Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City vs Buenos Aires

One person needs about €799 a month in Ho Chi Minh City and €936 in Buenos Aires, rent included — Ho Chi Minh City is 17% cheaper overall.

🇻🇳
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam · 9.0M pop
vs
🇦🇷
Buenos Aires
Argentina · 3.1M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€480€550
15% pricier
Groceries / mo
€200€240
20% pricier
Eating out (meal)
€3€7
133% pricier
Internet (100mbps)
€15€25
67% pricier
Avg salary (tech)
€1,300€1,400
8% higher
Coworking / mo
€110€110
0% pricier
Ho Chi Minh CityBuenos Aires
Rent€480€550
Groceries€200€240
Transport€20€15
Utilities€60€50

Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle

Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.

To live in Buenos Aires the way you live in Ho Chi Minh City on €3,000, you need

€3,514/ month net

17% more than today (+€514)

Ho Chi Minh City today
Basket €799 · left over €2,201 (73%)
Buenos Aires at the matched salary
Basket €936 · left over €2,578 (73%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 150% over in Buenos Aires (adequate) vs 163% in Ho Chi Minh City. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City

Very low burn rate and a fast-growing dev scene; visas need planning.

Monthly budget: €799

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

Very cheap in hard currency, with prices that move week to week.

Monthly budget: €936

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

Should you move to Ho Chi Minh City or Buenos Aires?

On salary, Buenos Aires pays more for tech roles (€1,400 versus €1,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €501 in Ho Chi Minh City at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €480 in Ho Chi Minh City against €550 in Buenos Aires. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Ho Chi Minh City at 77 and Buenos Aires at 72 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Ho Chi Minh City comparisons

More Buenos Aires comparisons