78.70	$0.54 ₫13,905	+3.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 NPR21.97	$0.33 ₫8,590	+129.6%
Average			-9.3%

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 63.3% more for groceries

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 NPR90.29	$1.08 ₫27,843	+81.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.64 NPR553.63	$6.05 ₫157K	+66.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.79 NPR423.66	$6.13 ₫159K	+120.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.69 NPR256.26	$1.62 ₫42,008	-3.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.40 NPR213.38	$1.64 ₫42,570	+17.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 NPR137.93	$1.36 ₫35,261	+50.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 NPR80.24	$0.58 ₫14,953	+9.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 NPR96.40	$0.72 ₫18,715	+14.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 NPR38.45	$0.58 ₫14,918	+127.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.18 NPR27.16	$0.54 ₫14,104	+205.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 NPR35.38	$0.53 ₫13,662	+126.8%
Average			+63.3%

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.4% less for transportation

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.12 NPR778.50	$3.55 ₫91,950	-30.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.69 NPR1,474.16	$11.55 ₫299K	+19.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,079.65 NPR4M	$30,715.02 ₫795M	+5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.08 NPR1,685.45	$5.80 ₫150K	-47.6%
Average			-12.4%

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.95 NPR1,360.76	$10.46 ₫271K	+16.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$219.17 NPR33,332.28	$585.86 ₫15M	+167.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$101.02 NPR15,363.97	$297.81 ₫8M	+194.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.92 NPR3,638.09	$79.24 ₫2M	+231.2%
Average			+175.4%

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 5.4 times more for childcare

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$65.27 NPR9,925.98	$438.36 ₫11M	+571.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,431.44 NPR826K	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+333.8%
Average			+439.8%

Kathmandu vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.09 NPR469.27	$1.03 ₫26,762	-66.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.51 NPR230.34	$1.81 ₫46,978	+19.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.46 NPR373.45	$1.23 ₫31,892	-49.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.54 NPR3,275.90	$25.91 ₫671K	+20.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.91 NPR442.25	$3.46 ₫89,697	+19.1%
Average			-14.9%

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

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pay 90.4% more for clothing

	Kathmandu	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.97 NPR3,797.07	$51.59 ₫1M	+106.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.44 NPR4,020.42	$34.61 ₫896K	+30.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.68 NPR9,532.87	$91.59 ₫2M	+46.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$28.43 NPR4,324.19	$94.62 ₫2M	+232.8%
Average			+90.4%

Kathmandu 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

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