Cost of Living in Kuala Lumpur

Summary about cost of living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Restaurants
Edit Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 3.13 € 2.08-5.21
Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 20.85 € 12.51-52.12
McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) 3.75 € 3.25-4.17
Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) 3.65 € 2.08-6.25
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 4.17 € 2.92-7.30
Cappuccino (regular) 2.59 € 1.25-3.75
Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) 0.60 € 0.42-1.04
Water (12 oz small bottle) 0.38 € 0.31-0.63
Markets
Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon) 5.96 € 4.74-7.81
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) 0.67 € 0.52-0.95
Rice (white), (1 lb) 0.58 € 0.24-1.28
Eggs (regular) (12) 1.65 € 1.00-2.38
Local Cheese (1 lb) 4.24 € 1.23-14.19
Chicken Fillets (1 lb) 1.64 € 0.80-2.36
Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 4.26 € 1.89-5.58
Apples (1 lb) 1.12 € 0.76-1.51
Banana (1 lb) 0.60 € 0.38-0.95
Oranges (1 lb) 1.15 € 0.33-1.89
Tomato (1 lb) 0.59 € 0.38-0.95
Potato (1 lb) 0.42 € 0.23-0.76
Onion (1 lb) 0.38 € 0.28-0.61
Lettuce (1 head) 0.84 € 0.42-1.25
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.59 € 0.31-0.83
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 14.07 € 9.38-25.02
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 2.38 € 1.46-3.34
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 3.31 € 1.77-5.84
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) 3.75 € 3.63-4.38
Transportation
Edit
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 0.63 € 0.42-1.04
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 10.42 € 10.42-31.27
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 1.04 € 0.63-1.46
Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) 1.68 € 0.67-2.68
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 3.13 € 3.13-4.17
Gasoline (1 gallon) 1.65 € 1.62-1.97
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 33,358.26 € 29,188.48-35,443.15
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) 27,115.24 € 25,018.69-29,188.48
Utilities (Monthly)
Edit
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment 49.85 € 27.10-93.82
1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) 0.09 € 0.02-0.15
Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 24.07 € 20.64-31.90
Sports And Leisure
Edit
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 40.26 € 20.85-62.55
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 7.54 € 4.17-10.42
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 4.17 € 3.13-6.25
Childcare
Edit
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child 230.17 € 125.09-416.98
International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child 7,693.05 € 3,127.34-19,806.47
Clothing And Shoes
Edit
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 43.91 € 20.64-66.72
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 26.39 € 11.47-62.34
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) 62.40 € 37.53-104.24
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes 64.88 € 29.19-104.24
Rent Per Month
Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 436.52 € 312.73-625.47
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 263.74 € 166.79-416.98
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 919.96 € 625.47-1,459.42
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 495.81 € 375.28-729.71
Buy Apartment Price
Edit
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre 196.19 € 93.82-291.88
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 103.81 € 62.55-145.94
Salaries And Financing
Edit
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 1,169.60 €
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate 3.64 3.00-4.20

Prices in Kuala Lumpur

This city had 2189 entries in the past 12 months by 332 different contributors.
Last update: March 2023
Distribution of Expenses Using Our Statistical Model:
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15 Comments so far
Anonymous on Aug 28, 2022:
The amount of spam here like the case of the “US thief” is simply annoying and disgusting. Peddle your conspiracy theories at your echo chambers rather than polluting the comment sections with people actually looking to do some research
Anonymous on Feb 18, 2022:
A new Proton saloon car will cost you RM35,000. The cheapest is new car is Kancil, a small 5-seater costing RM25,000.
Amy Saunders on Dec 30, 2021:
Oh wow! I found it really fascinating when you pointed out that we can even rent an apartment for less than $900 per month. My son has been thinking of living near the city center sometime next month. I'll forward this article to him so he'll rent the right place later. https://afdoyle.com
Orang Orang on May 05, 2021:
I have been looted badly in Kuala Lumpur. Payed 50% more than 200K RM for a business startup. This group of Malaysian took the money and since then it was all promises. No where to go to. Police advices to put case and the guys walk free with no guilt feeling and even inviting me to join for a drink. Ruthless criminals driving very expensive cars and looking rich. Zero integrity or shame. This is not my single experience. Even my Malaysian and foreigner friends has similar experience. I even took a lawyer for the initial agreement, when things go wrong. The lawyer acted very helpless.

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.
Anonymous on Dec 26, 2019:
is it enough to survive in selangor cyberjaya with the salary of 7500 RM for two people? will I be able to save some money?
Anonymous on Dec 10, 2019:
Hello,

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.
Anonymous on Oct 16, 2019:
1. Cars price between : Rm 25k to 80k good cars new Toyota, Honda, Kia, Proton(Local)
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.
Anonymous on Oct 09, 2019:
Hello,

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.
Anonymous on Sep 24, 2019:
Following 3 taxes were heavy ripoffs imposed on tourist unfairly on top of paying fair tax as the local contribute.

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.
Anonymous on Sep 24, 2019:
Starting next month, 1rst Oct, INDIA will waive tax for hotel stay under 1000 Rupee in India.

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
Anonymous on Aug 31, 2019:
Tourists and travellers altogether must stay away from the ripoff of the shameless beggar-attitude Malaysia government to preserve the healthy environment of tourism market around the world as well as to prevent other beggar governments such as Myanmar from copying this goddamned inhumane tourist ripoff from the shameless beggar Malaysia government.

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.
Anonymous on Apr 21, 2019:
Double taxation of both accommodation tax and tourism tax to foreign tourist in Malaysia is not fair.

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.
One Advise to all on Mar 24, 2019:
All Tourists and even Local travelers
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.
Anonymous on Mar 15, 2019:
The current tourism minister is a moron with no whatsoever wisdom to answer questions appropriately at a national level.

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.
Anonymous on Mar 03, 2019:
No wonder the ruling lost seat in by-election.

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.