Ho Chi Minh vs Shenzhen - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Shenzhen
🚶 Cost of living one person	$734	$878
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1845	$2307
🏠 One person rent	$387	$456
🏘️ Family rent	$684	$808
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$253
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.5	$83.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$336	$969
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	66	96
😀 Quality of life	66	78
🏙️ Population	9.39M	17.5M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 16% less expensive than in Shenzhen. Cities ranked 6928th and 6334th ($734 vs $878) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 17th in Vietnam and China, respectively. Check Vietnam vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Ho Chi Minh compared to 1.1 months in Shenzhen. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Shenzhen ranked 3rd in China, while ranked 4947th and 1094th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Shenzhen infographic

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

Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Shenzhen

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Shenzhen
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.9	$3.52
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.6	$28.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.81	$4.93
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$1.26
☕ Cappuccino	$1.85	$3.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$499	$619
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$280	$350
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$921	$1122
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$508	$637
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.3	$40.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$83.8	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.41	$12.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.06%	3.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3891	$12494
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1915	$5776
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.4	$21
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.93	$4.58
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.84	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.76
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.45	$1.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$12.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.67	$3.43
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.85
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.36
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.24
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.31
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.79	$1.08
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.8	$12.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.23	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.73	$5.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.35	$6.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.08	$1.65
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.93	$1.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.4	$43.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.8	$7.06
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23.9	$34
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.8	$9.65
👖 Brand Jeans	$44.5	$47.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.5	$73.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$286	$444
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13093	$22402

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	$519
25 km or 15 mi	Bien Hoa	$410
72 km or 45 mi	Vung Tau	$493
96 km or 60 mi	Svay Rieng	$686
113 km or 70 mi	Sa Dec	$502
127 km or 79 mi	Can Tho	$439
141 km or 88 mi	Long Xuyen	$498
153 km or 95 mi	Soc Trang	$507
162 km or 100 mi	Prey Veng	$727
167 km or 104 mi	Phan Thiet	$482
181 km or 112 mi	Mui Ne	$491
184 km or 114 mi	Kampong Cham	$504
189 km or 117 mi	Rach Gia	$515
198 km or 123 mi	Bac Lieu	$494
205 km or 127 mi	Phnom Penh	$829
233 km or 145 mi	Da Lat	$572
244 km or 151 mi	Ca Mau	$507
257 km or 160 mi	Buon Ma Thuot	$516
270 km or 168 mi	Phan Rang-Thap Cham	$523
271 km or 168 mi	Kampot	$622
300 km or 186 mi	Phu Quoc	$511
309 km or 192 mi	Stung Treng	$635
320 km or 199 mi	Nha Trang	$508
343 km or 213 mi	Sihanoukville	$763
414 km or 257 mi	Siem Reap	$650
433 km or 269 mi	Qui Nhon	$501
452 km or 281 mi	Battambang	$571
488 km or 303 mi	Ko Chang	$708
502 km or 312 mi	Serei Saophoan	$623
527 km or 327 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$558
533 km or 331 mi	Quang Ngai	$403
584 km or 363 mi	Klaeng	$718
592 km or 368 mi	Hoi An	$601
605 km or 376 mi	Da Nang	$615
637 km or 396 mi	Hue	$372
663 km or 412 mi	Nong Prue	$787
664 km or 413 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$770
668 km or 415 mi	Pattaya	$812
670 km or 416 mi	Laem Chabang	$779
676 km or 420 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588

Cities near Shenzhen

Distance	City	Cost of living
28 km or 17 mi	Kowloon	$2414
30 km or 19 mi	Hong Kong	$2718
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuhai	$662
65 km or 40 mi	Dongguan	$662
66 km or 41 mi	Macau	$1746
72 km or 45 mi	Zhongshan	$518
74 km or 46 mi	Huizhou	$608
100 km or 62 mi	Jiangmen	$829
105 km or 65 mi	Guangzhou	$758
112 km or 69 mi	Foshan	$589
134 km or 83 mi	Shanwei	$941
142 km or 88 mi	Kaiping	$827
150 km or 93 mi	Heyuan	$766
164 km or 102 mi	Qingyuan	$777
174 km or 108 mi	Zhaoqing	$794
212 km or 131 mi	Yunfu	$816
228 km or 142 mi	Yangjiang	$892
233 km or 145 mi	Puning	$579
256 km or 159 mi	Shaoguan	$818
262 km or 163 mi	Jieyang	$451
286 km or 178 mi	Shantou	$589
288 km or 179 mi	Meizhou	$669
292 km or 182 mi	Chaozhou	$454
299 km or 186 mi	Wuzhou	$809
303 km or 188 mi	Lianzhou	$765
330 km or 205 mi	Hezhou	$766
337 km or 209 mi	Gaozhou	$780
337 km or 210 mi	Maoming	$773
377 km or 234 mi	Ganzhou	$897
378 km or 235 mi	Chenzhou	$750
401 km or 249 mi	Yulin	$726
405 km or 252 mi	Zhanjiang	$790
415 km or 258 mi	Longyan	$697
428 km or 266 mi	Zhangzhou	$681
460 km or 286 mi	Guigang	$693
464 km or 288 mi	Xiamen	$707
477 km or 297 mi	Haikou	$677
485 km or 301 mi	Kinmen	$901
489 km or 304 mi	Guilin	$546
502 km or 312 mi	Yongzhou	$634