Cost of living comparison

El Salvador

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 26.4% cheaper than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 47.2% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 28.8% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.3% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 39.2% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 44.5% less in Vientiane

The cost of childcare and transportation in Vientiane are more expensive than in San Salvador. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Vientiane. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

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Vientiane vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of San Salvador, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 47.2% less for restaurants

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 SVC58.99	$2.67 LAK60,126	-60.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.17	$5.35 LAK120K	-23.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 SVC10.00	$0.71 LAK16,034	-37.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 SVC7.28	$0.37 LAK8,393	-55.2%
Average			-47.2%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.8% less for groceries

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 SVC24.91	$1.14 LAK25,683	-59.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 SVC33.68	$13.59 LAK306K	+252.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.95 SVC60.74	$7.61 LAK171K	+9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.02 SVC26.36	$1.87 LAK42,012	-38.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 SVC27.62	$2.81 LAK63,196	-11.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.29 SVC20.04	$1.09 LAK24,412	-52.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SVC5.53	$0.52 LAK11,638	-18.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 SVC10.34	$1.19 LAK26,775	+0.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 SVC13.66	$0.69 LAK15,606	-55.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.33 SVC11.64	$0.66 LAK14,886	-50.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.49 SVC13.03	$0.49 LAK10,972	-67.3%
Average			-28.8%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.3% more for transportation

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.75 SVC41.55	$5.62 LAK126K	+18.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.50 SVC327.71	$48.44 LAK1M	+29.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC218K	$28,190.13 LAK634M	+12.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.00 SVC262.17	$8.47 LAK190K	-71.8%
Average			+3.3%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.2% less for housing

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.50 SVC371.41	$12.33 LAK277K	-71.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$898.99 SVC7,856.30	$643.47 LAK14M	-28.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$770.00 SVC6,729.04	$414.50 LAK9M	-46.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.35 SVC868.25	$69.22 LAK2M	-30.3%
Average			-39.2%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.67 SVC1,421.55	$625.02 LAK14M	+284.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,720.00 SVC41,248.16	$11,083.07 LAK249M	+134.8%
Average			+200.4%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% less for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.48	$1.36 LAK30,564	-32.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 SVC30.98	$1.79 LAK40,251	-49.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.96	$1.78 LAK40,084	-55.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.60 SVC276.15	$47.54 LAK1M	+50.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 SVC43.70	$4.23 LAK95,200	-15.3%
Average			-20.9%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 44.5% less for clothing

	San Salvador	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.15 SVC586.82	$26.74 LAK601K	-60.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.00 SVC410.73	$66.85 LAK2M	+42.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.33 SVC1,034.12	$56.75 LAK1M	-52.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.00 SVC1,022.46	$41.00 LAK922K	-65.0%
Average			-44.5%

San Salvador vs. Vientiane - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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