Cost of living comparison

Brazil

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santa Maria Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 15.5% more expensive than Santa Maria.

Restaurants: pay 52.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 0.4% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 25.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 78.6% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 4.7 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.9% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 4.1% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Santa Maria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Santa Maria, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 52.8% less for restaurants

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.47 R$27.26	$1.92 ₫49,735	-64.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 R$34.70	$4.62 ₫119K	-33.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 R$5.33	$0.54 ₫13,878	-49.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 R$3.22	$0.33 ₫8,573	-48.7%
Average			-52.8%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.4% more for groceries

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 R$8.26	$1.08 ₫27,789	-35.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.60 R$22.92	$6.05 ₫156K	+31.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.83 R$19.08	$6.13 ₫158K	+59.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.14 R$10.66	$1.62 ₫41,927	-24.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.81 R$8.99	$1.64 ₫42,487	-9.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 R$5.44	$1.36 ₫35,193	+24.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 R$3.31	$0.58 ₫14,924	-13.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 R$3.12	$0.72 ₫18,679	+15.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 R$3.45	$0.58 ₫14,889	-16.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 R$2.67	$0.54 ₫14,077	+1.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.50 R$2.49	$0.53 ₫13,636	+5.6%
Average			+0.4%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.2% less for transportation

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.72 R$23.49	$3.55 ₫91,772	-24.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.86 R$148.69	$11.55 ₫298K	-61.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,669.59 R$118K	$30,715.02 ₫794M	+29.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.90 R$39.35	$5.80 ₫150K	-26.6%
Average			-25.2%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.6% more for housing

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.59 R$82.61	$10.46 ₫270K	-36.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$292.00 R$1,453.91	$585.86 ₫15M	+100.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$169.22 R$842.60	$297.81 ₫8M	+76.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.11 R$204.67	$79.24 ₫2M	+92.8%
Average			+78.6%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 4.7 times more for childcare

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$159.27 R$793.04	$438.36 ₫11M	+175.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,986.32 R$14,869.49	$23,561.82 ₫609M	+689.0%
Average			+366.0%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.59 R$7.93	$1.03 ₫26,710	-35.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 R$9.02	$1.81 ₫46,887	+0.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.39 R$11.90	$1.23 ₫31,830	-48.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.89 R$118.96	$25.91 ₫670K	+8.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.77 R$28.75	$3.46 ₫89,523	-40.0%
Average			-22.9%

Santa Maria vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.1% more for clothing

	Santa Maria	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.34 R$250.63	$51.59 ₫1M	+2.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.14 R$214.78	$34.61 ₫894K	-19.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.23 R$479.13	$91.59 ₫2M	-4.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$63.04 R$313.91	$94.62 ₫2M	+50.1%
Average			+4.1%

Santa Maria 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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