Kuala Lumpur vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Kuala Lumpur	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$992	$1095
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2346	$2561
🏠 One person rent	$483	$567
🏘️ Family rent	$775	$856
🍽️ Food expenses	$319	$285
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1014	$550
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	93	95
😀 Quality of life	82	72
🏙️ Population	9M	6.21M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 9% less expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 5636th and 5029th ($992 vs $1095) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Malaysia and Brazil, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd in Brazil, while ranked 555th and 2767th 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/rio-de-janeiro.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Rio de Janeiro infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kuala-lumpur/rio-de-janeiro" target="_blank">Kuala Lumpur vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Rio de Janeiro

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.55	$6.94
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.6	$34.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.14	$7.83
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$2.4
☕ Cappuccino	$3.41	$2.75
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.85	$1.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$654	$657
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$359	$408
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1155	$1011
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$572	$621
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.6	$89.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.5	$137
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.7	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.25%	11.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4081	$2589
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1476	$1468
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.74	$0.97
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$14.9	$50.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.4	$8.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.68	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.34	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.23	$1.6
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.73	$2.24
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$9.47
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.86	$4.36
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$9.43
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.51	$2.48
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.7
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$1.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.14
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$0.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.24	$1.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.1	$8.15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.29	$1.19
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.43	$2.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.93	$3.95
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$3.36
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.84	$1.21
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.39	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$26.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.27	$7.19
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$25.2	$50.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.5	$7.98
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.8	$42.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.5	$70.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$300	$554
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11913	$12842

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 Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$824
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$651
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$688
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$858
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$617
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$805
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$623
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$488
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$581
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$607
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$586
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$737
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$531
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$623
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$562
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$655
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$668
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$686
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$568
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$729
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$682
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$634
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$696
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$566
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$584
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$567
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$663
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$576
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$671
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$667
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$670
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$684
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$610
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$695
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$711
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$577
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$519
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$884
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$634