Ho Chi Minh vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Johannesburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$993
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$2403
🏠 One person rent	$376	$441
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$809
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$288
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$1383
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	66	72
😀 Quality of life	65	57
🏙️ Population	9.39M	4.43M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 26% less expensive than in Johannesburg. Cities ranked 6739th and 5539th ($735 vs $993) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Vietnam and South Africa, respectively. Check Vietnam vs South Africa comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Ho Chi Minh compared to 1.4 months in Johannesburg. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Johannesburg ranked 2nd in South Africa, while ranked 4253rd and 5667th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Johannesburg infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/ho-chi-minh/johannesburg.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Johannesburg infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/ho-chi-minh/johannesburg" target="_blank">Ho Chi Minh vs Johannesburg - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Johannesburg

Prices for goods and services in Ho Chi Minh and Johannesburg are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Ho Chi Minh	Johannesburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$9.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$37.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$4.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$377
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$318
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$790
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$627
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$71.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$110
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$39.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	11.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$1031
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$684
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$9.35
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$2.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$5.04
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$6.12
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$5.96
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$1.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$2.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$5.59
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$1.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$33.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$7.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$5.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$48.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$88.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$214
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$5271

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Ho Chi Minh

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Thu Dau Mot	$530
25 km or 15 mi	Bien Hoa	$425
72 km or 45 mi	Vung Tau	$494
96 km or 60 mi	Svay Rieng	$678
113 km or 70 mi	Sa Dec	$512
127 km or 79 mi	Can Tho	$454
141 km or 88 mi	Long Xuyen	$508
153 km or 95 mi	Soc Trang	$514
162 km or 100 mi	Prey Veng	$721
167 km or 104 mi	Phan Thiet	$506
181 km or 112 mi	Mui Ne	$507
184 km or 114 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
189 km or 117 mi	Rach Gia	$526
198 km or 123 mi	Bac Lieu	$504
205 km or 127 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
233 km or 145 mi	Da Lat	$577
244 km or 151 mi	Ca Mau	$516
257 km or 160 mi	Buon Ma Thuot	$531
270 km or 168 mi	Phan Rang-Thap Cham	$534
271 km or 168 mi	Kampot	$596
300 km or 186 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
309 km or 192 mi	Stung Treng	$634
320 km or 199 mi	Nha Trang	$535
343 km or 213 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
414 km or 257 mi	Siem Reap	$644
433 km or 269 mi	Qui Nhon	$516
452 km or 281 mi	Battambang	$573
488 km or 303 mi	Ko Chang	$677
502 km or 312 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
527 km or 327 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
533 km or 331 mi	Quang Ngai	$427
584 km or 363 mi	Klaeng	$685
592 km or 368 mi	Hoi An	$584
605 km or 376 mi	Da Nang	$593
637 km or 396 mi	Hue	$393
663 km or 412 mi	Nong Prue	$752
664 km or 413 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
668 km or 415 mi	Pattaya	$781
670 km or 416 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
676 km or 420 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003