Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Kuala Lumpur	Pattaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$981	$874
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2371	$2115
🏠 One person rent	$468	$463
🏘️ Family rent	$806	$800
🍽️ Food expenses	$320	$296
🚐 Transport expenses	$107	$31.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1331	$487
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	32 km
🎓 Higher education	93	31
😀 Quality of life	84	59
🏙️ Population	9M	120K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 12% more expensive than in Pattaya. Cities ranked 5802nd and 6471st ($981 vs $874) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Malaysia and Thailand, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Thailand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 0.6 months in Pattaya. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Pattaya ranked 3rd in Thailand, while ranked 520th and 6065th 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/pattaya.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kuala-lumpur/pattaya" target="_blank">Kuala Lumpur vs Pattaya - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$4.71	$3.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.12	$9.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5	$2.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.55	$2.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.01	$0.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$602	$543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$350	$349
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1058	$1002
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$631	$618
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.1	$55.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.5	$85.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.5	$19.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.51%	5.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3532	$2865
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1566	$1743
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.78	$0.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.5	$21.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$11
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.6	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.3	$1.72
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.11	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.72	$2.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$16.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.47	$3.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.9	$9.85
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$3.53
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.48
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.77	$1.88
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.41
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.49	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$1.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.9	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.33	$1.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.57	$4.75
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$2.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.89	$4.7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.89	$1.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.43	$1.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.1	$46.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.12	$8.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$21.8	$28.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.47	$4.13
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.4	$34.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.2	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$309	$340
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10356	$12044

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	$813
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$831
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$750
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$627
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$664
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$762
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$678
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$736
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$788
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$513
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$696
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$588
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$780
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$572
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$770
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$640
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$740
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$495
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$792
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$838
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3119
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2806
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$558
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$461
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$533
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$458
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$564
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$495
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$628
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$634
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$451
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$622
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$790

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$846
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$823
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$829
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$768
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$833
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$1027
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$789
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$788
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$710
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$658
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$763
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$629
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$575
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$562
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$610
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$730
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$679
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$845
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$782
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$585
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$621
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$587
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$530
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$612
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$882
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$583
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$501
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$760
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$571
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$581
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$652
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$593
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$535
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$514