Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

El Salvador

El Salvador vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

El Salvador is 45.0% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in El Salvador
Groceries: pay 34.7% more in El Salvador
Transportation: pay 27.0% more in El Salvador
Housing: pay 77.4% more in El Salvador
Childcare: pay 41.1% less in El Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.9% more in El Salvador
Clothing: pay 43.4% more in El Salvador

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, and transportation in El Salvador are more expensive than in Laos. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in El Salvador.

El Salvador vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

If you lived in El Salvador instead of Laos, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Laos	El Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.90 LAK41,063	$7.50 SVC65.59	+295.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.20 LAK91,004	$6.33 SVC55.36	+50.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 LAK14,943	$0.96 SVC8.38	+38.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 LAK10,510	$0.81 SVC7.07	+66.5%
Average			+112.8%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.7% more for groceries

	Laos	El Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 LAK21,695	$2.12 SVC18.54	+111.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.03 LAK282,056	$3.24 SVC28.30	-75.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 LAK138,534	$6.95 SVC60.81	+8.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 LAK44,692	$2.80 SVC24.46	+35.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.07 LAK44,806	$2.68 SVC23.47	+29.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,127	$1.44 SVC12.62	+93.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 LAK16,056	$0.77 SVC6.72	+3.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 LAK20,720	$1.17 SVC10.19	+21.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 LAK27,904	$1.22 SVC10.63	-5.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,044	$0.99 SVC8.68	+42.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 LAK9,785	$0.98 SVC8.53	+115.8%
Average			+34.7%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.0% more for transportation

	Laos	El Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 LAK99,681	$3.80 SVC33.21	-17.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.85 LAK1,165,558	$20.00 SVC174.90	-62.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,167.89 LAK609,652,742	$24,333.33 SVC212,796.78	-13.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 LAK228,849	$31.95 SVC279.42	+202.2%
Average			+27.0%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 77.4% more for housing

	Laos	El Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.98 LAK194,435	$42.14 SVC368.54	+369.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$993.83 LAK21,509,951	$652.78 SVC5,708.59	-34.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$809.30 LAK17,516,192	$463.89 SVC4,056.74	-42.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.85 LAK1,273,625	$69.00 SVC603.44	+17.3%
Average			+77.4%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 41.1% less for childcare

	Laos	El Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$291.32 LAK6,305,294	$160.29 SVC1,401.71	-45.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,140.14 LAK197,825,045	$5,740.67 SVC50,202.55	-37.2%
Average			-41.1%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	El Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 LAK23,937	$2.00 SVC17.49	+80.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 LAK35,041	$2.82 SVC24.68	+74.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK38,621	$4.00 SVC34.98	+124.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 LAK1,435,222	$30.22 SVC264.30	-54.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 LAK64,324	$5.33 SVC46.64	+79.5%
Average			+60.9%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.4% more for clothing

	Laos	El Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.60 LAK1,701,144	$72.14 SVC630.89	-8.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.45 LAK1,329,934	$47.86 SVC418.51	-22.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.22 LAK1,411,579	$112.14 SVC980.70	+71.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.67 LAK1,010,104	$108.33 SVC947.38	+132.1%
Average			+43.4%

Laos vs. El Salvador - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

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