Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 8.8% cheaper than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 58.9% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 5.0% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 13.2% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 15.3% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 8.4% less in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.6% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 1.9% more in Vientiane

The cost of housing, transportation, groceries, and clothing in Vientiane are more expensive than in Santiago. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and childcare are lower in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.9% less for restaurants

	Santiago	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.50 CLF0.2400	$2.31 LAK49,996	-78.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.10 CLF0.1900	$5.54 LAK119,989	-31.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 CLF0.0400	$0.62 LAK13,426	-61.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 CLF0.0300	$0.42 LAK8,999	-64.3%
Average			-58.9%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.0% more for groceries

	Santiago	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 CLF0.0400	$1.17 LAK25,280	-24.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.13 CLF0.1200	$13.94 LAK301,907	+171.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.52 CLF0.1000	$7.32 LAK158,516	+61.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.01 CLF0.0900	$1.81 LAK39,236	-54.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.00 CLF0.0700	$2.99 LAK64,804	-0.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 CLF0.0200	$0.90 LAK19,401	-1.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 CLF0.0200	$0.50 LAK10,834	-28.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 CLF0.0200	$0.94 LAK20,334	+2.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 CLF0.0200	$0.61 LAK13,153	-27.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.79 CLF0.0200	$0.74 LAK16,026	-6.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 CLF0.0200	$0.47 LAK10,079	-37.4%
Average			+5.0%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.2% more for transportation

	Santiago	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.23 CLF0.1200	$5.18 LAK112,171	-0.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.99 CLF0.9700	$50.18 LAK1,086,859	+19.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,201.90 CLF445.7300	$28,736.24 LAK622,411,053	+49.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.86 CLF0.3000	$10.86 LAK235,187	-15.6%
Average			+13.2%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.3% more for housing

	Santiago	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.76 CLF0.5100	$11.39 LAK246,645	-47.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$502.56 CLF11.6700	$866.78 LAK18,773,963	+72.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$424.00 CLF9.8400	$784.74 LAK16,997,001	+85.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.40 CLF2.4900	$55.21 LAK1,195,773	-48.6%
Average			+15.3%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 8.4% less for childcare

	Santiago	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$431.25 CLF10.0100	$338.54 LAK7,332,554	-21.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,923.79 CLF207.1500	$9,334.55 LAK202,181,144	+4.6%
Average			-8.4%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.15 CLF0.0700	$1.50 LAK32,497	-52.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.09 CLF0.0700	$1.73 LAK37,496	-44.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.56 CLF0.1300	$1.96 LAK42,496	-64.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.24 CLF0.7500	$50.52 LAK1,094,305	+56.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.30 CLF0.1500	$3.56 LAK77,073	-43.5%
Average			-29.6%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.9% more for clothing

	Santiago	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.82 CLF1.2500	$27.70 LAK599,946	-48.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.77 CLF0.7100	$69.25 LAK1,499,866	+125.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.54 CLF1.7100	$58.22 LAK1,260,957	-20.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.13 CLF1.8800	$42.19 LAK913,787	-48.0%
Average			+1.9%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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