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Hanoi Cost of Living: $600 – $900
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Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living: $750 – $1,300
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Hoi An Cost of Living: $550 – $800
Vietnam is a fast-growing expat destination, and one of the more popular places for retirees, expats, and digital nomads living in Southeast Asia. The country offers expats a quality of life that is, in many ways, better than that of neighboring nations. The food is diverse and delicious, the cost of living is low, and there are a number of well-paid teaching jobs available. Outside of the two largest cities, however, there’s also a lot to love in the country’s stunning beach towns and cool mountainside cities.
Depending on where you choose to live in Vietnam, you’ll find very different vibes. There is a large digital nomad and entrepreneur crowd living in Ho Chi Minh City. Many teachers work from Hanoi, in the north. And many American retirees who fought in the war returned to Vietnam to live out their days—they live in every nook and cranny of Vietnam.
Visa policies are difficult for non-retirees, but they are not impossible if you want to live in Vietnam permanently but don’t qualify for a retirement visa. In general, the country is easy to explore and popular on the budget backpacker route of Southeast Asia. The legacy of the Vietnam war is noticeable. Many Vietnamese have family members living in the U.S. and they are generally friendly and welcoming to expats.
If you have the privilege of moving and retiring abroad, moving to Vietnam in 2020 has a lot to offer in terms of culture and cost of living.
What Does it Cost?
All prices on the right are adjusted to form a best-estimate on the budget for a single person in that city. The case-studies, however, include a range of couples, families, and retirees. Additionally, most landlords offer rental discounts for yearlong leases. Several single expats in the digital nomad crowd report higher expenses than the rock bottom that is possible. In general, some of the digital nomad crowd, versus the expats or families, live in the trendier areas and splurge on a few extras. Areas for splurging include which district you live in, the level of westernization on the apartment, and A/C consumption.
As more expats move to Vietnam, however, it is also driving up prices in local areas for expats and locals alike. When looking at the cost of living it’s important to understand that these estimates assume that expats will want many Western-style amenities. Locals live on far lower budgets, and as expats enter these cities they are often pricing locals out of the area. Each estimate is adjusted for a single person, but the case studies include families and couples too.
Hanoi Cost of Living: $600 – $900
Andy is an expat teacher living in the expat-y Tay Ho area of Hanoi. He shared a large flat with an expat couple and his expenses regularly came in at $800-$1000 a month without trying too hard to budget. He notes that it’s entirely possible that he could have gotten by on $500-600 per month if needed. His rent set him back $220 a month, and unfortunately he doesn’t detail much about where the rest of his expenses went, but with those expenses it’s safe to assume that he was on an the upscale side of budget backpacker.
Colin lives and works in Hanoi and has for a while, his last cost of living update in late 2017 shows a trend that many expats face, which is that they upgrade their lifestyle a bit after living on a tighter budget. So although his monthly expenses during his first two years time in Hanoi came in consistently under $800 per month. Now in 2018, he is sticking to $1,100 as his monthly budget—$600 of that goes to a really nice looking flat (a clear upgrade over the previous one that cost a mere $330), and he spends about $300+ for food every month.
Amy and Andrew are British expats, who works as English teachers in Hanoi. They chose to live in the Ba Dinh district, near Hoan Kiem Lake. Their apartment came fully furnished with air conditioning and their building has a laundry room and a security guard 24-hours a day. As their apartment had a kitchen, they cooked most of their meals, instead of eating street food three meals a day. Their diet is vegetarian. To get around the city, they opted to rent a motorbike. Their life in Hanoi is pretty laid back, with massages and the occasional movie. They report a cost of living of $1,130 on average per month, with about $420 USD going toward rent.
Jimmy is an Australian expat who lived in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City over an 8-month period. A traveler and photographer, Jimmy works from cafes. And as a food-lover, Jimmy spends almost as much money on food as he does on rent. Instead of cooking his own meals, he decided to eat out three meals a day. In Hanoi, Jimmy decided to live in a hostel, which is not ideal for everyone. In Ho Chi Minh City, however, he rented a room in District 1 for about $280 per month. He reports a cost of living of $607 for an average month.
This Hanoi site has a pretty fantastic, recent rundown of costs for living in Hoi An, including healthcare and schooling. It’s a good general overview.
Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living: $750 – $1,300
James is a single 30-something male. He lives in Saigon for the better part of each year, a home base when he is not traveling to other destinations. James is a travel blogger and digital nomad, and works from coffee shops. His monthly cost of living report came in at $724 for an average month, which includes a studio apartment in District 1. After rent, the majority of his expenses can be attributed to street food and coffee. This budget does not include alcohol, so if you partake then you will want to expand this budget a tad.
Anna is an American expat who lived in Saigon for several months. She is an entrepreneur and quite active in the digital nomad crowd. Her cost of living report came in at $750 for an average month, which includes a studio apartment with maid and laundry service, and a yoga membership. Anna works mostly from coffee shops and coworking spaces, and she also eats out for every meal.
David is a single 30-something male. He lived in the city for a long while and was an entrepreneur engaged in the digital nomad crowd and startup scene. His expense report came in at $1200 for an average month, which included his Western-style apartment in District 1, and a maid three times a week, alongside other optional costs. One example is his custom-made stand-up desk built for his apartment—very cool, but not in all expat budgets. He works from coffeeshops, which is par for the course, and doesn’t drink much. While on the upper end of the range for Saigon, his expenses are not extravagant.
Hoi An Cost of Living: $550 – $800
Danger and Stacey spent three months in Hoi An and they found a beautiful accommodation for $458 USD per month that was definitely Western style with a pool, fast wifi, and a location just near the river. Their food budget of nearly $450 is definitely enough to enjoy a good range of street food, nicer meals, and breakfasts at home. They detail every expense category in their video, as well as provide a comparison to Chiang Mai, Thailand cost of living for their lifestyle (navigate to minute 7:27 to see how they stacked up). It’s interesting to see that comparison because they live very similarly in both places, so can really get a feel for how your budget it either country might stack up. Their total costs for a couple came in at a cost of living of $1,251 per month.
Simon and Erin are British expats and digital nomads living in Hoi An. They lived in Hoi An for two and a half months, and lived in a spacious two-bedroom apartment near Ancient Town. They are vegetarians and don’t party, and choose to spend their money on better accommodation and delicious food. Instead of partying they chose to have drinks at the beach, go to a movie, and take cooking classes. Their two-bedroom apartment cost $500, but they report smaller places run as low as $300 for a nice place—most rentals here are small houses. Motorbike rental came in at a reasonable $45 US per month. They report a averaging $1,292 for each month, which is incredibly similar to what the other Hoi An expat founds, so you know that you’ll likely come in similarly if you value the same lifestyle!
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By alittleadrift.com