Austin vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Austin	Kuala Lumpur
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2475	$992
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5680	$2346
🏠 One person rent	$1530	$483
🏘️ Family rent	$2495	$775
🍽️ Food expenses	$627	$319
🚐 Transport expenses	$120	$102
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5010	$1014
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	65	93
😀 Quality of life	90	82
🏙️ Population	962K	9M

The cost of living in Austin is 150% more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Cities ranked 932nd and 5636th ($2475 vs $992) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 806th and 1st in the United States and Malaysia, respectively. Check the United States vs Malaysia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Austin compared to 1 months in Kuala Lumpur. Austin ranked 46th best city to live in the United States vs Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st in Malaysia, while ranked 192nd and 555th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Austin vs Kuala Lumpur

Prices for goods and services in Austin and Kuala Lumpur are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Austin	Kuala Lumpur
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.4	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.7	$28.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$5.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.38	$4.86
☕ Cappuccino	$5.59	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.34	$0.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1888	$654
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1199	$359
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3110	$1155
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2018	$572
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$38.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.5	$25.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	4.25%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5778	$4081
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3142	$1476
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$0.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.7	$14.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.1	$10.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$0.68
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$2.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.14	$1.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$2.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$14.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$5.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.37	$3.51
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.94
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$2.52
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.5
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$19.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$3.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.52	$4.43
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.71	$3.93
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$3.79
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.17	$1.84
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.23	$2.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$49.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$5.27
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$167	$25.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.5	$7.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.8	$66.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.4	$91.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1503	$300
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20982	$11913

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Austin

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Pflugerville	$2141
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2058
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2151
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2149
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2168
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2110
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2125
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2123
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2120
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$1937
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$1857
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$1963
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2105
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2093
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2070
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2071
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1950
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1843
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2066
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2003
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2096
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$1900
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2754
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2093
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1860
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2011
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2093
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2107
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2148
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2111
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2261
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2174
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2064
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2164
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2206
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2142
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$1916
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2025
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2316

Cities near Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$741
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$610
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$743
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$617
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$707
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$759
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$488
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$677
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$576
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$555
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$717
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$621
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$720
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$762
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$843
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3105
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2823
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$453
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$501
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$449
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$545
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$477
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$592
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$616
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$439
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$588
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$747