Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 2.3 times more expensive than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 44.2% more in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 95.1% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 89.9% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 4.2 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.6% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 49.7% more in Vientiane

The cost of housing, childcare, groceries, transportation, clothing, and restaurants in Vientiane are more expensive than in Kathmandu. Notably, housing, childcare, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 44.2% more for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.76 NPR254.27	$2.31 LAK49,996	+31.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.34 NPR915.36	$5.54 LAK119,989	-12.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 NPR78.23	$0.62 LAK13,426	+14.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.17 NPR24.57	$0.42 LAK8,999	+144.1%
Average			+44.2%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 95.1% more for groceries

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 NPR79.15	$1.17 LAK25,280	+112.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.49 NPR648.64	$13.94 LAK301,907	+210.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 NPR455.49	$7.32 LAK158,516	+131.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 NPR255.10	$1.81 LAK39,236	+2.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.40 NPR202.37	$2.99 LAK64,804	+113.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 NPR140.50	$0.90 LAK19,401	-8.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 NPR65.39	$0.50 LAK10,834	+10.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.54 NPR78.34	$0.94 LAK20,334	+72.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 NPR43.38	$0.61 LAK13,153	+102.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 NPR31.56	$0.74 LAK16,026	+238.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 NPR42.07	$0.47 LAK10,079	+59.6%
Average			+95.1%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 89.9% more for transportation

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.57 NPR659.48	$5.18 LAK112,171	+13.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.57 NPR1,525.60	$50.18 LAK1,086,859	+374.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,715.30 NPR4,576,800.07	$28,736.24 LAK622,411,053	-9.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.39 NPR1,932.43	$10.86 LAK235,187	-18.9%
Average			+89.9%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.2 times more for housing

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.25 NPR1,190.43	$11.39 LAK246,645	+38.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$179.99 NPR25,973.44	$866.78 LAK18,773,963	+381.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$93.92 NPR13,553.52	$784.74 LAK16,997,001	+735.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.92 NPR3,451.30	$55.21 LAK1,195,773	+130.8%
Average			+321.5%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$80.28 NPR11,585.72	$338.54 LAK7,332,554	+321.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,085.67 NPR445,290.29	$9,334.55 LAK202,181,144	+202.5%
Average			+262.1%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 NPR376.31	$1.50 LAK32,497	-42.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.78 NPR257.47	$1.73 LAK37,496	-3.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.82 NPR406.83	$1.96 LAK42,496	-30.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.82 NPR3,148.99	$50.52 LAK1,094,305	+131.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.17 NPR457.68	$3.56 LAK77,073	+12.2%
Average			+13.6%

Kathmandu vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.7% more for clothing

	Kathmandu	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$22.91 NPR3,305.47	$27.70 LAK599,946	+20.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.63 NPR3,842.25	$69.25 LAK1,499,866	+160.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.89 NPR8,209.18	$58.22 LAK1,260,957	+2.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$36.56 NPR5,276.03	$42.19 LAK913,787	+15.4%
Average			+49.7%

Kathmandu 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

Kathmandu vs.

Moscow

Kathmandu vs.

Vienna

Kathmandu vs.

Cairo

Kathmandu vs.

Athens

Kathmandu vs.

Lima

Kathmandu vs.

Washington

Kathmandu vs.

Algiers

Kathmandu vs.

Warsaw

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Nepal vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Nepal 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 Kathmandu

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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