Last update: Oct 2026

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

For one person, living is cheaper in Miri: $814 a month against $855 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), rent and utilities included – about $490 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

39

Cost of Living Index in Miri
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Miri 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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Miri

🇲🇾 Malaysia

$814

/mo nomad

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

🇻🇳 Vietnam

$855

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Miri 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 Miri and in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $814 in Miri versus $855 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Miri $814
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $855

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,247 in Miri versus $1,400 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Miri $1,247
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $1,400

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,680 in Miri versus $1,944 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Miri $1,680
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) $1,944

Living in Miri costs roughly 5% 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: Miri 39% lower, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 36% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.43 MYR 14.02

$1.90 ₫49.1K

80.53%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$12.16 MYR 49.65

$23.32 ₫603.5K

-47.86%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.55 MYR 18.58

$4.67 ₫120.9K

-2.57%

Cappuccino

$2.30 MYR 9.40

$1.85 ₫47.9K

24.32%

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

$0.78 MYR 3.17

$0.56 ₫14.4K

39.29%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.30 MYR 1.24

$0.34 ₫8,857

-11.76%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.96 MYR 12.10

$1.01 ₫26.2K

193.07%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.82 MYR 15.59

$1.69 ₫43.7K

126.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.40 MYR 5.72

$1.58 ₫40.8K

-11.39%

White Bread (500g)

$1.81 MYR 7.40

$1.04 ₫27.0K

74.04%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.94 MYR 3.85

$0.99 ₫25.7K

-5.05%

Eggs

$3.50 MYR 14.27

$1.60 ₫41.5K

118.75%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.23 ₫316.6K

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.79 MYR 19.58

$3.54 ₫91.7K

35.31%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.10 MYR 61.6

$10.44 ₫270.2K

44.64%

Apples (1kg)

$3.09 ₫79.9K

Banana (1kg)

$1.96 MYR 8.01

$1.26 ₫32.5K

55.56%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.57 ₫40.6K

Tomato (1kg)

$1.26 ₫32.5K

Potato (1kg)

$1.17 ₫30.4K

Onion (1kg)

$1.15 ₫29.7K

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.72 ₫18.7K

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.36 MYR 1.47

$0.54 ₫14.0K

-33.33%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.35 MYR 17.77

$1.22 ₫31.5K

256.56%

Wine (Bottle)

$19.28 MYR 78.7

$12.28 ₫317.8K

57.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.08 MYR 12.59

$0.98 ₫25.4K

214.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.41 MYR 9.85

$1.49 ₫38.5K

61.74%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.51 MYR 2.09

$0.28 ₫7,249

82.14%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$14.41 MYR 58.8

$11.62 ₫300.8K

24.01%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.19 MYR 4.87

$0.73 ₫18.9K

63.01%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.64 MYR 2.60

$0.64 ₫16.7K

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.05 MYR 24.71

$3.17 ₫82.0K

90.85%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.65 MYR 2.64

$0.95 ₫24.6K

-31.58%

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

$51.0K MYR 208.3K

$30.7K ₫795.6M

65.94%

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

$32.7K MYR 133.3K

$30.6K ₫791.6M

6.76%

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

$49.79 MYR 203

$102 ₫2.6M

-51.33%

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

$9.53 MYR 38.91

$5.65 ₫146.1K

68.67%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.24 MYR 136

$10.52 ₫272.2K

215.97%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$29.63 MYR 121

$25.86 ₫669.2K

14.58%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.17 MYR 25.21

$11.82 ₫305.9K

-47.80%

Cinema Ticket

$4.45 MYR 18.18

$3.39 ₫87.8K

31.27%

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

$102 MYR 416

$438 ₫11.3M

-76.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,641 MYR 27.1K

$23.3K ₫603.1M

-71.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.13 MYR 180

$51.5 ₫1.3M

-14.34%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$22.74 MYR 92.9

$34.56 ₫894.3K

-34.20%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$56.2 MYR 230

$91.3 ₫2.4M

-38.44%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$42.80 MYR 175

$94.9 ₫2.5M

-54.91%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$341 MYR 1,390

$577 ₫14.9M

-40.97%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$280 MYR 1,145

$292 ₫7.6M

-4.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$596 MYR 2,435

$1,293 ₫33.5M

-53.89%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$594 MYR 2,425

$717 ₫18.6M

-17.17%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,219 MYR 4,977

$4,714 ₫122.0M

-74.14%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$671 MYR 2,741

$1,882 ₫48.7M

-64.33%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$692 MYR 2,826

$486 ₫12.6M

42.48%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.12

8.64

-52.31%

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

Last update for Miri: October 5, 2026

Last update for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Miri

$280 35.2%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$292 34.3% 4.2% $12

Groceries & Markets

Miri

$194 * 24.4%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$206 24.1% 5.9% $11

Eating Out

Miri

$96 12%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$63 7.5% 33.6% $32

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Miri

$93 11.6%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$118 13.9% 28% $26

Clothing & Footwear

Miri

$75 9.4%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$123 14.4% 64.2% $48

Sport & Entertainment

Miri

$39 4.8%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$33 3.8% 15.3% $5.9

Getting Around

Miri

$21 2.6%

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

$17 2% 19.8% $4.1

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $341 in Miri and $577 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Miri pays 42% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $12.00 in Miri vs $23.00 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $194 vs $206 per month, with Miri cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇾 Miri

🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

🕒 Local time

20:04 8:04 PM

19:04 7:04 PM

1 h behind Miri

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

248,877

9,456,700

💱 Currency

Malaysian Ringgit MYR RM

Vietnamese Dong VND ₫

📈 Exchange rate

1 MYR = 0.245 USD

1 MYR = 0.219 EUR

100,000 VND = 3.86 USD

100,000 VND = 3.45 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

VND, USD, EUR to MYR – Malaysian Ringgit Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇾 Malaysian Ringgit (RM)

Malaysian Ringgit exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.08 MYR (1 MYR = 0.245 USD). 1 EUR = 4.58 MYR (1 MYR = 0.219 EUR).

Vietnamese Dong exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 25,879 VND (100,000 VND = 3.86 USD). 1 EUR = 28,999 VND (100,000 VND = 3.45 EUR).

USD to MYR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Miri Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 1,070 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Miri
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

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

Miri wins on cost – living expenses run 5% lower than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Miri the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 42% higher in Miri, 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: $341 in Miri versus $577 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 $814 per month in Miri versus $855 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – a 5% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Miri runs roughly 24% 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 $814 in Miri versus $855 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a $1,500 budget is realistic in Miri but tight or insufficient in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The gap between the two cities makes Miri the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Miri delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $814 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Miri hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Miri 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 Miri gentler on the wallet – expenses run 5% less than in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.