Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 19.3% cheaper than Taichung.

Restaurants: pay 42.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 40.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 30.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 12.8% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 34.7% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 11.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Taichung Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.5% less for restaurants

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.71 NT$153.43	$1.92 ₫49,735	-59.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.71 NT$153.43	$4.62 ₫119K	-1.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 NT$32.84	$0.54 ₫13,878	-46.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 NT$24.32	$0.33 ₫8,573	-55.6%
Average			-42.5%

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.7% less for groceries

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.73 NT$56.26	$1.08 ₫27,789	-37.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$14.39 NT$468.81	$6.05 ₫156K	-57.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$12.19 NT$397.15	$6.13 ₫158K	-49.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.54 NT$82.85	$1.62 ₫41,927	-36.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.58 NT$116.74	$1.64 ₫42,487	-54.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 NT$63.41	$1.36 ₫35,193	-30.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 NT$28.50	$0.58 ₫14,924	-34.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.39 NT$45.24	$0.72 ₫18,679	-47.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 NT$32.59	$0.58 ₫14,889	-42.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 NT$17.98	$0.54 ₫14,077	-1.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.87 NT$28.42	$0.53 ₫13,636	-39.5%
Average			-40.7%

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.8% less for transportation

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.93 NT$128.06	$3.55 ₫91,772	-9.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.39 NT$1,022.85	$11.55 ₫298K	-63.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,523.97 NT$1M	$30,715.02 ₫794M	-8.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.20 NT$332.43	$5.80 ₫150K	-43.1%
Average			-30.8%

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.8% more for housing

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.18 NT$690.08	$10.46 ₫270K	-50.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$398.65 NT$12,990.21	$585.86 ₫15M	+47.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$277.01 NT$9,026.66	$297.81 ₫8M	+7.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$95.01 NT$3,096.13	$79.24 ₫2M	-16.6%
Average			+12.8%

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 34.7% more for childcare

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$340.05 NT$11,080.89	$438.36 ₫11M	+28.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,741.06 NT$546K	$23,561.82 ₫609M	+40.7%
Average			+34.7%

Taichung vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.57 NT$51.14	$1.03 ₫26,710	-34.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.79 NT$90.92	$1.81 ₫46,887	-35.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.85 NT$125.30	$1.23 ₫31,830	-68.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.43 NT$1,056.78	$25.91 ₫670K	-20.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 NT$317.08	$3.46 ₫89,523	-64.4%
Average			-45.0%

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

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pay 11.5% less for clothing

	Taichung	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$72.12 NT$2,350.00	$51.59 ₫1M	-28.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.02 NT$1,173.72	$34.61 ₫894K	-3.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.23 NT$2,744.65	$91.59 ₫2M	+8.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.09 NT$3,750.46	$94.62 ₫2M	-17.8%
Average			-11.5%

Taichung 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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