Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Diego Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 72.8% cheaper than San Diego.

Restaurants: pay 85.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 58.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 55.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 82.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 61.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 79.1% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 28.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, groceries, and transportation are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. San Diego Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of San Diego, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 85.2% less for restaurants

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$25.00	$1.92 ₫49,735	-92.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.50	$4.62 ₫119K	-65.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.11	$0.54 ₫13,878	-82.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.65	$0.33 ₫8,573	-87.5%
Average			-85.2%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 58.4% less for groceries

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$5.64	$1.08 ₫27,789	-80.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60	$6.05 ₫156K	-29.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.12	$6.13 ₫158K	+19.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.96	$1.62 ₫41,927	-76.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.42	$1.64 ₫42,487	-74.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12	$1.36 ₫35,193	-35.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85	$0.58 ₫14,924	-32.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.99	$0.72 ₫18,679	-63.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.25	$0.58 ₫14,889	-74.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.45	$0.54 ₫14,077	-62.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20	$0.53 ₫13,636	-56.1%
Average			-58.4%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.9% less for transportation

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.99	$3.55 ₫91,772	-40.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$72.00	$11.55 ₫298K	-84.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,998.00	$30,715.02 ₫794M	-17.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.48	$5.80 ₫150K	-70.2%
Average			-55.9%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.8% less for housing

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$85.53	$10.46 ₫270K	-87.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,232.94	$585.86 ₫15M	-81.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,390.67	$297.81 ₫8M	-87.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$197.48	$79.24 ₫2M	-59.9%
Average			-82.8%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 61.8% less for childcare

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,948.90	$438.36 ₫11M	-77.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$36,280.62	$23,561.82 ₫609M	-35.1%
Average			-61.8%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 79.1% less for entertainment and sports

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$1.03 ₫26,710	-87.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.92	$1.81 ₫46,887	-69.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.71	$1.23 ₫31,830	-89.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.67	$25.91 ₫670K	-63.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.00	$3.46 ₫89,523	-82.7%
Average			-79.1%

San Diego vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 28.9% less for clothing

	San Diego	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.12	$51.59 ₫1M	-23.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.50	$34.61 ₫894K	-37.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.00	$91.59 ₫2M	-18.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.96	$94.62 ₫2M	-34.7%
Average			-28.9%

San Diego 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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