Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Vietnam

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

Ho Chi Minh City is 74.9% cheaper than San Francisco.

Restaurants: pay 86.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 62.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 58.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 83.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 71.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 81.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 25.7% 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 Francisco Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 86.3% less for restaurants

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$27.15	$1.92 ₫49,838	-92.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$15.00	$4.62 ₫120K	-69.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.16	$0.54 ₫13,907	-83.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.70	$0.33 ₫8,591	-87.7%
Average			-86.3%

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

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pay 62.6% less for groceries

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$5.31	$1.08 ₫27,847	-79.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.16	$6.05 ₫157K	-25.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.63	$6.13 ₫159K	-7.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93	$1.62 ₫42,014	-67.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.99	$1.64 ₫42,575	-76.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.78	$1.36 ₫35,266	-51.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.30	$0.58 ₫14,955	-55.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.00	$0.72 ₫18,718	-63.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.11	$0.58 ₫14,920	-81.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.54 ₫14,106	-59.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.67	$0.53 ₫13,664	-68.3%
Average			-62.6%

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

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pay 58.5% less for transportation

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78	$3.55 ₫91,962	-38.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$95.00	$11.55 ₫299K	-87.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,998.00	$30,715.02 ₫795M	-17.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.39	$5.80 ₫150K	-71.5%
Average			-58.5%

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

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pay 83.8% less for housing

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$76.29	$10.46 ₫271K	-86.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,735.00	$585.86 ₫15M	-84.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,618.75	$297.81 ₫8M	-88.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$164.32	$79.24 ₫2M	-51.8%
Average			-83.8%

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

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pay 71.3% less for childcare

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,942.94	$438.36 ₫11M	-85.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$42,562.50	$23,561.82 ₫610M	-44.6%
Average			-71.3%

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

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pay 81.2% less for entertainment and sports

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$1.03 ₫26,765	-87.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.97	$1.81 ₫46,984	-69.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.00	$1.23 ₫31,896	-89.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$121.54	$25.91 ₫671K	-78.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.00	$3.46 ₫89,709	-80.8%
Average			-81.2%

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

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pay 25.7% less for clothing

	San Francisco	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.17	$51.59 ₫1M	-32.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.67	$34.61 ₫896K	-27.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.08	$91.59 ₫2M	-9.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.64	$94.62 ₫2M	-31.8%
Average			-25.7%

San Francisco 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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