Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$2066
🏠 One person rent	$393	$395
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$863
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$278
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$31.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$461
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	93	31
😀 Quality of life	77	54
🏙️ Population	1.98M	120K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 4% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 6403rd and 6518th ($810 vs $781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in Malaysia and Thailand, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Pattaya ranked 5th in Thailand, while ranked 811th and 5997th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya infographic

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Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Pattaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$3.58
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$29.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$8.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$2.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$2.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$0.83
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$475
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$294
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$1152
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$679
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$47.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$71.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$17.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	5.67%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$2486
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$1693
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$17.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$12.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.68
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$2.23
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$3.06
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$11.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.96
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.36
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.7
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$4.44
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$2.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.74
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$1.3
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$41
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$7.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$26.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$3.69
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$29.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$93.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$284
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$8876

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 Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$752
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$685
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$753
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$941
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$656
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$715
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$595
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$677
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$573
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$576
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$644
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$777
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$705
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$596
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$563
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$721
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$763
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$543
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$634
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$610
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$526
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$508