Ho Chi Minh vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Kuala Lumpur
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$810
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$1984
🏠 One person rent	$376	$393
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$711
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$278
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$64.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$1392
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	66	93
😀 Quality of life	65	77
🏙️ Population	9.39M	1.98M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 9% less expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Cities ranked 6739th and 6403rd ($735 vs $810) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Vietnam and Malaysia, respectively. Check Vietnam vs Malaysia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Ho Chi Minh compared to 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st in Malaysia, while ranked 4253rd and 811th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Kuala Lumpur infographic

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Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Kuala Lumpur

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Kuala Lumpur
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$4.17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$25.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$4.54
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$450
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$297
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$928
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$548
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$40.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$61.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$25.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	4.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$2996
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$1427
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.69
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$11.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$9.04
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$0.49
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$2.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$4.64
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.5
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$16.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$4.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$3.64
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$41.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$4.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$20
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$5.65
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$56.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$77.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$254
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$8723

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 Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$645
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$532
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$670
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$604
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$669
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$682
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$543
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$628
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$529
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$695
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$679
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$565
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$619
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$620
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$759
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3059
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2788
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$481
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$539
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$470
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$490
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$506
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$536
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$560
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$461
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$570
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$719