Kuala Lumpur vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$4441
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$10033
🏠 One person rent	$393	$2960
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$5380
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$886
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$364
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$5544
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	93	100
😀 Quality of life	77	95
🏙️ Population	1.98M	8.8M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 82% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 6403rd and 3rd ($810 vs $4441) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st 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 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.2 months in New York City. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 811th and 22nd 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 New York City infographic

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

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs New York City

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

	Kuala Lumpur	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$29.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$133
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$5.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$3.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$3501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$2603
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$4776
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$5236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$17935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$12929
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$7.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$5.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$17.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$15.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$7.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$6.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$6.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$3.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$3.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$3.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$20
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$2.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$18.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$9.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$5.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$6.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$71
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$173
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$36.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$67.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$1784
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$21465

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	$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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111