Medan vs Vientiane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Medan	Vientiane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$453	$968
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1141	$2271
🏠 One person rent	$189	$584
🏘️ Family rent	$310	$1040
🍽️ Food expenses	$170	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$32.3	$92.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$216	$203
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	55	13
😀 Quality of life	47	46
🏙️ Population	2.11M	948K

The cost of living in Medan is 53% less expensive than in Vientiane. Cities ranked 8852nd and 5785th ($453 vs $968) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 44th and 3rd in Indonesia and Laos, respectively. Check Indonesia vs Laos comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medan compared to 0.2 months in Vientiane. Medan ranked 15th best city to live in Indonesia vs Vientiane ranked 1st in Laos, while ranked 6943rd and 7093rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/medan/vientiane.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Medan vs Vientiane infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/medan/vientiane" target="_blank">Medan vs Vientiane - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Medan vs Vientiane

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

	Medan	Vientiane
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.64	$2.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$10.7	$18.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.06	$5.43
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.01	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.7	$1.71
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$0.73
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$586
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$109	$498
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$311	$1076
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$196	$908
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$56.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$67.1	$86.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24	$12.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.17%	9.96%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1152	$2316
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$558	$186
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.28	$0.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$6.85	$49.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.7	$8.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.7	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.11	$1.16
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.05
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.32	$1.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$6.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.36	$6.93
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$1.17
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.66
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.85	$1.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.09
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.3	$0.27
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.01	$0.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.72	$10
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$1.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.56	$1.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.79	$3.69
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.16	$2.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.74	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.7	$1
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.9	$48.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.24	$4.34
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.1	$18.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.48	$1.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.2	$27.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$57.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$114	$441
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7769	$9878

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$449
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$439
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$429
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$555
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$762
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$720
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$677
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$527
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$743
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$747
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$616
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$741
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$545
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$992
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$610
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$592
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$617
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$488
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$588
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$707
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$806
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$759
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1010
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$784
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$836
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$576
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550

Cities near Vientiane

Distance	City	Cost of living
63 km or 39 mi	Udon Thani	$564
109 km or 68 mi	Vang Vieng	$1033
172 km or 107 mi	Khon Kaen	$590
220 km or 136 mi	Luang Prabang	$1261
241 km or 150 mi	Thakhek	$968
279 km or 173 mi	Phitsanulok	$554
336 km or 209 mi	Vinh	$583
337 km or 210 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$586
352 km or 219 mi	Ha Tinh	$560
363 km or 225 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$707
363 km or 225 mi	Chiang Rai	$581
388 km or 241 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$543
392 km or 243 mi	Thanh Hoa	$593
392 km or 244 mi	Chiang Mai	$750
427 km or 265 mi	Dong Hoi	$495
463 km or 288 mi	Nam Dinh	$599
465 km or 289 mi	Pai	$675
475 km or 295 mi	Viet Tri	$582
480 km or 298 mi	Thai Binh	$583
480 km or 298 mi	Tha Khlong	$671
481 km or 299 mi	Hanoi	$694
487 km or 303 mi	Jinghong	$591
489 km or 304 mi	Serei Saophoan	$644
491 km or 305 mi	Rangsit	$616
503 km or 313 mi	Sa Pa	$553
504 km or 313 mi	Pak Kret	$762
507 km or 315 mi	Nonthaburi	$761
508 km or 316 mi	Bac Ninh	$594
512 km or 318 mi	Hai Duong	$586
519 km or 323 mi	Bangkok	$996
527 km or 328 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$789
528 km or 328 mi	Thai Nguyen	$467
529 km or 329 mi	Siem Reap	$679
530 km or 329 mi	Haiphong	$564
530 km or 330 mi	Lat Luang	$794
535 km or 333 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$603
540 km or 336 mi	Hpa-an	$601
545 km or 338 mi	Battambang	$601
553 km or 344 mi	Mawlamyine	$575
555 km or 345 mi	Hue	$375