Cost of living comparison

Managua, Nicaragua

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Managua Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 24.1% more expensive than Managua.

Restaurants: pay 41.2% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 27.1% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 13.8% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 87.8% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.3% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 23.6% less in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, and transportation in Vientiane are more expensive than in Managua. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Vientiane. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Managua Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Managua, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.2% less for restaurants

	Managua	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.08 NIO150.09	$1.98 LAK42,710	-51.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 NIO257.50	$2.97 LAK64,065	-57.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NIO24.02	$0.53 LAK11,390	-19.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 NIO24.69	$0.42 LAK9,113	-37.0%
Average			-41.2%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.1% more for groceries

	Managua	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.67 NIO61.37	$0.91 LAK19,647	-45.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.35 NIO86.61	$13.72 LAK295,512	+482.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.20 NIO154.43	$6.42 LAK138,296	+52.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 NIO71.32	$1.75 LAK37,711	-9.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.29 NIO84.37	$2.95 LAK63,565	+28.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.50 NIO91.88	$0.88 LAK18,998	-64.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 NIO23.40	$0.49 LAK10,605	-22.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 NIO52.94	$0.92 LAK19,891	-35.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 NIO21.62	$0.60 LAK12,835	+1.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 NIO50.70	$0.73 LAK15,638	-47.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 NIO29.22	$0.46 LAK9,868	-42.3%
Average			+27.1%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.8% more for transportation

	Managua	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 NIO186.43	$5.00 LAK107,796	-1.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$49.23 LAK1,060,588
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,000.00 NIO809,299.35	$28,330.27 LAK610,289,074	+28.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$11.18 LAK240,886
Average			+13.8%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 87.8% more for housing

	Managua	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$44.10 NIO1,622.34	$11.17 LAK240,683	-74.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 NIO9,196.58	$859.15 LAK18,507,806	+243.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$250.00 NIO9,196.58	$775.98 LAK16,716,059	+210.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$75.78 NIO2,787.54	$54.31 LAK1,169,905	-28.3%
Average			+87.8%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Managua	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$125.56 NIO4,618.73	$332.66 LAK7,166,137	+165.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,800.00 NIO176,574.40	$9,252.41 LAK199,314,832	+92.8%
Average			+128.9%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Managua	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 NIO50.03	$0.95 LAK20,435	-30.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.21 NIO81.45	$1.50 LAK32,217	-32.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.66 NIO97.83	$1.59 LAK34,168	-40.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.27 NIO1,371.02	$49.74 LAK1,071,462	+33.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.30 NIO268.44	$3.50 LAK75,481	-52.0%
Average			-24.3%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.6% less for clothing

	Managua	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$74.93 NIO2,756.36	$85.86 LAK1,849,527	+14.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.67 NIO2,084.56	$62.88 LAK1,354,527	+11.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.40 NIO4,024.51	$57.29 LAK1,234,086	-47.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 NIO5,517.95	$41.48 LAK893,503	-72.3%
Average			-23.6%

Managua vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: July 2025

More cost comparisons

Managua vs.

Reykjavik

Managua vs.

Phnom Penh

Managua vs.

Manila

Managua vs.

Beijing

Managua vs.

Bangkok

Managua vs.

Ottawa

Managua vs.

Moscow

Managua vs.

Algiers

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Nicaragua vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Nicaragua and Laos.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Managua

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vientiane or Managua. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.