Kuala Lumpur vs Los Angeles - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Kuala Lumpur	Los Angeles
🚶 Cost of living one person	$992	$3420
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2346	$7800
🏠 One person rent	$483	$2177
🏘️ Family rent	$775	$3742
🍽️ Food expenses	$319	$761
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$263
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1014	$4482
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	93	99
😀 Quality of life	82	93
🏙️ Population	9M	3.9M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 71% less expensive than in Los Angeles. Cities ranked 5636th and 62nd ($992 vs $3420) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 47th in Malaysia and the United States, respectively. Check Malaysia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.3 months in Los Angeles. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Los Angeles ranked 8th in the United States, while ranked 555th and 50th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Los Angeles

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Los Angeles
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.55	$22.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.6	$104
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.14	$14.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$8.92
☕ Cappuccino	$3.41	$6.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.85	$3.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$654	$2356
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$359	$1856
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1155	$4109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$572	$3268
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.6	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.5	$236
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.7	$69.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.25%	6.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4081	$8186
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1476	$7185
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.74	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$95.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.4	$19.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.68	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.34	$1.32
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.23	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$4.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$6.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.86	$14.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.51	$5.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$5.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$5.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$2.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.91
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.1	$15.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.29	$2.99
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.43	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.93	$9.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$6.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.84	$5.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.39	$2.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$70.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.27	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$25.2	$164
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.5	$29.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.8	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.5	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$300	$1748
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11913	$23685

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000