Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Virginia Beach Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 62.5% cheaper than Virginia Beach.

Restaurants: pay 81.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 48.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 46.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 72.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 36.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 20.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and childcare are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Virginia Beach Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 81.5% less for restaurants

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$1.92 ₫49,832	-89.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$4.62 ₫120K	-61.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.75	$0.54 ₫13,905	-80.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.12	$0.33 ₫8,590	-84.4%
Average			-81.5%

Virginia Beach vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.2% less for groceries

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11	$1.08 ₫27,843	-65.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.14	$6.05 ₫157K	+17.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.82	$6.13 ₫159K	+60.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.79	$1.62 ₫42,008	-66.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.46	$1.64 ₫42,570	-63.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16	$1.36 ₫35,261	+17.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72	$0.58 ₫14,953	-19.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.29	$0.72 ₫18,715	-68.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63	$0.58 ₫14,918	-78.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.04	$0.54 ₫14,104	-47.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.04	$0.53 ₫13,662	-74.2%
Average			-48.2%

Virginia Beach vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.2% less for transportation

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81	$3.55 ₫91,950	-6.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.00	$11.55 ₫299K	-83.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,227.00	$30,715.02 ₫795M	-15.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.09	$5.80 ₫150K	-61.5%
Average			-46.2%

Virginia Beach vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 72.3% less for housing

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.25	$10.46 ₫271K	-84.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,826.25	$585.86 ₫15M	-67.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,438.00	$297.81 ₫8M	-79.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$160.11	$79.24 ₫2M	-50.5%
Average			-72.3%

Virginia Beach vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 36.8% less for childcare

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,606.52	$438.36 ₫11M	-72.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,105.33	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+46.3%
Average			-36.8%

Virginia Beach vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$1.03 ₫26,762	-82.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.92	$1.81 ₫46,978	-69.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.11	$1.23 ₫31,892	-86.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.75	$25.91 ₫671K	-40.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.00	$3.46 ₫89,697	-71.1%
Average			-70.8%

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

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pay 20.4% less for clothing

	Virginia Beach	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.23	$51.59 ₫1M	-15.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.33	$34.61 ₫896K	-26.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.06	$91.59 ₫2M	-22.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.50	$94.62 ₫2M	-15.9%
Average			-20.4%

Virginia Beach 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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