Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2023	$810
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4526	$1984
🏠 One person rent	$1248	$393
🏘️ Family rent	$1907	$711
🍽️ Food expenses	$525	$278
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$64.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3542	$1392
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	30	93
😀 Quality of life	84	77
🏙️ Population	381K	1.98M

The cost of living in Canberra is 150% more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Cities ranked 1768th and 6403rd ($2023 vs $810) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 1st in Australia and Malaysia, respectively. Check Australia vs Malaysia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur. Canberra ranked 8th best city to live in Australia vs Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st in Malaysia, while ranked 388th and 811th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur infographic

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Prices in Canberra vs Kuala Lumpur

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

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.1	$4.17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76.2	$25.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.28	$4.54
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.2	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$3.23	$2.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.51	$0.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1342	$450
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1007	$297
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$928
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1533	$548
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$126	$40.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$61.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.8	$25.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.3%	4.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7003	$2996
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5163	$1427
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.18	$0.69
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$102	$11.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.8	$9.04
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$0.49
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.12	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.21	$2.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.44	$4.64
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$2.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.5
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$2.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$1.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$1.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.05	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.1	$16.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.59	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$4.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.45	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.36	$3.64
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.26	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.89	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.6	$41.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.6	$4.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$47.8	$20
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$5.65
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.8	$56.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.9	$77.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1802	$254
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12940	$8723

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1616
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1416
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1538
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1511
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1584
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2252
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$1824
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2539
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2099
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1619
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1702
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1601
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1448
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1727
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1654
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1643
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1645
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1620
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1291
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2194
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1691
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1671
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1669
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1625
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$1981
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1390
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1185
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1691
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1768
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1651
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2106
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1504

Cities near Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$645
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$532
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$670
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$604
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$669
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$682
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$543
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$628
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$529
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$695
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$679
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$565
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$619
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$620
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$759
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3059
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2788
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$481
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$539
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$470
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$490
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$506
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$536
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$560
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$461
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$570
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$719