Cost of living comparison

Thailand

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Khon Kaen Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 11.9% more expensive than Khon Kaen.

Restaurants: pay 24.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 6.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 29.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 67.0% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 21.9% more in Ho Chi Minh City

The cost of childcare, housing, and clothing in Ho Chi Minh City are more expensive than in Khon Kaen. Expenses including entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, 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. Khon Kaen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 24.4% less for restaurants

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.97 THB99.93	$1.92 ₫49,735	-35.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.94 THB199.85	$4.62 ₫119K	-22.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 THB20.49	$0.54 ₫13,878	-11.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 THB9.49	$0.33 ₫8,573	+17.5%
Average			-24.4%

Khon Kaen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.0% less for groceries

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.08 ₫27,789
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$6.05 ₫156K
Milk (1 gallon)	??	$6.13 ₫158K
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.50 THB83.94	$1.62 ₫41,927	-35.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$1.64 ₫42,487
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.36 ₫35,193
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 THB13.60	$0.58 ₫14,924	+42.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.66	$0.72 ₫18,679	+7.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.58 ₫14,889
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.54 ₫14,077
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 THB22.66	$0.53 ₫13,636	-21.7%
Average			-6.0%

Khon Kaen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.8% less for transportation

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 THB167.37	$3.55 ₫91,772	-28.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$11.55 ₫298K
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,562.62 THB1M	$30,715.02 ₫794M	-31.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$5.80 ₫150K
Average			-29.8%

Khon Kaen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.0% more for housing

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.71 THB999.27	$10.46 ₫270K	-64.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$277.28 THB9,326.52	$585.86 ₫15M	+111.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$158.44 THB5,329.44	$297.81 ₫8M	+88.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.41 THB2,435.72	$79.24 ₫2M	+9.4%
Average			+67.0%

Khon Kaen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$438.36 ₫11M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,912.52 THB300K	$23,561.82 ₫609M	+164.4%
Average			+164.4%

Khon Kaen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.77 THB59.46	$1.03 ₫26,710	-41.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.49 THB49.96	$1.81 ₫46,887	+22.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$1.23 ₫31,830
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.42 THB1,998.54	$25.91 ₫670K	-56.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.94 THB199.85	$3.46 ₫89,523	-41.7%
Average			-36.6%

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

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pay 21.9% more for clothing

	Khon Kaen	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.71 THB999.27	$51.59 ₫1M	+73.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.65 THB1,199.12	$34.61 ₫894K	-2.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.27 THB2,498.17	$91.59 ₫2M	+23.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$89.13 THB2,997.81	$94.62 ₫2M	+6.2%
Average			+21.9%

Khon Kaen 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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