Average Salary In Vietnam 2025: Monthly & By Sector

Key takeaways

• Vietnam’s average salary in Vietnam of $321 hides big differences that affect your hiring costs and ability to compete for talent.
• Urban centers like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi pay 39% more than rural areas, while senior executives earn 3-4 times more than entry-level workers.
• Salaries are growing fast at 9.5% per year, creating a more competitive talent market that needs smart pay planning.

Vietnam’s reputation for abundant, relatively low-cost labor has been instrumental in its rise as a key global manufacturing hub. This cost-effectiveness continues to make it a prime destination for businesses, but the country’s appeal is now much broader, with a rapidly growing and skilled talent pool across the technology, finance, and service sectors. Employers can no longer rely on simple national averages to build a competitive compensation strategy. This article discusses the average salary in Vietnam and provides a detailed breakdown of what firms can realistically expect to pay, exploring the critical variations by sector, location, and role.

The following analysis draws from comprehensive data including the Survey Vietnam & SEA Salary Trends 2025 by CGP Group and contextualized with official data from Vietnam’s General Statistics Office

What is the average salary in Vietnam?

The national average masks significant variations that directly impact your operational costs and talent acquisition strategy across different regions and career levels.

The national average salary

As of the first quarter of 2025, Vietnamese workers earn an average monthly salary in Vietnam of 8.3 million VND (about $321 USD). This is a strong 9.5% increase from last year. This big growth shows Vietnam’s expanding economy and growing global connections, but it also means rising wage pressures that businesses must plan for.

Per year, this average annual income in Vietnam equals about 207.6 million VND (around $8,125 USD) per worker. But this number includes many lower-paying farm and rural jobs, which can mislead business leaders planning city operations or looking for skilled workers.

The steady upward average wage Vietnam trend—from a record low of 1.4 million VND in 2007 to today’s levels—shows Vietnam’s steady move toward middle-income status. This creates both opportunities for businesses seeking cost-effective operations and challenges for those needing long-term budget certainty.

Key regional differences

Geographic location fundamentally determines your talent acquisition costs in Vietnam. The Red River Delta region, anchored by Hanoi, reports average monthly incomes of 9.8 million VND—18% above the national average. Meanwhile, the southeastern region, which includes Ho Chi Minh City, averages 9.3 million VND monthly, with HCMC itself reaching 9.7 million VND.

The urban-rural divide creates a stark 39% wage differential, with urban workers earning 10.1 million VND monthly compared to rural counterparts. For businesses establishing operations, this geographic premium directly impacts facility location decisions and talent accessibility.

Regional wage growth rates also vary significantly. The north central and central coastal regions experienced 11.7% year-over-year growth, while established economic centers like the Red River Delta saw more moderate 9.5% increases, suggesting potential arbitrage opportunities for strategic location planning.

Entry-level expectations as a baseline

Entry-level positions set the practical minimum for attracting educated, early-career talent across competitive sectors. Monthly salaries typically range from 6 million to 10 million VND. This equals annual pay between 72 million and 120 million VND ($3,000-$5,000 USD).

These baseline numbers represent the minimum investment needed to access Vietnam’s emerging professional workforce, especially graduates from the country’s expanding higher education system. But getting candidates with special skills or bilingual abilities often requires pay packages at the higher end of this range.

The entry-level market stays highly competitive. 82% of Vietnamese companies are planning salary increases in 2025, creating upward pressure on these baseline numbers and requiring flexible pay strategies.

Average salary in Vietnam by sector and role

Sector performance reveals where Vietnam’s economic transformation creates the highest value—and where talent competition intensifies most rapidly.

Broad economic sector breakdown

The service sector leads pay levels at 9.9 million VND monthly. This reflects Vietnam’s shift toward a knowledge-based economy and the premium placed on customer-facing and professional services skills. Industry and construction follows at 9.1 million VND monthly, supported by Vietnam’s manufacturing boom and infrastructure development.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector, while employing many workers, averages only 4.9 million VND monthly despite having the highest growth rate at 9.8% year-over-year. This gap shows the ongoing economic change as workers move from traditional sectors to higher-value activities. For manufacturing-specific insights, the Vietnam factory worker salary analysis provides detailed breakdowns of industrial compensation trends.

High-growth sectors showing exceptional salary increases:

• Water supply and waste management: 17.4% growth
• Mining: 12.5% growth
• Finance, banking, and insurance: 10.6% growth

These sectors represent where businesses face the steepest talent competition and fastest-rising costs, aligning with jobs with the fastest pay growth trends across the region.

Salaries for key professional roles

Professional specializations command substantial premiums above sector averages, reflecting the premium placed on skilled expertise in Vietnam’s evolving economy.

• Marketing Manager: 300 million VND annually ($12,500 USD) – reflecting high demand for digital transformation and customer engagement skills.
• Software Developer: 240 million VND annually ($10,000 USD) – driven by Vietnam’s technology sector expansion and digital infrastructure needs.
• Financial Analyst: 216 million VND annually ($9,000 USD) – supported by growing financial services complexity and regulatory requirements.
• Civil Engineer: 192 million VND annually ($8,000 USD) – reflecting ongoing infrastructure development and manufacturing facility expansion.

These specialized roles represent Vietnam’s economic evolution toward higher-value services and advanced manufacturing, creating both talent challenges and opportunities for businesses willing to invest in developing local capabilities. Understanding how these figures compare regionally, southeast asia average salary data shows Vietnam’s competitive positioning within the broader market.

The critical impact of experience

Experience creates dramatic pay scaling that fundamentally affects talent strategy and budget planning across all sectors.

This steep experience curve reflects the scarcity of seasoned leadership talent and the premium Vietnamese businesses place on proven management skills. The experience premium also varies by sector. Technology and finance show the steepest scaling, while traditional manufacturing maintains more compressed salary ranges across experience levels.

Effective pay structure design becomes crucial for managing these cost differentials while maintaining competitive positioning across all experience levels.

Why hiring in Vietnam is a strategic move

Vietnam offers a unique combination of factors that create lasting competitive advantages for businesses willing to invest in understanding and using local market dynamics.

Vietnam delivers cost-effective access to a large, young, and increasingly educated workforce known for strong work ethic and adaptability. The country’s strategic location provides unmatched access to major Asian markets, while government policies actively support foreign investment through business-friendly regulations and incentives.

The economic fundamentals remain compelling—consistent GDP growth, political stability, and increasing English proficiency among young professionals make cross-border collaboration easier. However, the market is evolving rapidly, with 82% of companies planning 15-25% salary increases in 2025. This requires sophisticated talent strategies that balance cost advantages with competitive positioning.

To make informed compensation decisions, accessing comprehensive salary survey data becomes essential for benchmarking against market standards and ensuring competitive positioning.

Average income in the Vietnam landscape demands strategic precision rather than broad generalizations. While the $321 monthly average suggests significant cost advantages, successful operations require location-specific, sector-focused pay planning that accounts for rapid wage growth and intensifying talent competition. The opportunity remains substantial, but victory belongs to leaders who use detailed market intelligence to build competitive, sustainable talent strategies. For comprehensive compensation benchmarking, consider implementing total remuneration survey insights to ensure your compensation strategy aligns with market realities and business objectives.