Kuala Lumpur vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$2388
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$5530
🏠 One person rent	$393	$1484
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$2447
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$625
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$94.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$4749
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	93	82
😀 Quality of life	77	88
🏙️ Population	1.98M	468K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 66% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 6403rd and 972nd ($810 vs $2388) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 892nd 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 2 months in Raleigh. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Raleigh ranked 51st in the United States, while ranked 811th and 221st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Raleigh infographic

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Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Raleigh

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$17.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$75.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$5.88
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$5.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$2.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$1468
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$1216
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$2614
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$2029
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$149
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$232
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$68.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	6.51%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$6077
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$2879
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$58.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$14.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$0.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$3.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$3.83
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$11.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$16.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$6.48
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$7.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$6.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$3.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.46
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$2.82
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$7.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$3.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.7
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$39.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$14.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$158
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$24.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$52
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$93.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$1481
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$21914

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2281
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2616
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1836
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2229
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2335
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2315
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2290
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2140
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2309
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2169
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2184
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2073
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$2052
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1733
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2144
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2100
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2091
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1764
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2011
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2117
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2076
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2014
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1934
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2058
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2169
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2100
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2136
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2098
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$1952
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1819
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2117
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2136
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1752
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2147
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1976
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2144
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2332
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2182
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2269
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1682