Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Tajikistan

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Dushanbe is 18.1% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 28.7% more in Dushanbe
Groceries: pay 29.7% less in Dushanbe
Transportation: pay 35.3% less in Dushanbe
Housing: pay 9.6% less in Dushanbe
Childcare: pay 73.8% less in Dushanbe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.5% more in Dushanbe
Clothing: pay 7.8% more in Dushanbe

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

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Dushanbe vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.7% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$4.88 TJS44.99	+82.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.42 TJS49.99	+1.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$0.60 TJS5.57	-15.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.35 TJS3.25	-5.7%
Average			+28.7%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.7% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$0.62 TJS5.69	-46.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$5.53 TJS50.99	-59.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$4.10 TJS37.85	-46.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$1.81 TJS16.68	-3.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$1.96 TJS18.07	-30.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$0.85 TJS7.86	-21.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.29 TJS11.87	+148.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$1.20 TJS11.11	+1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.57 TJS5.22	-18.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.28 TJS2.56	-58.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.19 TJS1.74	-61.4%
Average			-29.7%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.3% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$4.37 TJS40.37	-22.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$32.50 TJS299.95	-32.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$16,250.83 TJS150K	-42.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$3.68 TJS33.99	-56.5%
Average			-35.3%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.6% less for housing

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$17.18 TJS158.54	+39.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	-2.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	-14.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$51.70 TJS477.10	-25.3%
Average			-9.6%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of housing

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pay 73.8% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$83.42 TJS769.87	-86.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	-48.8%
Average			-73.8%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$1.19 TJS11.00	-12.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$1.79 TJS16.50	-0.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.79 TJS34.99	+112.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$45.50 TJS419.93	-4.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$5.42 TJS49.99	+28.0%
Average			+10.5%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.8% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Dushanbe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$24.38 TJS224.96	-8.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$52.65 TJS485.92	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$77.64 TJS716.55	+36.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$56.34 TJS519.91	+37.4%
Average			+7.8%

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe - 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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