Medan vs Vientiane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medan	Vientiane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$481	$1163
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1335	$2803
🏠 One person rent	$187	$769
🏘️ Family rent	$394	$1561
🍽️ Food expenses	$189	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.6	$101
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$262	$231
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	53	13
😀 Quality of life	44	36
🏙️ Population	2.11M	948K

The cost of living in Medan is 59% less expensive than in Vientiane. Cities ranked 8745th and 4590th ($481 vs $1163) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th 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 14th best city to live in Indonesia vs Vientiane ranked 1st in Laos, while ranked 6633rd and 7436th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Medan vs Vientiane infographic

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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	$1.97	$2.19
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.8	$19.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.31	$4.48
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.39	$1.2
☕ Cappuccino	$2.24	$1.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$174	$784
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$107	$697
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$469	$922
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$265	$1623
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.4	$43.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.2	$67.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.1	$11.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.24%	10.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1337	$1858
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$614	$938
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$0.46
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.02	$49.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.8	$11.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.38
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$1.71
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$0.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$1.04
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.55	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.21	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.56	$6.54
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$6.15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.99
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.04
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$0.25
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$0.74
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$10.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.68	$0.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.26	$1.62
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.01	$3.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.41	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.83	$1.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.77	$1.02
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23	$50.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.48	$3.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.1	$15.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$1.83
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.3	$88.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$57.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$337
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10763	$9354

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	$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

Cities near Vientiane

Distance	City	Cost of living
63 km or 39 mi	Udon Thani	$543
109 km or 68 mi	Vang Vieng	$1183
172 km or 107 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
220 km or 136 mi	Luang Prabang	$1253
241 km or 150 mi	Thakhek	$1161
279 km or 173 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
336 km or 209 mi	Vinh	$579
337 km or 210 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
352 km or 219 mi	Ha Tinh	$558
363 km or 225 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
363 km or 225 mi	Chiang Rai	$584
388 km or 241 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
392 km or 243 mi	Thanh Hoa	$563
392 km or 244 mi	Chiang Mai	$691
427 km or 265 mi	Dong Hoi	$500
463 km or 288 mi	Nam Dinh	$496
465 km or 289 mi	Pai	$633
475 km or 295 mi	Viet Tri	$592
480 km or 298 mi	Thai Binh	$513
480 km or 298 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
481 km or 299 mi	Hanoi	$647
487 km or 303 mi	Jinghong	$604
489 km or 304 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
491 km or 305 mi	Rangsit	$595
503 km or 313 mi	Sa Pa	$553
504 km or 313 mi	Pak Kret	$715
507 km or 315 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
508 km or 316 mi	Bac Ninh	$513
512 km or 318 mi	Hai Duong	$554
519 km or 323 mi	Bangkok	$941
527 km or 328 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
528 km or 328 mi	Thai Nguyen	$570
529 km or 329 mi	Siem Reap	$644
530 km or 329 mi	Haiphong	$591
530 km or 330 mi	Lat Luang	$753
535 km or 333 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
540 km or 336 mi	Hpa-an	$610
545 km or 338 mi	Battambang	$573
553 km or 344 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
555 km or 345 mi	Hue	$393