Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 2.6% cheaper than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 33.4% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 0.5% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 53.5% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 5.4% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 1.3% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.0% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 50.9% less in Vientiane

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

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Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.4% less for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$2.67 LAK60,275	-51.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$5.35 LAK121K	-3.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$0.71 LAK16,073	-16.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.37 LAK8,413	-36.8%
Average			-33.4%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.5% more for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.14 LAK25,746	+14.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$13.59 LAK306K	+119.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$7.61 LAK172K	+38.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$1.87 LAK42,116	-11.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$2.81 LAK63,353	+26.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$1.09 LAK24,472	-21.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.52 LAK11,667	-52.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$1.19 LAK26,841	-29.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$0.69 LAK15,645	-49.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.66 LAK14,923	+100.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.49 LAK10,999	+1.5%
Average			+0.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.5% more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$5.62 LAK127K	+30.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$48.44 LAK1M	+190.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$28,190.13 LAK635M	+4.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$8.47 LAK191K	+74.1%
Average			+53.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4% more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$12.33 LAK278K	-9.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$643.47 LAK15M	+13.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$414.50 LAK9M	-6.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$69.22 LAK2M	+27.3%
Average			+5.4%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 1.3% more for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$625.02 LAK14M	-23.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$11,083.07 LAK250M	+34.1%
Average			+1.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$1.36 LAK30,640	-42.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$1.79 LAK40,351	-25.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$1.78 LAK40,183	+6.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$47.54 LAK1M	-29.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$4.23 LAK95,435	+1.6%
Average			-22.0%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.9% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$26.74 LAK603K	-67.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$66.85 LAK2M	+47.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$56.75 LAK1M	-44.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$41.00 LAK924K	-78.1%
Average			-50.9%

Ulaanbaatar 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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