Cost of living comparison

Rome, Italy

compared to

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 39.3% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 73.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 32.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 34.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 62.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 6.3% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.6% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 17.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and clothing are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.4% less for restaurants

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €13.95	$1.98 ₫51,672	-87.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.72 €9.30	$4.85 ₫126,597	-54.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.23 €1.94	$0.51 ₫13,331	-77.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.12 €0.97	$0.29 ₫7,662	-73.9%
Average			-73.4%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.0% less for groceries

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.78 €1.55	$1.07 ₫28,012	-39.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 €6.08	$5.90 ₫154,047	-15.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.20 €5.38	$5.76 ₫150,464	-7.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.26	$1.48 ₫38,782	-60.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.89 €4.24	$1.70 ₫44,382	-65.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.93	$1.35 ₫35,259	+25.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.80	$0.46 ₫12,049	-50.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.77	$0.55 ₫14,382	-38.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.95	$0.53 ₫13,937	-51.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 €0.63	$0.59 ₫15,447	-18.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 €0.68	$0.54 ₫14,162	-30.9%
Average			-32.0%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.3% less for transportation

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.15 €6.20	$3.56 ₫92,911	-50.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.51 €32.55	$13.05 ₫341,036	-65.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,794.08 €23,249.68	$38,763.85 ₫1,012,772,195	+44.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.15 €14.88	$5.73 ₫149,591	-66.6%
Average			-34.3%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 62.7% less for housing

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.46 €25.56	$9.69 ₫253,153	-67.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,180.31 €1,024.18	$476.20 ₫12,441,655	-59.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$763.10 €662.15	$305.20 ₫7,973,851	-60.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$167.26 €145.14	$60.34 ₫1,576,603	-63.9%
Average			-62.7%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.3% less for childcare

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$508.83 €441.52	$252.71 ₫6,602,540	-50.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,490.67 €9,102.93	$14,438.55 ₫377,231,807	+37.6%
Average			-6.3%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.36 €4.65	$1.19 ₫31,003	-77.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.53 €1.32	$1.94 ₫50,742	+27.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 €5.58	$1.38 ₫36,170	-78.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.31 €50.60	$23.61 ₫616,749	-59.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.72 €9.30	$4.35 ₫113,679	-59.4%
Average			-49.6%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.0% less for clothing

	Rome	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.43 €56.78	$30.06 ₫785,415	-54.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.74 €26.67	$25.09 ₫655,419	-18.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.17 €66.96	$98.26 ₫2,567,285	+27.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.32 €88.78	$78.85 ₫2,059,992	-22.9%
Average			-17.0%

Rome vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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

Rome vs.

Wellington

Rome vs.

Paris

Rome vs.

Manila

Rome vs.

Reykjavik

Rome vs.

Hanoi

Rome vs.

Dublin

Rome vs.

Beijing

Rome vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Rome

Add prices for Ho Chi Minh City

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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