Updated November 2026Every figure is sourced; see the last column and the list at the end
Hanoi is usually cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City, with a strong community of teachers, diplomats and long-term residents centred on Tay Ho. This guide collects published 2026 figures for what expats actually pay, shows where sources disagree, and says plainly what we could not verify.
The short answer
We found no Hanoi-only budget tiers from a credible source. For a single person, ExpatLife (Nov 2026) puts a comfortable central life at $700–$1,200 a month and Get Where Next (2026) at $1,000–$1,500. Vietnam-wide figures from VietnamTourism (Oct 2026) are $600–$900 cheap, $1,200–$1,800 mid-range and $2,500–$4,000 comfortable. Rent is the biggest variable: a one-bedroom ranges from about $350 in the Old Quarter to $1,400 furnished in Hoan Kiem.
USD amounts are approximate conversions at roughly 25,000–26,200 VND per dollar. Most published figures are expat blogs and crowd-sourced averages, not official statistics, so treat ranges as a guide and check current prices before you commit.
Rent
Sources disagree widely, mainly because of furnished versus unfurnished and serviced versus local rentals. Treat these as ranges. We found no per-area figures for Cau Giay, Dong Da, Long Bien or Ciputra/Starlake; Numbeo’s outside-centre average is the closest proxy.
| Type / area | Monthly rent | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1BR, Tay Ho | Furnished $600–$1,200 · unfurnished $400–$700 (VietnamTourism) · $400–$750 (ExpatLife) · average $650–$1,100 (Cities Insider) | VietnamTourism 14 Oct 2026; ExpatLife Nov 2026; Cities Insider 2026 |
| 1BR, Ba Dinh | Furnished $500–$900 · unfurnished $350–$600 | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
| 1BR, Hoan Kiem | Furnished $700–$1,400 · unfurnished $450–$800 | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
| 1BR, Old Quarter | $350–$600 | ExpatLife, Nov 2026 |
| Studio, Tay Ho | Listings about $211–$350 · market table $250–$400 at the lowest tier | Expat.com ads (undated); Cities Insider 2026 |
| Numbeo averages, 1BR | City centre 11.3M VND (≈$450) · outside centre 7.5M VND (≈$300) | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Numbeo averages, 3BR | City centre 22.7M VND · outside centre 14.1M VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Deposit and lease | Typically 1 month deposit plus 1 month upfront on a 12-month lease; villas often 2 months | Cities Insider, 2026 |
Browse housing providers in Hanoi.
Utilities, internet and phone
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity tariff (EVN, residential) | 0–50 kWh: 1,984 · 51–100: 2,050 · 101–200: 2,380 · 201–300: 2,998 · 301–400: 3,350 · 401+: 3,460 VND/kWh, before 10% VAT | VTC News, Jun 2026, citing the May 2025 tariff decision (1279/QD-BCT) |
| Basic utilities, 85 m² flat | 2.18M VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Electricity + water + internet combined | $50–$100 | ExpatLife, Nov 2026 |
| Fibre internet (60 Mbps+) | ≈226,000 VND per month | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Mobile plan (10 GB+) | ≈128,000 VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
Food and drink
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cheap restaurant meal | 52,500 VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Street food | $1.50–$2.40 per meal | GlobalCostData, 2026 |
| Mid-range restaurant, meal for two | 600,000 VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Cappuccino | ≈49,000 VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Beer | Draught 0.5 L 30,000 VND · imported bottle 50,000 VND | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
| Groceries | $90–$160 per month | ExpatLife, Nov 2026 |
Getting around
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Grab car | 2–3 km: 15,000–30,000 VND · 5–8 km: 40,000–80,000 VND. GrabBike is 30–50% cheaper than the car. | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
| Motorbike rental | 1.0–1.4M VND per month (one Tay Ho shop, undated blog) · 130,000–200,000 VND per day | Search results, 2026 (weak sources) |
| Used motorbike (Wave / Air Blade) | $500–$1,500 | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
| Noi Bai airport to Old Quarter | Grab 200,000–300,000 VND · taxi 300,000–400,000 VND · bus 86 45,000 VND | Travel blogs, 2026 |
| Metro (Nhon–Hanoi Station line) | Single ride 9,000–15,000 VND from 1 Aug 2025. 2026 guides conflict on later fares; check hanoimetro.net.vn. | Hanoi Times, 2025 |
Healthcare
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GP visit | Family Medical Practice from 900,000 VND (≈$38) · expat clinics $40–$100 | Cities Insider; VietnamTourism, 2026 |
| Public specialist hospitals | $5–$20 | Cities Insider, 2026 |
| Health insurance, private | $100–$250 per month | ExpatLife, Nov 2026 |
| Gym | Local gym $15–$30 · chain $40–$70 · Numbeo 667,000 VND | VietnamTourism 14 Oct 2026; Numbeo 1 Nov 2026 |
| Coworking / cleaning service | Coworking $50–$100 per month · cleaning $40–$80 per month | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
See health providers in Hanoi and our guide to expat health insurance.
International schools
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| UNIS Hanoi, 2025–26 | About $12,600 (early years) to $38,200 (grades 11–12); grades 1–5 about $31,900 | Tuoi Tre, May 2025 |
| BVIS Hanoi, 2026/27 | 251–636M VND per year (Doris); aggregators disagree, so use the official schedule on nordangliaeducation.com | Doris, 2026 |
| International primary school, average | ≈749M VND per year | Numbeo, 1 Nov 2026 |
Monthly budgets
| Who | Monthly budget | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Single, central, comfortable | $700–$1,200 | ExpatLife, Nov 2026 |
| Single, comfortable | $1,000–$1,500 | Get Where Next, 2026 |
| Vietnam-wide, not Hanoi-only | Cheap $600–$900 · mid $1,200–$1,800 · comfortable $2,500–$4,000 | VietnamTourism, 14 Oct 2026 |
Specific to Hanoi
Winter air quality
Winter and early spring are the worst. IQAir reported an AQI above 200 on 30 Nov 2025 and above 170 on 15 Jan 2026, with annual PM2.5 of 41–45 µg/m³. September to November is the build-up, typically AQI 80–150. If you have asthma or young children, factor in an air purifier.
Tet
Tet 2026 fell on 17–18 February with closures from about 14 to 22 February, and motorbike rental rose to 150,000–300,000 VND per day against 100,000–200,000 normally (VietnamTourism, 2026).
Tay Ho carries a premium
West Lake is the most popular expat area. Expect to pay more there than in Ba Dinh or the Old Quarter for a comparable flat.
What we could not verify
We looked for these and found no reliable published figure, so we left them out rather than guess:
- Rents for Cau Giay, Dong Da, Long Bien and Ciputra/Starlake, and any per-area two-bedroom figure.
- Realistic summer air-con and winter heating bills (compute from the tariff tiers), water and building management fees.
- Petrol prices for 2026.
- French Hospital and dentist prices, laundry prices and Hanoi International School fees.
- A credible couple budget, and any Tet food price figure for 2026.
- One site claims a 4.8% electricity rise to about 2,204 VND/kWh in July 2026; we could not confirm it.
- The exchange rate: figures use about 25,000 VND per dollar, implied by the sources and not checked against a bank rate.
Electricity tariffs change; check the current schedule on evn.com.vn before relying on a monthly estimate.
Sources
- Numbeo, Hanoi
- ExpatLife, Hanoi cost of living
- VietnamTourism, cost of living for a single person
- Cities Insider, Hanoi housing and rental
- Cities Insider, Hanoi healthcare
- VTC News, 2026 household electricity prices
- Get Where Next, cost of living Vietnam 2026
- Hanoi Times, metro ticket prices
- IQAir, Hanoi among the most polluted cities
- Tuoi Tre, international school tuition 2025–26
- BVIS Hanoi tuition fees
- VietnamTourism, Tet survival guide
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