Kuala Lumpur vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$393	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$4315
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	93	100
😀 Quality of life	77	100
🏙️ Population	1.98M	4.84M

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 68% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 6403rd and 745th ($810 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malaysia and Australia, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 1.7 months in Sydney. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 811th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Sydney infographic

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

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Sydney

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.17	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$17957

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1668
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683