Vietnam · Cost of living by city

Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City

Prices for October 2026

Monthly living costs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, built from prices read directly at the original sources. Choose the number of adults and children to calculate by household size; every price opens its list of sources.

Calculate by household size

Currency

Total per month VND 15,771,192 ≈ US$615

  • Rent (1-bedroom) VND 11,531,250
  • Electricity, water, gas VND 922,364
  • Internet & mobile VND 345,000
  • Groceries VND 1,758,312
  • Eating out VND 1,214,267
  • Transport VND 0

Amounts are rounded to the nearest unit, so the parts may differ from the total by 1 or 2 units. International school fees and other reference items are not included. How households are built is explained in How it is calculated.

Housing & utilities

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Rent, 1-bedroom apartment, outside the centre VND 11,531,250 / month VND 5,000,000 – 19,000,000 32
32 sources
Rent, 3-bedroom apartment, outside the centre VND 21,484,375 / month VND 7,500,000 – 35,000,000 32
32 sources
Electricity, 200 kWh VND 474,876 / month VND 474,876 – 474,876 2
2 sources
Electricity, 450 kWh VND 1,347,300 / month VND 1,347,300 – 1,347,300 2
2 sources
Water, 4 m³ VND 36,824 / month VND 36,824 – 36,824 2
2 sources
Water, 15 m³ VND 138,090 / month VND 138,090 – 138,090 2
2 sources
Gas, 100 kWh VND 410,664 / month VND 390,975 – 430,353 2
2 sources
Gas, 225 kWh VND 926,626 / month VND 882,200 – 971,052 2
2 sources

Internet & mobile

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Fixed internet, 100 Mbps or faster VND 212,500 / month VND 190,000 – 235,000 2
2 sources
Mobile plan, 10 GB or more VND 132,500 / month VND 120,000 – 145,000 2
2 sources

Groceries

Online retail prices of everyday items; a fixed basket of 15 items.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
White rice VND 18,600 / kg VND 15,000 – 23,000 3
3 sources
Sandwich bread, 500 g loaf VND 38,278 / loaf VND 31,122 – 44,898 4
4 sources
Fresh milk VND 46,274 / litre VND 38,238 – 54,000 5
5 sources
Hen eggs VND 3,123 / egg VND 2,690 – 3,870 4
4 sources
Chicken breast fillet VND 100,725 / kg VND 88,000 – 112,900 4
4 sources
Fresh beef VND 392,000 / kg VND 304,000 – 480,000 2
2 sources
Tomatoes VND 35,700 / kg VND 32,900 – 38,500 2
2 sources
Potatoes VND 36,300 / kg VND 22,000 – 44,000 3
3 sources
Onions VND 25,075 / kg VND 12,500 – 38,000 4
4 sources
Lettuce VND 21,533 / head VND 11,900 – 35,900 3
3 sources
Apples VND 59,725 / kg VND 49,000 – 67,900 4
4 sources
Bananas VND 29,720 / kg VND 20,900 – 35,900 5
5 sources
Oranges VND 37,800 / kg VND 24,500 – 49,000 3
3 sources
Vegetable cooking oil VND 57,857 / litre VND 49,800 – 70,800 7
7 sources
Bottled water, 1.5 litres VND 9,843 / bottle VND 7,200 – 11,700 7
7 sources

Eating out

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Meal at an inexpensive restaurant (main course, soft drink) VND 101,733 / meal VND 79,000 – 129,000 3
3 sources
Meal at a mid-range restaurant (starter or dessert, main course, soft drink) VND 200,200 / meal VND 129,600 – 283,000 3
3 sources

Transport

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Monthly public transport pass, adult VND 0 / month VND 0 – 0 1
1 source
Monthly public transport pass, child VND 0 / month VND 0 – 0 1
1 source

School fees (reference)

For reference only; not added to the total.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
International school tuition, Grade 3 VND 783,486,000 / year VND 730,808,000 – 870,350,000 3
3 sources

How it is calculated

  1. Prices: each item is the average of samples read straight from the original source: supermarket web shops, official tariffs of electricity, water, gas, mobile and transport operators, rental listings and restaurant menus. No price-aggregator sites are used. Every item opens its list of sources. Rents are for apartments outside the city centre.
  2. Housing: 1 to 2 people rent a 1-bedroom apartment; 3 to 6 people rent a 3-bedroom apartment. The calculator accepts households of up to 6 people because the largest apartment in the data has 3 bedrooms.
  3. Electricity, water, gas: linear interpolation by household size between the 1-person level (electricity 200 kWh, water 4 m³, gas 100 kWh) and the 4-person level (electricity 450 kWh, water 15 m³, gas 225 kWh); above 4 people the same slope is extended. Gas is left out where most apartments cook on electricity.
  4. Groceries: a fixed basket of 15 everyday items at online retail prices, one basket per adult and 0.6 of a basket per child. It is not a household’s full food spending.
  5. Eating out: per adult, 8 meals at an inexpensive restaurant and 2 at a mid-range restaurant a month; children are not counted.
  6. Internet and mobile: one internet plan per household and one mobile plan per adult.
  7. Transport: one adult monthly pass per adult and one child monthly pass per child.
  8. International school fees and other reference items are shown for information and are not added to the total.
  9. Where an item lacks enough data, that part and the total read “Not enough data”. Prosperous Intelligence does not estimate in its place.
  10. Conversion to US dollars uses central-bank exchange rates fixed to one day for the whole batch; the rate date and the dates prices were read are on the Data sources page.

Methodology · Data sources

See also

Cost of Living Index (0–⁠100 scale)  · Country profile: Vietnam  · Cities in Vietnam  · All cities

Reference data, not financial advice. Prices change over time; this page shows the prices of the month stated at the top.