Kuala Lumpur vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$3015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$7449
🏠 One person rent	$393	$1896
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$3549
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$746
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$6742
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	93	80
😀 Quality of life	77	91
🏙️ Population	1.98M	737K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 73% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 6403rd and 158th ($810 vs $3015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 140th 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 2.2 months in Seattle. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Seattle ranked 15th in the United States, while ranked 811th and 98th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Seattle infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/kuala-lumpur/seattle.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Seattle infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kuala-lumpur/seattle" target="_blank">Kuala Lumpur vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Seattle

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$90.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$13.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$7.98
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$5.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$2086
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$1567
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$3947
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$3067
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$237
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$68.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$6966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$5351
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.73
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$96.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$18
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$4.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$4.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$5.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$5.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$3.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$3.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$5.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$65.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$183
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$25.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$68.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$2185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$29407

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2826
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3273
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$2882
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2624
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2642
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2810
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2973
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2595
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3239
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2718
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2741
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2625
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2759
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2785
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2606
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2623
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2726
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2462
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2784
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2642
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2532
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2579
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2637
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2338
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2589
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2517
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2604
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2644
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2604
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2449
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2598
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2460
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2571
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2406
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2692
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2751
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2542
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2527
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2523
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2093