An income of 10-15 million VND/month seems enough for a young person living separately in Ho Chi Minh City, but after paying rent, food, travel and personal expenses, the remaining amount is not much.
Nguyen Thi Mai Tram - a bank employee in Ho Chi Minh City - has a salary of about 15 million VND/month. For a young single person, this is not a low income. However, when renting a house and covering all living expenses, the monthly salary still quickly decreases.
Tram's room rent is about 3 million VND/month, food and drink expenses are about 5 million VND. Travel, shopping and personal consumption expenses are about 5 million VND more. Total regular expenses are about 13 million VND, not including incurred expenses.
Expenditures alone are not too large, but combined, the salary runs out very quickly. There are months when there is additional work to go home, shopping or paying off unexpected expenses, then the saved money is almost gone," Tram said.
For Vo Thi Quynh Lam - an office worker who just graduated, the pressure is even clearer when the starting salary is about 9 million VND/month. After paying living expenses, Lam usually only has about 500,000-1 million VND left to save each month.
There are months when money for medicine, weddings, birthdays of friends or buying a necessary item almost runs out of savings. I have to consider quite carefully before each expense, especially those that are not really necessary," Lam shared.
According to Lam, the difficulty is not having enough money to cover the entire month, but maintaining a reserve when there is an unexpected event. Therefore, even though she has a stable income, she still does not feel really comfortable living alone in Ho Chi Minh City.
Income is around 10 million VND/month, how much is left after rent?
The story of Tram and Lam shows that having enough income to cover living expenses and being able to live financially independently are two different things.
According to the Statistics Office, in the first 6 months of 2026, the average income of workers nationwide reached about 9 million VND/month. Urban areas alone reached 10.6 million VND/month; paid workers reached about 10 million VND/month.
Putting these figures next to living expenses in Ho Chi Minh City makes the pressure on newcomers even clearer. The first difficult item to cut is rent.
In 2026, room rates in Ho Chi Minh City have a large difference depending on the area, area and amenities. Recent market data shows that the group of rooms commonly sought for rent is priced at about 2.8-6.4 million VND/month. In some central areas, rooms about 18-22m2 are priced at 3.5-4 million VND/month, while mini-apartments with furniture can cost more than 5 million VND.
For people receiving a salary of 11 million VND/month, room rent of 3 million VND already accounts for nearly 27% of income. Not to mention electricity, water, internet, parking and other services.
For tenants, electricity prices are also a noteworthy item. According to regulations, tenants are allowed to apply domestic electricity prices based on the number of residents if the homeowner fully declares. However, the management of tenants and calculation of electricity prices in boarding house areas is still an issue that tenants need to pay attention to.
After the rent, the remaining income must be divided for food, travel, telephone, shopping, socializing and arising expenses. These are all small expenses if viewed separately but can create a significant amount of spending at the end of the month.
How much is enough?
If marrying a single person, renting a private room, riding a motorbike and self-financing life as a reference case, the minimum monthly cost may include about 3 million VND for rent; 700,000-1 million VND for electricity, water, internet and parking; 3-5 million VND for food and drinks; about 700,000-1 million VND for travel, not including phones, shopping and personal needs.
According to this calculation method, about 9-11 million VND/month can maintain a relatively minimalist life, but almost does not create much room for savings or unexpected expenses.
At 10-11 million VND/month, young people can live separately if they tightly control their spending. The case of Quynh Lam is an example when her income is 11 million VND/month but at the end of the month it is only 500,000-1 million VND.
From 12-15 million VND, the pressure is somewhat reduced, but the ability to accumulate still depends heavily on rent and spending habits. With a salary of 15 million VND, Mai Tram still spends about 13 million VND on regular expenses.
Wanting to live separately, have a reserve and not struggle too much when incurring costs, an income of about 18 million VND/month or more will be more realistic, if rent and spending are controlled at a reasonable level.
Finally, "living well" and "living independently" are two different thresholds. A salary can help young people go out for a whole month, but to live independently sustainably, a large surplus is needed for savings, provisions and unexpected fluctuations.
