Cost of living comparison

Maseru, Lesotho

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.0 times more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 48.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 37.6% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 55.7% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 5.7 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 9.8 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.1% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 11.5% more in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Vientiane are more expensive than in Maseru. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.3% less for restaurants

	Maseru	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$1.98 LAK42,814
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.58 LSL206.85	$2.97 LAK64,221	-74.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 LSL18.38	$0.53 LAK11,418	-48.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 LSL9.69	$0.42 LAK9,135	-22.0%
Average			-48.3%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 37.6% more for groceries

	Maseru	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.82 LSL14.66	$0.91 LAK19,694	+11.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.67 LSL47.67	$13.72 LAK296,229	+414.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.65 LSL65.17	$6.42 LAK138,631	+75.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.28 LSL22.80	$1.75 LAK37,803	+37.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.09 LSL55.22	$2.95 LAK63,719	-4.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LSL15.76	$0.88 LAK19,044	-0.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00 LSL17.95	$0.49 LAK10,631	-51.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 LSL17.64	$0.92 LAK19,940	-6.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 LSL20.71	$0.60 LAK12,866	-48.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 LSL10.89	$0.73 LAK15,676	+19.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 LSL12.27	$0.46 LAK9,892	-33.3%
Average			+37.6%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 55.7% more for transportation

	Maseru	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.64 LSL82.80	$5.00 LAK108,058	+7.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.40 LSL507.24	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	+73.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 LSL355,067.43	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	+42.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.62 LSL100.43	$11.18 LAK241,471	+98.9%
Average			+55.7%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.7 times more for housing

	Maseru	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.72 LSL405.79	$11.17 LAK241,267	-50.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$143.89 LSL2,570.01	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	+497.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$72.89 LSL1,301.91	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	+964.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$54.31 LAK1,172,744
Average			+470.3%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.8 times more for childcare

	Maseru	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$29.35 LSL524.15	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	+1033.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,117.07 LSL19,951.41	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	+728.3%
Average			+880.9%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.85 LSL33.12	$0.95 LAK20,485	-48.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.29 LSL23.07	$1.50 LAK32,296	+15.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.83 LSL86.23	$1.59 LAK34,251	-67.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.77 LSL388.88	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	+128.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.50 LAK75,664
Average			+7.1%

Maseru vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.5% more for clothing

	Maseru	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$42.60 LSL760.86	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+101.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.76 LSL710.13	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	+58.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.35 LSL1,792.25	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-42.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$142.00 LSL2,536.20	$41.48 LAK895,672	-70.8%
Average			+11.5%

Maseru 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: June 2025

More cost comparisons

Maseru vs.

Rome

Maseru vs.

Madrid

Maseru vs.

Manila

Maseru vs.

Nairobi

Maseru vs.

Dublin

Maseru vs.

Algiers

Maseru vs.

Beijing

Maseru vs.

Ankara

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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