Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 9.4% cheaper than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 55.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 31.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 17.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 12.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 42.1% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 34.4% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 55.5% less for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 KHR20,018.85	$1.89 ₫49,934	-62.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,026.39	$3.79 ₫99,868	-45.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.93 KHR3,721.15	$0.49 ₫12,842	-47.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 KHR3,656.62	$0.31 ₫8,063	-66.5%
Average			-55.5%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.6% less for groceries

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 KHR6,608.28	$0.97 ₫25,633	-41.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 KHR26,825.26	$5.67 ₫149,490	-15.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.17 KHR32,701.82	$5.38 ₫141,938	-34.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 KHR7,282.41	$1.42 ₫37,360	-22.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.01 KHR8,041.21	$1.63 ₫42,926	-18.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 KHR7,249.19	$1.23 ₫32,443	-32.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,541.36	$0.52 ₫13,683	-41.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 KHR7,663.87	$0.54 ₫14,352	-71.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 KHR2,942.05	$0.52 ₫13,713	-29.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,511.09	$0.50 ₫13,276	-42.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 KHR2,149.03	$0.54 ₫14,249	+0.7%
Average			-31.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.5% less for transportation

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.33 KHR17,336.51	$3.17 ₫83,577	-26.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.60 KHR38,436.20	$11.36 ₫299,605	+18.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,000.00 KHR196,184,757.29	$37,122.40 ₫978,709,235	-24.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 KHR36,245.37	$5.68 ₫149,802	-37.2%
Average			-17.5%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.7% less for housing

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.29 KHR85,223.90	$9.41 ₫248,037	-55.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$481.60 KHR1,928,225.26	$543.38 ₫14,325,844	+12.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$273.92 KHR1,096,705.90	$306.83 ₫8,089,331	+12.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.99 KHR332,257.04	$66.43 ₫1,751,505	-19.9%
Average			-12.7%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.1% more for childcare

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$293.33 KHR1,174,439.36	$263.06 ₫6,935,298	-10.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,141.67 KHR28,593,594.73	$13,892.02 ₫366,254,467	+94.5%
Average			+42.1%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.21 KHR4,837.39	$1.06 ₫27,963	-12.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 KHR10,114.79	$1.81 ₫47,833	-28.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.88 KHR7,507.07	$1.25 ₫32,957	-33.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 KHR166,823.77	$19.47 ₫513,366	-53.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 KHR15,014.14	$3.79 ₫99,868	+1.0%
Average			-25.2%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.4% more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.75 KHR103,097.09	$44.83 ₫1,181,971	+74.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.33 KHR93,421.31	$29.40 ₫775,171	+26.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.00 KHR352,331.81	$93.29 ₫2,459,540	+6.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.20 KHR241,026.99	$79.23 ₫2,088,917	+31.6%
Average			+34.4%

Phnom Penh vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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

Phnom Penh vs.

Hanoi

Phnom Penh vs.

Madrid

Phnom Penh vs.

Washington

Phnom Penh vs.

Reykjavik

Phnom Penh vs.

Vienna

Phnom Penh vs.

Mexico City

Phnom Penh vs.

London

Phnom Penh vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Cambodia vs. Vietnam. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Cambodia and Vietnam.

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 Phnom Penh

Add prices for Ho Chi Minh City

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Ho Chi Minh City or Phnom Penh. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.