Kuala Lumpur vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Kuala Lumpur	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$992	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2346	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$483	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$775	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$319	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1014	$5389
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	93	100
😀 Quality of life	82	95
🏙️ Population	9M	8.8M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 76% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 5636th and 4th ($992 vs $4202) 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 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.3 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 555th and 15th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$4.55	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.6	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.14	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.41	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.85	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$654	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$359	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1155	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$572	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.6	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.5	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.7	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.25%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4081	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1476	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.74	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.4	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.68	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.34	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.23	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.86	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.51	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$3.96
🌊 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	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.29	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.43	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.93	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.84	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.39	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.27	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$25.2	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.5	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.8	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.5	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$300	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11913	$21713

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192