Ho Chi Minh vs Soweto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ho Chi Minh	Soweto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$735	$923
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2016	$1686
🏠 One person rent	$376	$540
🏘️ Family rent	$815	$553
🍽️ Food expenses	$210	$231
🚐 Transport expenses	$72.4	$88.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$1598
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	29 km
🎓 Higher education	66	63
😀 Quality of life	65	38
🏙️ Population	9.39M	1.27M

The cost of living in Ho Chi Minh is 20% less expensive than in Soweto. Cities ranked 6739th and 5917th ($735 vs $923) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Vietnam and South Africa, respectively. Check Vietnam vs South Africa 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 Soweto. Ho Chi Minh ranked 1st best city to live in Vietnam vs Soweto ranked 10th in South Africa, while ranked 4253rd and 7204th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh vs Soweto infographic

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

Prices in Ho Chi Minh vs Soweto

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

	Ho Chi Minh	Soweto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.17	$6.16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.4	$26.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.72	$3.92
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$1.88	$2.01
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$281	$346
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$511
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$634	$396
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.1	$64.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$77.2	$100
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.54	$33.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.56%	11.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4334	$850
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2039	$691
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.27	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.9	$31
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$8.52
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.06	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.49	$2.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$7.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$4.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$6.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$1.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.82	$1.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.7	$7.06
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.3	$2.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.78	$2.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$1.17
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.89	$0.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.4	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.32	$5.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$21.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$3
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.1	$45.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$70.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$277	$200
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14143	$3805

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 Soweto

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Johannesburg	$993
24 km or 15 mi	Randburg	$837
26 km or 16 mi	Sandton	$953
46 km or 28 mi	Vereeniging	$672
46 km or 29 mi	Benoni	$785
48 km or 30 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
56 km or 34 mi	Centurion	$807
58 km or 36 mi	Springs	$678
66 km or 41 mi	Pretoria	$906
73 km or 45 mi	Brits	$820
91 km or 56 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
92 km or 57 mi	Rustenburg	$889
137 km or 85 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
159 km or 99 mi	Bethal	$784
166 km or 103 mi	Kroonstad	$768
170 km or 106 mi	Middelburg	$795
222 km or 138 mi	Welkom	$748
228 km or 142 mi	Mmabatho	$780
249 km or 155 mi	Lobatse	$665
266 km or 165 mi	Gaborone	$691
282 km or 175 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
290 km or 180 mi	Kanye	$664
315 km or 196 mi	Molepolole	$628
321 km or 199 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
329 km or 204 mi	Mbabane	$562
335 km or 208 mi	Vryheid	$763
341 km or 212 mi	Maseru	$621
350 km or 217 mi	Manzini	$442
354 km or 220 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
367 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
399 km or 248 mi	Mafeteng	$567
412 km or 256 mi	Kimberley	$814
420 km or 261 mi	Palapye	$540
446 km or 277 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
447 km or 278 mi	Serowe	$583
461 km or 286 mi	Matola	$964
472 km or 293 mi	Maputo	$1068
506 km or 314 mi	Durban	$809
567 km or 353 mi	Francistown	$624
595 km or 370 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003