Cost of Living in Kuala Lumpur
Summary about cost of living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
- Family of four estimated monthly costs are 1,799.05$ (7,919.43RM) without rent (using our estimator).
- A single person estimated monthly costs are 502.04$ (2,209.99RM) without rent.
- Kuala Lumpur is 61.42% less expensive than New York (without rent, see our cost of living index).
- Rent in Kuala Lumpur is, on average, 87.34% lower than in New York.
Restaurants |  Edit |
Range |
|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 15.00 RM | |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 100.00 RM | |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 18.00 RM | |
| Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) | 15.00 RM | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 20.00 RM | |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 11.46 RM | |
| Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) | 2.64 RM | |
| Water (12 oz small bottle) | 1.73 RM | |
Markets | Edit |
|
| Milk (regular), (1 gallon) | 27.00 RM | |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) | 3.25 RM | |
| Rice (white), (1 lb) | 3.09 RM | |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | 6.95 RM | |
| Local Cheese (1 lb) | 19.28 RM | |
| Chicken Fillets (1 lb) | 6.68 RM | |
| Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 17.87 RM | |
| Apples (1 lb) | 5.12 RM | |
| Banana (1 lb) | 3.07 RM | |
| Oranges (1 lb) | 5.69 RM | |
| Tomato (1 lb) | 2.93 RM | |
| Potato (1 lb) | 2.10 RM | |
| Onion (1 lb) | 1.92 RM | |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 3.89 RM | |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 2.61 RM | |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 70.00 RM | |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 11.20 RM | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 15.53 RM | |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 18.00 RM | |
Transportation | Edit |
|
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 3.00 RM | |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 100.00 RM | |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 5.00 RM | |
| Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) | 6.44 RM | |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 16.00 RM | |
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | 8.15 RM | |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 155,000.00 RM | |
| Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 129,132.38 RM | |
Utilities (Monthly) | Edit |
|
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment | 233.77 RM | |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 0.33 RM | |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 111.94 RM | |
Sports And Leisure | Edit |
|
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 166.58 RM | |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 29.58 RM | |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 18.00 RM | |
Childcare | Edit |
|
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 1,159.38 RM | |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 42,792.00 RM | |
Clothing And Shoes | Edit |
|
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 212.29 RM | |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) | 122.38 RM | |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 279.00 RM | |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 272.73 RM | |
Rent Per Month | Edit |
|
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 1,853.70 RM | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 1,206.48 RM | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 3,746.01 RM | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 2,359.25 RM | |
Buy Apartment Price | Edit |
|
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 905.33 RM | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 487.13 RM | |
Salaries And Financing | Edit |
|
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 5,067.59 RM | |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | 3.67 |
Prices in Kuala Lumpur
This city had 2136 entries in the past 12 months by 314 different contributors.
Last update: June 2022
Last update: June 2022
Sources and References
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Nearby cities:| Cost of Living in Petaling Jaya | 10.15 miles |
| Cost of Living in Subang Jaya | 14.23 miles |
| Cost of Living in Gombak | 17.86 miles |
| Cost of Living in Seremban | 42.58 miles |
| Cost of Living in Malacca | 88.62 miles |
| Cost of Living in Muar | 113.16 miles |
| Cost of Living in Bandar Penggaram | 148.06 miles |
| Cost of Living in Kuantan | 155.63 miles |
| Cost of Living in Ipoh | 158.61 miles |
| Cost of Living in Selangor | 178.55 miles |
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Next is racism and discrimination. Chinese and Indians are highly discriminated. It’s a well known factor. But it’s funny, even they are so used it that, they are in denial. Discrimination being dark coloured skin is very high, doesn’t matter from which part of the world you are from.
During beginning of 2020 as the COVID hit the whole world. Most of the employees was helpless in KL and never bothered to renew foreign workers visa. Especially as the business was closed for months and as they no need to pay salary. If visa’s are running they are liable to pay salary. In few days these foreigner staff all became illegal immigrants and was hunted by the Malaysian authorities along with the other illegal immigrants. The sad part is, these illegal immigrates has always been the backbone of the businesses in KL. There is an YouTube video about this by Al Jazeera which had major criticism. https://youtu.be/zyl_xsdpteI
The community is not open to discussion or ready for criticism. Any review or comment which is unpleasant will invite major cyber attack or insult.
I am from India. Soon I'll be joining a Company at Kuala Lumpur and I'll be getting RM 6000 as monthly income.
I want to know is it reasonable amount to survive there. I am single (Unmarried), will be sending some part of income back to india to my parents.
Is it okay for a person to survive on this (RM 6000/month) income.
Thanks.
2. Wifi : Rm150max unlimited 300mbs speed
3. Buying house : Forgeiner cant buy any house below amount Rm 1million. And its only 1 or 2 house available for buy in one state.
I am from India. Soon I'll be joining an MNC at Kuala Lumpur and I'll be getting 115k MYR as annual income.
I want to know is it reasonable amount to survive there. I am single (Unmarried), will be sending some part of income back to india to my parents.
Is it okay for a person to survive on this (115K MYR/annum) income.
Thanks.
1. Hotel double taxation or Tourism tax : additional 10RM per night daily on top of hotel/hostel + tax (Malaysian no need to pay but only tourist are forced to pay unfairly).
Stay for 2 weeks in Malaysia and you would waste RM140 (10RM x 14) just for tourism tax
Are tourist the slaves to Malaysia to be taxed whatever the brainless Malaysia want?
Someone or a country or two should come out eventually to sue Malaysia for tourist discrimination at the international court...and then hopefully and consequently happily all countries ban tourist from visiting the immoral ripoff Malaysia for good...
2. Airport tax or PSC : RM73 which was raised from RM32 during the last 2 years, a whopping 128% skyrocketing...
Very sick Malaysia
3. Departure tax : RM150 business class starting from this month for non-asean-organization destinations including Japan, India, China, Europe, US...
No one owe or miss Malaysia this much money so heading to no departure-tax destinations is the right choice for tourist.
So any tourist visiting to Malaysia is a no-brainer scumbag who is no different to a slave waiting to be ripped off by the shameless scumbag, parasite government in Malaysia.
Tourist should at least understand tax associated with their expense of a country where they intend to visit beforehand or else heavy taxes from ripoff country Malaysia would waste your hard-earned travel budget unnecessarily.
Malaysia is the worst shameless ripoff country in the world so tourist must punish Malaysia by not visiting it to discourage its immoral practice or else there are more shameless countries such as Thailand, Myanmar which are going to copy ripoff methods from Malaysia soon unless someone like you and me stop visiting the ripoff country Malaysia which would result Malaysia abandoning its immoral ripoff practice in order to woo tourist again.
So zero tax for hotel stay in India is a bargain unlike immoral double taxes imposed in Malaysia which are daily tourism tax + daily hotel tax.
Shame on you Malaysia
Starting from today, there is another ripoff coming in the name of departure tax from the shameless beggar-attitude Malaysia government again which is going to rip off tourist for about 36 US dollar for the premium class and for about 5 US dollar for the economy class.
However, if you were coming from the shitty Asean group which includes Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the departure tax is much lower only as much as a third of what all the non-asean countries countries have to pay. This is clearly also a stupid discrimination to foreign tourists on top of the beggar attitude of the shameless Malaysia government.
Departure tax and tourism tax in Malaysia are a beautiful combination to rip off tourist to the maximum unlike never seen before in history.
For the tourism tax, tourists have to pay for about 2.5 US dollar on top of hotel + hotel tax.
Everyday stay in Malaysia bleeds the tourist's blood for about 2.5 US dollar and the undertaker's final job from the shameless beggar-attitude Malaysia government will back-stab the tourist to bleed as much as 36 US dollar for leaving the Malaysia.
Any tourist coming to Malaysia is going to encourage the ripoff practice of the shameless beggar-attitude Malaysia government around the world and consequently destroy the healthy tourism market around the world.
So to preserve the healthy tourism market around the world, tourist must stay away from Malaysia until all unfair ripoffs from the shameless beggar Malaysia government are cancelled for the sake of fairness for tourists and travellers altogether.
Accommodation is said to the biggest expense for traveller but it seems to be wrong to the unethical shameless ripoff country called Malaysia where tourist are ripped off 10 ringgit extra daily openly on top of accommodation + accomodation tax as well as departure tax of 40 ringgit + 35 ringgit for the anti terror screening fee.
People should stay away from the most shameless ripoff country called Malaysia until the ripoffs such as tourism tax, anti-terror screen fee, departure tax, double taxation are removed for fair's sake or else Ripoff Malaysia would become an example for other unethical countries to follow for ripoff if you supported goddamned Malaysia by visiting it.
When you are going to check-in to your Hotel, specially in Sea-side areas (such as Port-Dickson), please check your hotel room before paying for that.
Sometimes they maintain the appearance of the Hotel, and not the rooms. You will be surprised if you see water leaking in bathroom, or water leaking of AirCon inside the room over the floor or bed, also dirty or old facilities inside the room, etc.
Furthermore, the tourism industry has been badly hurt since the tourism tax was introduced which targets only the foreign tourist unfairly and costs all foreign tourist a whopping 10 ringgit a day which is really expensive and is not sustainable as indicated by the gradual falling number of foreign tourist arrival in a recent report.
Instead of healing the backsliding situation currently encountered by tourism industry by removing the unsustainable tourism tax, this moron tourism minister instead endorses the tourism tax to further destroy the tourism industry.
This moron tourism minister has no ability for his position and is not dutiful in his position to enhance the tourism industry.
So this moron must quit his position of the tourism minister as he's not worthy at all and would badly harm the tourism industry further if he foolishly stays on.
GST removal was a promise to alleviate the burden of Malaysian so the current ruling was elected recently.
And then the ruling broke its promise indirectly by imposing new SST with the higher rate of tax than the annulled GST.
The tax rate of GST was just 6% but the tax rate of the new SST is a whopping 10%, almost twice of GST.
The current PM is kind of over 90 years old, the oldest person holding his position unlike never seen before in history.
And this also may be his last time before entering into the heaven.
So his fame should be very important for the future generations to remember him as a righteous person keeping his promise by helping and alleviating the burden of Malaysia.
Hong Kong have no tax for purchase of goods so Malaysia should be fine too without tax for purchase of goods.
Tourism tax is also a scam that was targeted for both Malaysian and foreign tourist and got an approval from the Parliament but the plan was cancelled for Malaysian but not for the foreign tourist unfairly.
The previous ruling shamelessly enticed region ministers to share as much as half of tourism tax revenue to get support of the regional ministers cunningly.
Now almost all politicians support tourism tax without considering the dwindling number of foreign tourist due to the tourism tax which costs as much as 60% additionally on top of the accommodation (budget hotel / hostel) fee of the budget traveller.
More and more foreign tourist shun Malaysia simply for this dishonesty and this scam was left behind by the previous ruling and this scam will harm instead of benefitting Malaysia in the future.
So with wisdom, the current PM must abolish the unfair and unsustainable tourism tax to save the tourism industry before it's too late.
So for a hostel of 20 Malaysia dollar per night, you must pay a total of 30 Malaysia dollar per night, an extra 50% above 20 Malaysia dollar where the Malaysia government rips foreign tourist off an additional 10 Malaysia dollar per night which is incredibly inhumane, greedy and shameful as never seen before among countries all over the world.
So Malaysia has truly a shameless government which targets helpless foreign tourist guest in their country Malaysia for tourism ripoff which never happen among their own people Malaysian which ripoff is well aware of as Malaysia tourism promotion at abroad by almost everyone, foreigners who are planning for foreign trips so it is useless for Malaysia to spend a cent abroad to promote Malaysia tourism market because foreign tourist with brain will stay away from the ripoff trap of tourism tax of the stupid Malaysia government.
Furthermore, the shame of the Malaysia government doesn't stop here but Malaysia politicians are vying among themselves for a share of the ripoff where is forcefully collected from foreign tourist as mentioned at the splendid news of the link below.
Since tourism tax is not enough to the extent of Malaysia politicians fighting among each other for a share, suggest Malaysia politicians might earn more by sitting with a steel cup banging on the floor at the entrance of the airport begging for money as beggers.
So observing the struggle of the
Malaysia politicians for the ripoff money collected through the distress, sorrow, injustice, etc of foreign tourist, you should understand the shortsigness of the Malaysia politicians regarding the tourism tax which will certainly follow and destroy the prosperity of Malaysia tourism market.
When bad thing happens at the Malaysia tourism market, Malaysia politicians should remember their action of this foolishness of collecting tourism tax unnecessarily and should not blame this and that but blame themselves and resign their jobs for their unworthiness and foolishness.
If you're a budget traveller or backpacker staying at a hostel of 20 Malaysia dollar per night, don't assume that what you pay for the night either at booking app such as booking.com, pagoda, hotel, etc is inclusive of everything for the accommodation of the night just like what you normally pay for accommodation at all of the other countries where there are no additional tax to pay for, BUT as a foreign tourist in Malaysia, you are forced to pay an additional 50% tax which is 10 Malaysia dollar for the 20 Malaysia dollar accommodation per night.
So for a hostel of 20 Malaysia dollar per night, you must pay a total of 30 Malaysia dollar per night, an extra 50% above 20 Malaysia dollar where the Malaysia government rips foreign tourist off an additional 10 Malaysia dollar per night which is incredibly inhumane, greedy and shameful as never seen before among countries all over the world.
So Malaysia has truly a shameless government which targets helpless foreign tourist guest in their country Malaysia for ripoff which is well aware of as Malaysia tourism promotion at abroad by almost everyone who are planning for foreign trips so it is useless for Malaysia to spend a cent abroad to promote Malaysia tourism because foreign tourist with brain will stay away from the ripoff trap of tourism tax of the stupid Malaysia government.
Furthermore, the shame of the Malaysia government doesn't stop here but Malaysia politicians are vying among themselves for a share of the ripoff where is forcefully collected from foreign tourist at the news of the link below.
Guan Eng: Settle tourism tax, don't get emotional
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/01/06/sarawak-minister-to-guan-eng-settle-tourism-tax-dont-get-emotional/1709692
Since tourism tax is not enough to the extent of Malaysia politicians fighting among each other for a share, suggest Malaysia politicians might earn more by sitting with a steel cup banging on the floor at the entrance of the airport begging for money as beggers.
So observing the struggle of the
Malaysia politicians for the ripoff money collected through the distress, sorrow, injustice, etc of foreign tourist, you should understand the shortsigness of the Malaysia politicians regarding the tourism tax which will certainly follow and destroy the prosperity of Malaysia tourism market.
When bad thing happens to the Malaysia tourism market in the near future, Malaysia politicians should remember their action of this foolishness of collecting tourism tax unnecessarily and should not blame this and that but should blame themselves, take responsibility and resign their jobs proactively consequently and immediately for their unworthiness and foolishness.
So if you stay in Malaysia for 30 days, Malaysia will rip you off by law a whopping 300 Malaysia dollar (10 Malaysia dollar per night x 30) just for being in Malaysia. This signifies that Malaysia disregards tourist as human beings but just merely as commodity or as merely as modern uneducated slave to be taxed and ripped off according to the will of Malaysia.
Also the latest ripoff from Malaysia which is the anti terror screening fee of 35 Malaysia dollar.
Not to mention of the ripoff from alcohol sale where tourist is burdened with the highest tax (I think at least 60%) so Malaysia is not a party destination for tourist.
Supporting shitty greedy Malaysia by visiting will encourage other countries to copy the disgraceful ripoff and bad influence from Malaysia so tourist should know what should not be done until the mental health of Malaysia is fully restored and all the ripoffs are scrapped by Malaysia itself righteously.
Consider the long-term welfare of your fellow tourist and doing so would benefit you in the future and you would be happy for making the right decision like this ugly forbidden matter in the future because you contribute some righteous cause from now on carrying forward to the future.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/12/20/did-we-lose-over-300000-tourists-with-tourism-tax/
Melaka budget hotels forced to pick up tab as tourists refuse to pay S$3 levy
https://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/budget-hotel-operators-melaka-forced-pick-tab-tourists-refuse-pay-s3-levy
Given the amount of competition in Southeast Asia from travel destinations like Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Bali and Siem Reap, the decisions of the Malaysian government could well discourage regional travellers from visiting. Whether this is worth the extra tax revenue is a question only they can answer.
Are the new Malaysia tourist taxes going to stop Singaporeans from crossing the border?
http://www.asiaone.com/travel/are-new-malaysia-tourist-taxes-going-stop-singaporeans-crossing-border
Most recently, it was announced that passengers flying out of Malaysia will now have to pay a fee of 35 MYR (11.55 SGD) to bear the cost of their airports' new anti-terror screening system.
This is not very logical, as their screening system costs many times more than those used in first-world countries like Australia, and the cost of such security systems is usually paid by governments rather than passengers.
TOURISM TAX
Beginning in 2017, foreigners staying at hotels, hostels, Airbnb apartments and any other form of paid lodging started being charged a tourism tax of 10 MYR (3.30 SGD) a night. Malaysians are exempt from this charge.
Furthermore, tourism tax was increased from the minimum tax of 2.5 ringgit per night to 10 ringgit per night, a whopping 4 times increasing of the original intended minimum tourism tax and only the foreigner are targeted for the tourism tax now unfairly.
Foreigner tax or tourism tax is not acceptable to foreigner so unless Malaysia don't mind losing revenue from the foreign tourism market, imposing the foreigner tax is acceptable as it's burdensome to Malaysian public as mentioned by Abdul Karim who seemingly don't mind Malaysia losing the foreign tourism market altogether just like his unwise predecessor.
Tourism tax or foreigner tax is like killing a goose that lays gold egg so this harmful matter must be reconsidered carefully for good of future Malaysia or else it would not be easy anymore to restore back the lost share of foreign tourism market from other Asian countries' markets in the future.
Local tour, travel agents call on government to abolish tourism tax
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/local-tour-travel-agents-call-government-abolish-tourism-tax
Tourism tax should be maintained, says Abd Karim
http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/05/24/tourism-tax-should-be-maintained-says-abd-karim/