Ho Chi Minh vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$376	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$275
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	66	13
😀 Quality of life	65	20
🏙️ Population	9.39M	989K

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 25% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 6739th and 7807th ($735 vs $587) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Vietnam and Malawi, respectively. Check Vietnam vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Ho Chi Minh compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 4253rd and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Lilongwe infographic

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

Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Lilongwe

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$2351

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 Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$492
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$493
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$457
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$566
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$507
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$825
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$525
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$748
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$992
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$794
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$675
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$461
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$752
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$541
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$947
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$872
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$738
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$776
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$917
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1018
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$723
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$875
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1003
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$730
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1506
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$597
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1150
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$854
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$700
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$961
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$766
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$502
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$486
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$688