Ho Chi Minh vs Semarang - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Semarang
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$493
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$1296
🏠 One person rent	$376	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$550
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$180
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$38.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$202
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	66	60
😀 Quality of life	65	53
🏙️ Population	9.39M	1.62M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 49% more expensive than in Semarang. Cities ranked 6739th and 8682nd ($735 vs $493) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 41st 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 0.4 months in Semarang. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Semarang ranked 10th in Indonesia, while ranked 4253rd and 6048th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Semarang infographic

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

Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Semarang

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Semarang
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$1.84
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$12.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$3.63
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$1.84
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$1.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$202
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$137
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$540
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$420
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$56.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$87
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$18.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	7.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$1282
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$609
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.24
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$12.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$2.94
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$1.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$0.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$1.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$5.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$2.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$7.68
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.48
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.19
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.27
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$15.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$1.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$2.22
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$1.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$0.86
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$0.69
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$24.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$2.62
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$12.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$2.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$36.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$61.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$44.9
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$2365

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 Semarang

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Salatiga	$421
80 km or 50 mi	Surakarta	$417
82 km or 51 mi	Pekalongan	$471
93 km or 58 mi	Yogyakarta	$408
142 km or 88 mi	Tegal	$480
143 km or 89 mi	Madiun	$486
175 km or 109 mi	Cilacap	$474
200 km or 124 mi	Kediri	$464
206 km or 128 mi	Cirebon	$521
212 km or 132 mi	Banjar	$490
229 km or 142 mi	Blitar	$453
229 km or 143 mi	Mojokerto	$505
248 km or 154 mi	Tasikmalaya	$373
253 km or 157 mi	Batu	$410
258 km or 160 mi	Surabaya	$549
268 km or 166 mi	Malang	$365
285 km or 177 mi	Pasuruan	$510
315 km or 195 mi	Bandung	$545
318 km or 198 mi	Cimahi	$500
321 km or 199 mi	Probolinggo	$614
385 km or 239 mi	Sukabumi	$563
386 km or 240 mi	Bekasi	$518
401 km or 249 mi	Bogor	$513
402 km or 250 mi	Depok	$385
403 km or 251 mi	Jakarta	$701
415 km or 258 mi	South Tangerang	$536
427 km or 265 mi	Tangerang	$558
481 km or 299 mi	Serang	$492
498 km or 310 mi	Cilegon	$488
533 km or 331 mi	Bali	$1267
561 km or 348 mi	Ubud	$845
562 km or 349 mi	Denpasar	$497
595 km or 370 mi	Bandar Lampung	$374
602 km or 374 mi	Metro	$432
613 km or 381 mi	Banjarmasin	$469
618 km or 384 mi	Banjarbaru	$460
653 km or 406 mi	Mataram	$355
656 km or 408 mi	Palangka Raya	$475
767 km or 476 mi	Palembang	$395
782 km or 486 mi	Pontianak	$427