Ho Chi Minh vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$481
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$1335
🏠 One person rent	$376	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$394
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$189
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$35.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$262
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	66	53
😀 Quality of life	65	44
🏙️ Population	9.39M	2.11M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 53% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 6739th and 8745th ($735 vs $481) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 47th in Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively. Check Vietnam vs Indonesia 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 Medan. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 4253rd and 6633rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Medan

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$1.97
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$12.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$3.31
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$2.39
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$265
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$62.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	9.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$1337
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$614
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$8.02
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$2.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$8.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$3.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$6.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$0.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$2.26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$2.01
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$2.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$0.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$0.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$2.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$55.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$10763

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

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 Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501