Vietnam's statistics office ranked Da Nang fifth of 34 provinces and cities for living costs in 2025, behind only Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City. What does that mean for the cost of living in Da Nang if you stay a month, or a year?
The answer sits in a handful of bills, and most of them have an official price list: the power company's tariff, the water company's rates, the fuel price ceiling the government sets, the bus fares and the hospitals' price lists. Rent and food do not.
A basic month in Da Nang, added up item by item
Start from a basic month and add what your own life needs. If you add up the published prices in this guide, a basic month in Da Nang for one person in a central studio comes to about 10.5 million to 10.75 million VND (about US$407–417), before coworking, health insurance, trips out of town, groceries and household supplies, one-off costs such as a rental deposit, a SIM card or internet installation, or meals beyond street food.
The table shows how that total is built. The amounts of power and water, the three street-food meals a day, FPT's cheapest listed internet plan, a tourist data plan and a bus pass are this guide's assumptions, not survey figures.
| Item and basis | Per month |
|---|---|
| Studio rent, central (May 2026 report) | 6,000,000 VND (about US$233) |
| Electricity, 150–250 kWh (before VAT) | 320,700–589,600 VND (about US$12.5–23) |
| Water, 10 m³ (drainage fees extra) | 45,500 VND (about US$2) |
| Home internet (FPT's cheapest listed plan) | 195,000 VND (about US$7.5) |
| Mobile data (Viettel 30-day plan, SIM not included) | 150,000 VND (about US$6) |
| Street food, three meals a day | 3,600,000 VND (about US$140) |
| Bus pass | 160,000–170,000 VND (about US$6–6.5) |
| Total | About 10.5 million to 10.75 million VND (about US$407–417) |
The food line is mì Quảng, bún mắm nêm and bánh xèo at the prices a June 2026 VnExpress food tour found, using the 30,000 VND (about US$1) bún mắm nêm price from its text; at its 35,000 VND (about US$1.5) summary price, food comes to 3,750,000 VND (about US$145) a month. A month at the spaces in the coworking guide adds 1,800,000–6,000,000 VND (about US$70–233), and apartments with bedrooms ran up to 12,000,000 VND (about US$465) in the same rent report. For a sense of local wages, the regional minimum wage for central Da Nang and Hoi An is 4,730,000 VND (about US$183) a month in 2026, and many workers in the city earn 7 million to 12 million VND (about US$271–465) a month.
Rent
Budget for rent first, because it is the largest item in the basic month above and, with food, the only one with no official price list. Studio apartments in central districts averaged about 6,000,000 VND (about US$233) a month, and units with bedrooms reached up to 12,000,000 VND (about US$465), according to a May 2026 report from Vietnam's national news agency that summarized an article in the French weekly Courrier International and did not say where the figures came from.
At the low end, a worker told Tuoi Tre in April 2026 that an apartment of about 16 square meters in Hoa Khanh ward rented for about 4,000,000 VND (about US$155) without utilities, and the paper reported that rooms under 1,500,000 VND (about US$58) were hard to find. The city's statistics office said rents rose 2.03% in March 2026. Treat these figures as rough markers, because they come from news reports rather than a named market survey; for contracts, deposits and utility rules, see the renting in Da Nang guide.
Electricity and water: state prices and the tenant rules
Check how your landlord bills electricity before you sign. The state sets the household price per kWh, and it rises with each tier you use. Under the tariff in force since May 10, 2025, the first 50 kWh cost 1,984 VND (about US$0.08) each and every kWh above 400 costs 3,460 VND (about US$0.13), before VAT, with four tiers in between; 150 kWh comes to 320,700 VND (about US$12.5) and 250 kWh to 589,600 VND (about US$23).
For students and workers renting a home, the rule EVN publishes with its tariff says that if the lease is shorter than 12 months and the landlord has not declared everyone who uses the power, the whole meter reading is priced at the 101–200 kWh rate, 2,380 VND (about US$0.09). Since May 25, 2026, a landlord who buys power at household rates and charges tenants more than the state price can be fined 20,000,000–30,000,000 VND (about US$775–1,163).
The six-tier table and the tenant rule above are both due to be replaced at the next adjustment of the average electricity price: a five-tier table will take over, and the new tenant rule, in Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT, still prices the whole meter at the new table's 101–200 kWh rate. A July 2026 report put that average at 2,204 VND (about US$0.09) per kWh, the level set in May 2025, so check EVN's website for any newer tariff before you budget.
Water is cheap by comparison. The city's water company, Dawaco, charges urban households 4,550 VND (about US$0.18) per m³ for the first 10 m³, 5,460 VND (about US$0.21) for 11–30 m³ and 6,810 VND (about US$0.26) above 30 m³, VAT included; drainage and wastewater fees are extra, so ask your landlord what a typical month's water bill comes to.
Getting around: buses, Grab and fuel
Decide early how you will get around, because buses, Grab and a motorbike of your own cost very different amounts. A ride on Da Nang's subsidized city buses (routes 05, 07, 08, 11 and 12) costs 8,000 VND (about US$0.31); a monthly pass is 160,000 VND (about US$6) for one route or 170,000 VND (about US$6.5) for several, and a pass for every route run by Phuong Trang (FUTA Bus Lines), subsidized or not, is 1,000,000 VND (about US$39) a month.
In Grab's fare table for Da Nang, a GrabBike ride starts at 12,273 VND (about US$0.48) for the first 2 km, then 4,222 VND (about US$0.16) per km, plus a 3,000 VND (about US$0.12) platform fee; a 4-seat GrabCar ride starts at 27,000 VND (about US$1) for the first 2 km, then 12,175 VND (about US$0.47) per km, plus a platform fee of 5,000–19,000 VND (about US$0.19–0.74). Both also charge for travel time after the first 2 km, and Grab says fares can change with demand by area and time of day. Grab's payment partner Moca adds 4% on cards issued abroad.
If you ride your own motorbike, the government's ceiling price from 3:00 pm on October 1, 2026 was 27,189 VND (about US$1) per liter for E10 RON95 gasoline and 26,569 VND (about US$1) for E5 RON92. Under a pilot running from June 16, 2026 to June 15, 2028, E10 RON95 has replaced plain RON95 as the gasoline the state sets a base price for; unleaded gasoline has had to be blended into E10 since June 1, 2026, though E5 RON92 will still be blended for gasoline engines until December 31, 2030. Prices are reset at regular intervals, so check the date on any figure you see.
If you would rather rent a motorbike by the month, this guide suggests asking a few rental shops for a monthly rate and comparing the quotes. Before you rent one, see the motorbike rental guide for the license rules.
Food: street prices and what is missing
Eat at local stalls if you want to keep food costs down. In June 2026, VnExpress priced a bowl of mì Quảng at about 40,000 VND (about US$1.5) and two bánh xèo pancakes with two nem lụi skewers at 50,000 VND (about US$2); it gave bún mắm nêm as 30,000 VND (about US$1) in its text and 35,000 VND (about US$1.5) in its summary. It put a full day of street-food eating at about 200,000 VND (about US$8), avocado ice cream included at 20,000 VND (about US$0.78).
Cheap breakfasts were getting harder to find in early 2026: Tuoi Tre reported in April 2026 that breakfasts at 15,000–20,000 VND (about US$0.58–0.78) were disappearing. In the statistics office's 2025 index, Da Nang's food and dining prices were 98.47% of Hanoi's. Supermarket and café prices are not part of the basic month above, so budget for them on top of it.
For where and what to eat, see the Da Nang street food guide.
Internet, phone and a desk
Sort out internet early if you are working remotely. FPT lists home fiber from 195,000 VND (about US$7.5) a month, VAT included, for a 300 Mbps plan, with installation usually 299,000 VND (about US$11.5) and no deposit, and says prices may vary by area. Its page says foreigners signing up need a passport and a valid temporary or permanent residence paper; see the temporary residence registration guide.
For mobile data, Viettel's 30-day tourist plan with 5 GB a day costs 150,000 VND (about US$6), but its page says the price does not include the SIM and does not give the SIM's price. MobiFone's 30-day Hi Vietnam plan costs 240,000 VND (about US$9.5), and its Hi Vietnam app gives the eSIM free; see the SIM card guide. At the nine spaces in the coworking guide, a month costs from 1,800,000 VND (about US$70), a starting price cirCO lists for its whole chain, to 6,000,000 VND (about US$233) at list price.
Doctors and hospitals
Know what a doctor's visit costs before you need one. At Vinmec Da Nang, a private hospital, the price list in effect from April 3, 2026 puts a general medical consultation without an appointment at 1,100,000 VND (about US$42.5) and most specialist consultations by appointment, such as cardiology or dermatology, at 690,000 VND (about US$26.5). Without an appointment, nearly every consultation on the list costs the same amount.
The same list puts an emergency GP visit at 1,800,000 VND (about US$70) and a standard room at 3,800,000 VND (about US$147) per 24 hours. At the public Da Nang Hospital, an on-request examination costs 120,000 VND (about US$4.5) and a single room in its on-request and international ward 2,000,000 VND (about US$77.5) a day, under a price decision dated December 2024. In the 2025 index, medicines and health services in Da Nang were 95.87% of Hanoi's prices; for where to go, see the hospitals guide.
Visa fees for a longer stay
Add visa fees to the budget if your passport needs a visa for Vietnam or you plan to stay past a visa-free period. Under Circular 28/2026/TT-BTC, in force since April 1, 2026, a single-entry visa costs US$25 and a multiple-entry visa valid for up to 90 days US$50; an e-visa can be valid for up to 90 days.
UK citizens can visit without a visa for up to 45 days for tourism or business, while US and Australian citizens traveling on ordinary passports are not on the exemption lists and need a visa such as the e-visa. Extending a stay costs US$10 each time, but the extension has to be requested by the agency, organization or person that invited or sponsors you. A temporary residence card valid for up to two years costs US$145, but it is only for people on work, investment, study, family and similar visas, and the sponsor applies for it; tourist visas and e-visas do not qualify. For registering where you live, see the temporary residence registration guide.
Sources and how we checked
We used official price lists wherever they exist: the power company EVN's tariff, the water company Dawaco, the Ministry of Industry and Trade for fuel, Danabus for bus fares, Grab's own fare table, FPT, Vinmec and Da Nang Hospital, and the government news site's summary of the Ministry of Finance circular on visa fees, all checked on October 2–3, 2026. Rent and street-food prices come from Vietnamese news reports, because no named market survey or official price list for them could be found. In searches on October 3, 2026, we found no published monthly price for renting a motorbike. Dawaco's website and a web search gave no drainage or wastewater fee for Da Nang, and we found no published supermarket or café price list for Da Nang in news reports or on the websites of six chains (Phuc Long, Cong Caphe, Trung Nguyen Legend, Lotte Mart, WinMart and Bach Hoa Xanh, whose online prices could not be set to a Da Nang address). A web search the same day turned up no change in the average electricity price announced after the July 2026 report. The basic month is this guide's own sum of those prices, with the assumptions shown in the table. Where a source disagrees with itself, on the price of bún mắm nêm, we give both. US dollar amounts use Vietcombank's transfer rate of 25,800 VND per US$ on October 1, 2026, rounded to the nearest cent below US$1, US$0.5 up to US$100, US$1 up to US$10,000 and US$1,000 above that; visa fees are set in US dollars.
- Vietnam's statistics office: 2025 spatial cost of living index (in Vietnamese, April 4, 2026).
- Rent and wages: VnExpress International (VNA), living costs for digital nomads in Da Nang (May 7, 2026); Tuoi Tre News, rising living costs in Da Nang (April 11, 2026); Tuoi Tre, the same report in Vietnamese (April 11, 2026); Vietnam Government News, Decree 293/2025 on minimum wages and the areas in each wage region (in Vietnamese, November 2025).
- Electricity and water (in Vietnamese): VnEconomy, the five-tier tariff to come (June 1, 2025); EVN, household tariff and the tenant rule (May 9, 2025); Ministry of Industry and Trade, average electricity price from May 10, 2025 and Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT (December 2, 2025); VietnamFinance, rules for future price changes (July 11, 2026); Vietnam Government News, fines for landlords who overcharge for electricity (May 14, 2026); Dawaco, water prices from January 1, 2025.
- Transport: Ministry of Industry and Trade, fuel prices on October 1, 2026 (in Vietnamese); Danabus, routes and fares (in Vietnamese, checked October 2, 2026); Grab, fare table (in Vietnamese, updated July 8, 2026).
- Food: VnExpress, a day of Da Nang street food for 200,000 VND (in Vietnamese, June 16, 2026).
- Internet, phone and coworking: FPT, home internet plans (in Vietnamese, checked October 3, 2026); Viettel, 30-day eSIM (November 20, 2025); MobiFone, Hi Vietnam eSIM (March 18, 2026); coworking prices from the spaces' own pages, as listed in the coworking guide (checked October 3, 2026).
- Healthcare: Vinmec, Vinmec Da Nang service fees (effective April 3, 2026); Da Nang Hospital, price lists (in Vietnamese, Decision 1487/QĐ-BVĐN of December 27, 2024).
- Visas: Vietnam Government News, new immigration fees (in Vietnamese, March 31, 2026) and Resolution 44/NQ-CP on visa exemptions (in Vietnamese, March 7, 2025); Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visa exemption list (in Vietnamese); Law 23/2023/QH15 on entry and exit and the consolidated Law 47/2014 on foreigners' entry, exit and residence (in Vietnamese); UK government, entry requirements for Vietnam (updated September 21, 2026).
- Photos: Da Nang city government, housing plans for 2026 (June 1, 2026); Danang Fantasticity, shopping malls and supermarkets (July 9, 2026) and Green Market of Quang Land (March 9, 2026).
Updated: October 6, 2026
