Davao vs Kuala Lumpur - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Davao	Kuala Lumpur
🚶 Cost of living one person	$626	$810
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1528	$1984
🏠 One person rent	$294	$393
🏘️ Family rent	$520	$711
🍽️ Food expenses	$226	$278
🚐 Transport expenses	$43.6	$64.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$492	$1392
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	38	93
😀 Quality of life	60	77
🏙️ Population	1.78M	1.98M

The cost of living in Davao is 23% less expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Cities ranked 7397th and 6403rd ($626 vs $810) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 1st in the Philippines and Malaysia, respectively. Check the Philippines vs Malaysia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Davao compared to 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur. Davao ranked 7th best city to live in the Philippines vs Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st in Malaysia, while ranked 5168th and 811th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Davao vs Kuala Lumpur infographic

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Prices in Davao vs Kuala Lumpur

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

	Davao	Kuala Lumpur
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.1	$4.17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$17.3	$25.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.78	$4.54
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$2.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$0.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$313	$450
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$165	$297
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$629	$928
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$324	$548
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$65.8	$40.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$61.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$34	$25.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.62%	4.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1984	$2996
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1513	$1427
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$0.69
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$11.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.98	$9.04
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.95	$0.49
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$1.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.07	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.88	$2.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.5	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.05	$4.64
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.06	$9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.5
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.51	$2.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.5	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.12	$16.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.26	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.34	$4.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.69	$3.45
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.99	$3.64
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.17	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.02	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$41.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.01	$4.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$7.99	$20
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$5.65
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.2	$56.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$75.6	$77.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$117	$254
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7817	$8723

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Davao

Distance	City	Cost of living
28 km or 17 mi	Panabo	$572
45 km or 28 mi	Digos	$553
48 km or 30 mi	Tagum	$562
104 km or 65 mi	Koronadal	$417
109 km or 68 mi	Valencia	$541
111 km or 69 mi	Polomolok	$377
116 km or 72 mi	General Santos	$440
132 km or 82 mi	Malaybalay	$553
150 km or 93 mi	Cotabato	$407
177 km or 110 mi	Marawi	$431
189 km or 118 mi	Cagayan de Oro	$597
197 km or 123 mi	Iligan	$518
210 km or 130 mi	Butuan	$504
254 km or 158 mi	Pagadian	$492
302 km or 188 mi	Surigao	$650
315 km or 196 mi	Siargao	$589
388 km or 241 mi	Zamboanga	$516
403 km or 250 mi	Lapu-Lapu	$667
404 km or 251 mi	Talisay	$707
405 km or 252 mi	Cebu	$709
407 km or 253 mi	Mandaue	$735
427 km or 265 mi	Toledo	$727
446 km or 277 mi	Kabankalan	$595
452 km or 281 mi	Ormoc	$587
469 km or 292 mi	Tacloban	$610
491 km or 305 mi	Bago	$562
496 km or 308 mi	Bacolod	$567
500 km or 311 mi	Cadiz	$598
525 km or 326 mi	Iloilo	$524
567 km or 352 mi	Calbayog	$450
592 km or 368 mi	Roxas	$566
625 km or 389 mi	Manado	$439
626 km or 389 mi	Bitung	$442
679 km or 422 mi	Boracay	$820
679 km or 422 mi	Sorsogon	$520
705 km or 438 mi	Legazpi	$580
726 km or 451 mi	Ternate	$442
775 km or 482 mi	Naga	$498
778 km or 484 mi	Gorontalo	$441
810 km or 504 mi	Puerto Princesa	$593

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