Kuala Lumpur vs Kyoto - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Kyoto
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$1148
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$3260
🏠 One person rent	$393	$437
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$1169
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$412
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$202
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$1866
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	39 km
🎓 Higher education	93	95
😀 Quality of life	77	91
🏙️ Population	1.98M	1.46M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 29% less expensive than in Kyoto. Cities ranked 6403rd and 4641st ($810 vs $1148) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 67th in Malaysia and Japan, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.6 months in Kyoto. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Kyoto ranked 6th in Japan, while ranked 811th and 112th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Kyoto infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/kuala-lumpur/kyoto.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Kyoto infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kuala-lumpur/kyoto" target="_blank">Kuala Lumpur vs Kyoto - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Kyoto

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Kyoto
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$10
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$3.35
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$0.91
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$513
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$299
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$1602
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$896
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$65.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$101
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$29.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	1.78%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$5311
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$5383
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$67.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.81
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$2.22
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$9.07
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$7.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$14.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$5.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$6.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$3.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$8.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$4.04
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$9.32
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4.14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$0.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$1.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$56.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$12.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$27.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$44.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$51.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$359
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$7056

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Kyoto

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.5 km or 4.6 mi	Otsu	$1048
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Muko	$1013
12 km or 7.2 mi	Nagaokakyo	$1010
15 km or 9.1 mi	Uji	$1027
16 km or 10 mi	Yawata	$1018
17 km or 11 mi	Shimamoto	$1026
18 km or 11 mi	Joyo	$1014
18 km or 11 mi	Kameoka	$1026
18 km or 11 mi	Kusatsu	$1007
21 km or 13 mi	Ritto	$1001
21 km or 13 mi	Moriyama	$1004
22 km or 14 mi	Kyotanabe	$1016
23 km or 14 mi	Takatsuki	$1087
24 km or 15 mi	Hirakata	$1091
24 km or 15 mi	Yasu	$1005
26 km or 16 mi	Katano	$1039
28 km or 17 mi	Seika	$998
28 km or 18 mi	Ibaraki	$1136
29 km or 18 mi	Konan	$1005
29 km or 18 mi	Nantan	$1030
30 km or 19 mi	Neyagawa	$1100
31 km or 19 mi	Kizugawa	$988
32 km or 20 mi	Settsu	$1142
32 km or 20 mi	Shijonawate	$1065
33 km or 20 mi	Omihachiman	$1005
34 km or 21 mi	Minoh	$1059
35 km or 22 mi	Kadoma	$1101
36 km or 22 mi	Suita	$1302
36 km or 22 mi	Daito	$1065
36 km or 22 mi	Moriguchi	$1117
36 km or 22 mi	Ikoma	$1009
37 km or 23 mi	Nara	$1008
37 km or 23 mi	Koka	$1001
37 km or 23 mi	Toyonaka	$1063
37 km or 23 mi	Ikeda	$1046
38 km or 24 mi	Kawanishi	$1056
38 km or 24 mi	Inagawa	$1045
40 km or 25 mi	Higashiosaka	$1106
40 km or 25 mi	Yamatokoriyama	$979
41 km or 26 mi	Itami	$1062