Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 31.8% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 72.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 28.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 36.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 28.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 4.3% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Playa del Carmen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 72.9% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$1.92 ₫49,832	-82.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.94 MX$220.72	$4.62 ₫120K	-61.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.83	$0.54 ₫13,905	-60.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 MX$15.25	$0.33 ₫8,590	-59.8%
Average			-72.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 MX$42.51	$1.08 ₫27,843	-53.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 MX$70.30	$6.05 ₫157K	+59.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.64 MX$104.29	$6.13 ₫159K	+8.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MX$46.87	$1.62 ₫42,008	-36.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67 MX$67.89	$1.64 ₫42,570	-55.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 MX$24.17	$1.36 ₫35,261	+4.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 MX$12.13	$0.58 ₫14,953	-11.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 MX$22.24	$0.72 ₫18,715	-39.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.89	$0.58 ₫14,918	-40.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.82	$0.54 ₫14,104	-40.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.46	$0.53 ₫13,662	-40.7%
Average			-28.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.4% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.72 MX$105.85	$3.55 ₫91,950	-38.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.82 MX$514.40	$11.55 ₫299K	-58.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$30,715.02 ₫795M	+42.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.66 MX$604.00	$5.80 ₫150K	-82.2%
Average			-36.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.8% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.02 MX$536.69	$10.46 ₫271K	-64.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	$585.86 ₫15M	-41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	$297.81 ₫8M	-22.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	$79.24 ₫2M	+21.0%
Average			-28.8%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	$438.36 ₫11M	+108.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+488.2%
Average			+250.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.17 MX$58.59	$1.03 ₫26,762	-67.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 MX$71.02	$1.81 ₫46,978	-52.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.45 MX$82.30	$1.23 ₫31,892	-72.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	$25.91 ₫671K	-59.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 MX$92.42	$3.46 ₫89,697	-30.7%
Average			-56.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.3% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.85 MX$829.44	$51.59 ₫1M	+15.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.62 MX$788.17	$34.61 ₫896K	-18.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	$91.59 ₫2M	+20.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	$94.62 ₫2M	+5.1%
Average			+4.3%

Playa del Carmen 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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