Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 28.9% cheaper than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 66.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 4.2% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 34.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 24.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 4.4% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 32.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Saint Petersburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.5% less for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.46 RUB947.27	$1.92 ₫49,832	-83.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.43 RUB531.63	$4.62 ₫120K	-28.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 RUB123.24	$0.54 ₫13,905	-64.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 RUB56.64	$0.33 ₫8,590	-51.6%
Average			-66.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.2% more for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 RUB76.85	$1.08 ₫27,843	+15.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 RUB497.41	$6.05 ₫157K	+0.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.17 RUB344.70	$6.13 ₫159K	+46.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 RUB135.56	$1.62 ₫42,008	-1.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 RUB235.33	$1.64 ₫42,570	-42.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB63.36	$1.36 ₫35,261	+77.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 RUB60.03	$0.58 ₫14,953	-20.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RUB62.16	$0.72 ₫18,715	-3.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 RUB114.37	$0.58 ₫14,918	-58.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RUB29.64	$0.54 ₫14,104	+51.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB23.17	$0.53 ₫13,662	+88.2%
Average			+4.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.0% less for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.25 RUB268.89	$3.55 ₫91,950	+9.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	$11.55 ₫299K	-78.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,093.40 RUB3M	$30,715.02 ₫795M	-12.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.60 RUB628.29	$5.80 ₫150K	-23.7%
Average			-34.0%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 24.7% less for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.55 RUB706.83	$10.46 ₫271K	+22.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	$585.86 ₫15M	-19.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	$297.81 ₫8M	-31.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	$79.24 ₫2M	-29.3%
Average			-24.7%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4% more for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	$438.36 ₫11M	-20.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,234.08 RUB1M	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+36.7%
Average			+4.4%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 RUB217.49	$1.03 ₫26,762	-60.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 RUB250.18	$1.81 ₫46,978	-40.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.92 RUB241.65	$1.23 ₫31,892	-57.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	$25.91 ₫671K	-34.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.02 RUB579.96	$3.46 ₫89,697	-50.6%
Average			-48.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.9% less for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	$51.59 ₫1M	-44.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	$34.61 ₫896K	-31.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	$91.59 ₫2M	-31.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	$94.62 ₫2M	-21.9%
Average			-32.9%

Saint Petersburg 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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