Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 49.2% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 34.4% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 2.8% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 46.5% less in Vientiane

The cost of transportation, childcare, and housing in Vientiane are more expensive than in Managua. Expenses including clothing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Vientiane. Notably, transportation, childcare, and housing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.4% less for restaurants

	Managua	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.91 NIO180.13	$2.31 LAK49,966	-53.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.30 NIO268.05	$5.54 LAK119,918	-24.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 NIO30.05	$0.62 LAK13,418	-24.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NIO23.85	$0.42 LAK8,994	-36.1%
Average			-34.4%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.8% less for groceries

	Managua	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$2.41 NIO88.57	$1.17 LAK25,265	-51.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.80 NIO212.71	$13.94 LAK301,727	+140.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.68 NIO171.86	$7.32 LAK158,421	+56.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 NIO84.08	$1.81 LAK39,212	-20.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 NIO105.33	$2.99 LAK64,765	+4.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 NIO64.95	$0.90 LAK19,390	-49.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.39 NIO14.44	$0.50 LAK10,828	+27.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO29.96	$0.94 LAK20,322	+15.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.17	$0.61 LAK13,145	-40.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 NIO65.18	$0.74 LAK16,016	-58.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 NIO36.72	$0.47 LAK10,073	-53.5%
Average			-2.8%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Managua	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 NIO185.42	$5.18 LAK112,104	+2.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO220.45	$50.18 LAK1,086,211	+735.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	$28,736.24 LAK622,040,039	+25.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.94 NIO218.09	$10.86 LAK235,047	+82.7%
Average			+211.4%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Managua	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.87 NIO1,353.03	$11.39 LAK246,498	-69.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$256.67 NIO9,418.23	$866.78 LAK18,762,772	+237.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$190.00 NIO6,971.94	$784.74 LAK16,986,870	+313.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$75.42 NIO2,767.34	$55.21 LAK1,195,061	-26.8%
Average			+113.7%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Managua	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$124.17 NIO4,556.22	$338.54 LAK7,328,183	+172.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	$9,334.55 LAK202,060,626	+55.6%
Average			+114.1%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 NIO49.90	$1.50 LAK32,478	+10.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 NIO84.64	$1.73 LAK37,473	-25.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.66 NIO97.58	$1.96 LAK42,471	-26.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.79 NIO1,313.28	$50.52 LAK1,093,653	+41.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00 NIO293.56	$3.56 LAK77,027	-55.5%
Average			-11.0%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.5% less for clothing

	Managua	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.43 NIO2,841.42	$27.70 LAK599,589	-64.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$72.50 NIO2,660.34	$69.25 LAK1,498,972	-4.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$132.64 NIO4,867.30	$58.22 LAK1,260,206	-56.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.16 NIO3,968.84	$42.19 LAK913,242	-61.0%
Average			-46.5%

Managua 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

Managua vs.

Hong Kong

Managua vs.

Ottawa

Managua vs.

Delhi

Managua vs.

Vienna

Managua vs.

Athens

Managua vs.

Beijing

Managua vs.

Wellington

Managua vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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