Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Ulaanbaatar is 2.7% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 50.2% more in Ulaanbaatar
Groceries: pay 0.5% less in Ulaanbaatar
Transportation: pay 34.8% less in Ulaanbaatar
Housing: pay 5.1% less in Ulaanbaatar
Childcare: pay 1.2% less in Ulaanbaatar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.3% more in Ulaanbaatar
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in Ulaanbaatar

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

Planning a move to Mongolia? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Ulaanbaatar vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.2% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,275	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+107.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+3.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,073	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	+20.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,413	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	+58.2%
Average			+50.2%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.5% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,746	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	-12.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	-54.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK172K	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	-27.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,116	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	+12.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,353	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	-21.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,472	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	+28.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,667	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	+110.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,841	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	+42.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,645	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	+97.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,923	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	-50.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,999	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	-1.5%
Average			-0.5%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.8% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	-65.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$26,896.36 MNT97M	-4.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	-42.6%
Average			-34.8%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.1% less for housing

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	+10.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$569.30 MNT2M	-11.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$444.50 MNT2M	+7.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$54.38 MNT196K	-21.4%
Average			-5.1%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.2% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$817.79 MNT3M	+30.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$8,262.71 MNT30M	-25.4%
Average			-1.2%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,640	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	+73.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,351	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	+34.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,183	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-5.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$67.73 MNT244K	+42.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,435	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	-1.6%
Average			+28.3%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Vientiane	Ulaanbaatar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$81.73 MNT294K	+205.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$45.38 MNT163K	-32.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$102.93 MNT370K	+81.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$187.55 MNT675K	+357.4%
Average			+103.7%

Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ulaanbaatar?

More cost comparisons

Vientiane vs.

Warsaw

Vientiane vs.

Paris

Vientiane vs.

Vienna

Vientiane vs.

Athens

Vientiane vs.

Dublin

Vientiane vs.

Shanghai

Vientiane vs.

Lima

Vientiane vs.

Bangkok

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Vientiane

Add prices for Ulaanbaatar

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Ulaanbaatar or Vientiane. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.