Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vietnam vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

Vietnam is 11.7% cheaper than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 46.5% less in Vietnam
Groceries: pay 21.4% less in Vietnam
Transportation: pay 12.0% more in Vietnam
Housing: pay 31.2% less in Vietnam
Childcare: pay 86.6% more in Vietnam
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.2% less in Vietnam
Clothing: pay 40.3% less in Vietnam

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

Vietnam vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.5% less for restaurants

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.57 NIO167.56	$1.88 ₫49,598	-58.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.80 NIO249.74	$4.13 ₫108,658	-39.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 NIO30.05	$0.53 ₫13,934	-35.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 NIO22.02	$0.29 ₫7,503	-52.5%
Average			-46.5%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.4% less for groceries

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NIO64.00	$0.86 ₫22,621	-50.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.29 NIO120.89	$5.32 ₫139,920	+61.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.55 NIO166.93	$5.20 ₫136,929	+14.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.98 NIO72.60	$1.45 ₫38,092	-26.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.48 NIO90.84	$1.56 ₫40,967	-37.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77 NIO64.96	$1.18 ₫31,162	-33.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.39 NIO14.44	$0.47 ₫12,396	+19.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO29.96	$0.58 ₫15,140	-29.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 NIO32.04	$0.49 ₫12,917	-43.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 NIO45.67	$0.46 ₫12,222	-62.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.88 NIO32.12	$0.47 ₫12,276	-46.7%
Average			-21.4%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.0% more for transportation

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.95 NIO181.66	$3.19 ₫83,990	-35.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.00 NIO183.64	$6.64 ₫174,856	+32.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO843,132.43	$33,225.24 ₫874,348,535	+44.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.56 NIO204.21	$5.90 ₫155,341	+6.1%
Average			+12.0%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.2% less for housing

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.35 NIO1,334.16	$8.68 ₫228,346	-76.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$326.67 NIO11,988.67	$310.38 ₫8,167,763	-5.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$283.96 NIO10,421.27	$223.57 ₫5,883,465	-21.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.87 NIO2,050.42	$43.27 ₫1,138,771	-22.5%
Average			-31.2%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 86.6% more for childcare

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$118.12 NIO4,335.19	$199.23 ₫5,242,836	+68.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00 NIO220,200.00	$12,262.04 ₫322,685,273	+104.4%
Average			+86.6%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.31 NIO47.93	$0.93 ₫24,499	-28.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 NIO79.31	$1.60 ₫42,057	-26.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.66 NIO97.60	$1.28 ₫33,640	-51.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.69 NIO1,236.59	$20.38 ₫536,285	-39.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00 NIO293.60	$3.19 ₫84,052	-60.1%
Average			-41.2%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.3% less for clothing

	Nicaragua	Vietnam
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.83 NIO2,269.02	$31.66 ₫833,176	-48.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.88 NIO2,270.81	$21.29 ₫560,364	-65.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.23 NIO3,972.16	$72.72 ₫1,913,626	-32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$89.99 NIO3,302.80	$77.26 ₫2,033,289	-14.1%
Average			-40.3%

Nicaragua vs. Vietnam - 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

Nicaragua vs.

Iceland

Nicaragua vs.

France

Nicaragua vs.

Russia

Nicaragua vs.

Ukraine

Nicaragua vs.

United Kingdom

Nicaragua vs.

Ireland

Nicaragua vs.

United States

Nicaragua vs.

Thailand

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Managua 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

Add prices for Nicaragua

Add prices for Vietnam

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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