Cost of living comparison

Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Saipan Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 15.2% cheaper than Saipan.

Restaurants: pay 67.0% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 54.3% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 25.7% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 12.6% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 54.2% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 50.9% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 50.1% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Saipan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.0% less for restaurants

	Saipan	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00	$1.98 LAK42,814	-75.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$2.97 LAK64,221	-75.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.50	$0.53 LAK11,418	-64.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.90	$0.42 LAK9,135	-53.0%
Average			-67.0%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.3% less for groceries

	Saipan	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$3.33	$0.91 LAK19,694	-72.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$13.72 LAK296,229
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.44	$6.42 LAK138,631	-23.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.33	$1.75 LAK37,803	-72.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.00	$2.95 LAK63,719	-50.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.99	$0.88 LAK19,044	-70.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00	$0.49 LAK10,631	-50.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.99	$0.92 LAK19,940	-69.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.60 LAK12,866
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95	$0.73 LAK15,676	-23.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03	$0.46 LAK9,892	-55.7%
Average			-54.3%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.7% less for transportation

	Saipan	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.32	$5.00 LAK108,058	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$49.23 LAK1,063,162
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,999.00	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	-23.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.41	$11.18 LAK241,471	-47.8%
Average			-25.7%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.6% less for housing

	Saipan	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$11.17 LAK241,267	-81.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$625.00	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	+37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$450.00	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	+72.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$254.42	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	-78.7%
Average			-12.6%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 54.2% more for childcare

	Saipan	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$332.66 LAK7,183,531
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	+54.2%
Average			+54.2%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 50.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Saipan	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.50	$0.95 LAK20,485	-82.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.83	$1.50 LAK32,296	-69.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$1.59 LAK34,251
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.50	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	+4.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00	$3.50 LAK75,664	-56.2%
Average			-50.9%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.1% more for clothing

	Saipan	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$30.00	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+186.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	+57.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.00	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-18.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.00	$41.48 LAK895,672	-24.6%
Average			+50.1%

Saipan vs. Vientiane - 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: June 2025

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