🇻🇳 Vietnam · A realistic 2026 budget for newcomers — rent, food, transport, and what a month actually costs.
Wondering how far your salary goes in Hanoi? Here’s what everyday life costs, in local prices — the numbers that matter when you’re deciding to move or negotiating a package.
What things cost
One-bed, Tây Hồ or Ba Đình (serviced, the expat market)VND 12–25 million / month
One-bed, Cầu Giấy, Thanh Xuân or Hà Đông (local market)VND 6–11 million / month
Electricity, water and fibre, one personVND 1.2–2.5 million / month, spiking with aircon in July and heating in January
Groceries and everyday eatingVND 5–9 million / month; a bowl of bún chả is VND 40–60k
Air purifier and a year of replacement filtersVND 4–9 million in year one — the budget line nobody plans for
Good to know
Population
≈8.7 million across the city, with roughly 4 million in the dense inner wards
Languages
Vietnamese in the northern accent — the broadcast standard and the version taught in textbooks. English is common in Tây Hồ and international offices and thin elsewhere
Currency
Vietnamese đồng (VND) — notes run to 500,000, and the 20,000 and 500,000 notes are both blue and routinely confused
Time zone
Indochina Time (GMT+7) — Vietnam does not observe daylight saving
Power plug
Types A, C and F, 220 V at 50 Hz — most sockets take both flat and round pins
Climate
Humid subtropical, not tropical — hot wet summers to 38°C, a real winter at 10–15°C with no heating, and the nồm damp season in February and March
Air quality
Worst from November to March, when inversions trap emissions; Hanoi appeared among the world's ten most polluted major cities repeatedly through January, February and March 2026
Administration
Since 1 July 2025 Vietnam has no district tier — the ward (phường) is the level you deal with, and many old district-office addresses are obsolete
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.
A note on budgeting
Rent is usually the swing factor — location and whether bills are included move the number most. Build your estimate from the rent band above, add a monthly living figure, and keep a buffer for one-off setup costs (deposits, a residence permit, a local SIM, first-month transport). Globe Quest turns this into a personalized Hanoi checklist so nothing setup-related catches you off guard.
Plan your move to Hanoi
A free, AI-personalized plan — the language, culture, and setup steps timed to your move date.