This study aims to analyze the livelihoods of itinerant waste buyers in the Mekong River Delta and the determinants of their households’ income. The research used data collected by directly interviewing 125 respondents who were itinerant waste buyers in 5 provinces in the Mekong River Delta, including Can Tho, Soc Trang, An Giang, Long An, and Ca Mau. The analysis framework of sustainable livelihoods by DFID (2000), descriptive statistics, and regression model (OLS) was employed for data analysis. The results indicate that up to 25% of itinerant waste buyers work more than 8 hours/day and 87.2% of them work 7 days/week. Income from this activity brings to the itinerant waste buyer an average of 99,242 VND/day which is equivalent to 2,885,693 VND/month. Interestingly, this income is higher than the urban nearpoor income threshold, even though it is lower than the minimum wage in Region 2. Besides, the education level of itinerant waste buyers is very low with 20% of the respondents and nearly 60% of the respondents only go to primary school. However, most of them are women of diverse ages. Thus, if the recycling sector with the key role of itinerant waste buyers is supported and properly managed by the government, it will not only guarantee income diversification for poor households, but also increase income for women, that is vulnerable to external factors and, also holding lower incomes than men, especially in the Mekong River Delta. The results of the regression model reveal that health status, gender, location, and potential saving sources are positive determinants of total household income. Therefore, in the future, management and support policies for this should be paid more attention, to contribute to income diversification and reducing environmental pollution.