Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Jinan and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

For one person, living is cheaper in Jinan: $640 a month against $862 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), rent and utilities included – about $2,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

31

Cost of Living Index in Jinan
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Jinan Living Index
42

Cost of Living Index in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
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Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Living Index

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Jinan

🇨🇳 China

$640

/mo nomad

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

🇻🇳 Vietnam

$862

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Jinan and in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Jinan and in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $640 in Jinan versus $862 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Jinan $640
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $862

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,061 in Jinan versus $1,410 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Jinan $1,061
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $1,410

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,481 in Jinan versus $1,958 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Jinan $1,481
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $1,958

Living in Jinan costs roughly 26% less than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Jinan 53% lower, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 36% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.47 ¥16.49

$1.98 ₫51.3K

24.75%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.86 ¥166

$23.14 ₫599.0K

7.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.02 ¥33.54

$4.76 ₫123.2K

5.46%

Cappuccino

$2.66 ¥17.80

$1.86 ₫48.1K

43.01%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.43 ¥2.86

$0.51 ₫13.3K

-15.69%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.23 ¥1.54

$0.32 ₫8,191

-28.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$0.94 ¥6.30

$1.03 ₫26.7K

-8.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.97 ¥13.17

$1.71 ₫44.4K

15.20%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.49 ¥9.96

$1.58 ₫40.8K

-5.70%

White Bread (500g)

$1.43 ¥9.56

$1.09 ₫28.3K

31.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.23 ¥8.22

$1.05 ₫27.2K

17.14%

Eggs

$1.11 ¥7.39

$1.64 ₫42.6K

-32.32%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.64 ¥77.8

$12.33 ₫319.2K

-5.60%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.30 ¥22.08

$3.58 ₫92.6K

-7.82%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.15 ¥74.5

$10.56 ₫273.3K

5.59%

Apples (1kg)

$1.39 ¥9.28

$2.97 ₫76.9K

-53.20%

Banana (1kg)

$1.02 ¥6.80

$1.26 ₫32.7K

-19.05%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.42 ¥9.52

$1.62 ₫42.0K

-12.35%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.10 ¥7.37

$1.31 ₫33.8K

-16.03%

Potato (1kg)

$0.58 ¥3.88

$1.19 ₫30.8K

-51.26%

Onion (1kg)

$0.73 ¥4.89

$1.14 ₫29.6K

-35.96%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.54 ¥3.60

$0.73 ₫18.8K

-26.03%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.63 ¥4.20

$0.56 ₫14.6K

12.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.84 ¥25.67

$1.28 ₫33.0K

200.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.96 ¥66.6

$12.46 ₫322.5K

-20.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 ¥4.78

$0.96 ₫24.9K

-25.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.31 ¥8.73

$1.48 ₫38.3K

-11.49%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 ¥2.08

$0.26 ₫6,704

19.23%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$9.17 ¥61.3

$11.43 ₫296.0K

-19.77%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.53 ¥10.22

$0.68 ₫17.7K

125.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.27 ¥1.82

$0.62 ₫16.1K

-56.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.61 ¥30.83

$3.00 ₫77.7K

53.67%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.31 ¥8.78

$0.91 ₫23.5K

43.96%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$19.7K ¥131.6K

$30.6K ₫791.4M

-35.64%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$15.2K ¥101.5K

$29.4K ₫760.1M

-48.29%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$72.3 ¥483

$104 ₫2.7M

-30.36%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$6.66 ¥44.52

$5.79 ₫149.9K

15.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$4.99 ¥33.34

$10.48 ₫271.3K

-52.39%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$24.45 ¥164

$26.08 ₫675.1K

-6.25%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$8.77 ¥58.6

$11.90 ₫308.1K

-26.30%

Cinema Ticket

$5.10 ¥34.09

$3.89 ₫100.7K

31.11%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$217 ¥1,452

$440 ₫11.4M

-50.64%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$19.9K ¥133.0K

$24.1K ₫622.7M

-17.30%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$33.72 ¥225

$50.9 ₫1.3M

-33.77%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.11 ¥288

$35.18 ₫910.8K

22.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$71.4 ¥477

$92.1 ₫2.4M

-22.51%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$69.0 ¥462

$96.5 ₫2.5M

-28.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$248 ¥1,660

$582 ₫15.1M

-57.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$146 ¥973

$297 ₫7.7M

-50.94%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$609 ¥4,073

$1,298 ₫33.6M

-53.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$362 ¥2,423

$727 ₫18.8M

-50.15%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,475 ¥16.6K

$4,782 ₫123.8M

-48.24%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,308 ¥8,743

$1,853 ₫48.0M

-29.44%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$962 ¥6,433

$490 ₫12.7M

96.39%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.13

8.64

-63.77%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Jinan: October 19, 2026

Last update for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Groceries & Markets

Jinan

$187 29.2%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$208 24.1% 11.3% $21

Accommodation & Living

Jinan

$146 22.7%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$297 34.4% 104% $151

Clothing & Footwear

Jinan

$98 15.3%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$124 14.3% 26.4% $26

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Jinan

$84 13.1%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$120 13.9% 43% $36

Eating Out

Jinan

$78 12.2%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$64 7.5% 17.5% $14

Sport & Entertainment

Jinan

$35 5.4%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$34 3.9% 2.3% $0.8

Getting Around

Jinan

$13 2.1%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$16 1.9% 22.3% $3

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $248 in Jinan and $582 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Jinan pays 96% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $25.00 in Jinan vs $23.00 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Groceries flip the comparison at $187 vs $208, with Jinan cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Jinan

🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

🕒 Local time

20:32 8:32 PM

19:32 7:32 PM

1 h behind Jinan

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,202,432

9,456,700

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Vietnamese Dong VND ₫

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

100,000 VND = 3.86 USD

100,000 VND = 3.44 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

VND, USD, EUR to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

Vietnamese Dong exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 25,889 VND (100,000 VND = 3.86 USD). 1 EUR = 29,105 VND (100,000 VND = 3.44 EUR).

USD to CNY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Jinan Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 3,060 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Jinan
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Jinan vs Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Jinan wins on cost – living expenses run 35% lower than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Jinan the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 96% higher in Jinan, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $248 in Jinan versus $582 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $640 per month in Jinan versus $862 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – a 35% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Jinan runs roughly 25% less than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $640 in Jinan versus $862 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a $1,000 budget is realistic in Jinan but tight or insufficient in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The gap between the two cities makes Jinan the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Jinan delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $640 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Jinan hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Jinan and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Jinan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 35% less than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.