Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

San Salvador, El Salvador

San Salvador vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

San Salvador is 61.8% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 48.9% more in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 26.8% more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 77.5% more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 44.9% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 79.6% more in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 54.3% more in San Salvador

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

San Salvador vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Salvador instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,771	$10.00 SVC87.57	+404.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,156	$7.00 SVC61.30	+135.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,406	$1.09 SVC9.53	+105.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,126	$0.91 SVC7.99	+115.7%
Average			+190.3%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.9% more for groceries

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,674	$2.12 SVC18.57	+132.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK295,931	$3.24 SVC28.34	-76.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,492	$7.39 SVC64.68	+15.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,765	$3.04 SVC26.58	+73.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,655	$2.78 SVC24.31	-5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,025	$1.44 SVC12.63	+63.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,620	$0.77 SVC6.73	+56.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,920	$1.17 SVC10.20	+26.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,853	$1.22 SVC10.65	+104.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,660	$0.99 SVC8.70	+36.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,882	$0.98 SVC8.54	+112.9%
Average			+48.9%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.8% more for transportation

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK107,949	$3.97 SVC34.79	-20.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,062,092	$20.00 SVC175.15	-59.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK611,154,737	$25,000.00 SVC218,932.55	-11.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,228	$33.43 SVC292.73	+198.9%
Average			+26.8%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 77.5% more for housing

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,024	$42.14 SVC369.06	+277.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,534,058	$858.33 SVC7,516.68	-0.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,739,770	$641.67 SVC5,619.27	-17.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,171,564	$81.52 SVC713.89	+50.1%
Average			+77.5%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 44.9% less for childcare

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,176,302	$160.29 SVC1,403.67	-51.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK199,597,550	$5,740.67 SVC50,272.75	-38.0%
Average			-44.9%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 79.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,464	$2.00 SVC17.51	+110.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,263	$3.24 SVC28.36	+116.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,217	$4.00 SVC35.03	+152.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,072,982	$30.67 SVC268.56	-38.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,588	$5.50 SVC48.17	+57.0%
Average			+79.6%

Vientiane vs. San Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 54.3% more for clothing

	Vientiane	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,852,151	$72.14 SVC631.78	-16.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,356,449	$47.86 SVC419.10	-23.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,235,836	$112.14 SVC982.07	+95.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK894,770	$108.33 SVC948.71	+161.2%
Average			+54.3%

Vientiane vs. San 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: June 2025

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