Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Guatemala

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Guatemala City is 19.3% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Guatemala City
Groceries: pay 20.1% more in Guatemala City
Transportation: pay 31.7% less in Guatemala City
Housing: pay 27.4% more in Guatemala City
Childcare: pay 42.7% less in Guatemala City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.7% more in Guatemala City
Clothing: pay 65.5% more in Guatemala City

The cost of restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, and groceries in Guatemala City are more expensive than in Vientiane. Expenses including childcare and transportation are lower in Guatemala City. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Guatemala City.

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Guatemala City vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Guatemala City instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$6.81 GTQ52.10	+154.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$7.86 GTQ60.11	+46.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$1.13 GTQ8.62	+58.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$0.95 GTQ7.27	+154.4%
Average			+100.2%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.1% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$3.06 GTQ23.38	+167.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$3.16 GTQ24.18	-76.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$7.79 GTQ59.62	+2.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.54 GTQ19.40	+35.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$4.27 GTQ32.69	+52.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$1.77 GTQ13.56	+63.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.76 GTQ5.83	+47.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$1.29 GTQ9.90	+8.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.74 GTQ5.63	+6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.69 GTQ5.25	+3.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.97 GTQ7.43	+99.1%
Average			+20.1%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.7% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$5.17 GTQ39.53	-8.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$14.23 GTQ108.90	-70.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$27,487.68 GTQ210K	-2.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	??
Average			-31.7%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.4% more for housing

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$46.14 GTQ353.04	+274.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$825.96 GTQ6,320.23	+28.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$544.31 GTQ4,165.07	+31.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$55.58 GTQ425.28	-19.7%
Average			+27.4%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of housing

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pay 42.7% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$340.40 GTQ2,604.78	-45.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$6,685.90 GTQ51,160.52	-39.7%
Average			-42.7%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$3.27 GTQ25.05	+140.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$3.34 GTQ25.59	+86.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$4.06 GTQ31.06	+127.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$39.43 GTQ301.73	-17.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$6.48 GTQ49.59	+53.1%
Average			+55.7%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 65.5% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Guatemala City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$49.64 GTQ379.84	+85.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$47.46 GTQ363.17	-29.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$117.72 GTQ900.82	+107.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$112.60 GTQ861.58	+174.6%
Average			+65.5%

Vientiane vs. Guatemala 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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See the cost of living in Laos vs. Guatemala. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Laos and Guatemala.

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