Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Des Moines Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 46.3% cheaper than Des Moines.

Restaurants: pay 71.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 30.2% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 32.6% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 55.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 47.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.8% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 11.0% less in Kuala Lumpur

Expenses including restaurants, housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

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Kuala Lumpur vs. Des Moines Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Des Moines, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 71.3% less for restaurants

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00	$4.89 MYR19.99	-75.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$4.89 MYR19.99	-59.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.00	$0.81 MYR3.30	-73.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.49	$0.46 MYR1.88	-81.5%
Average			-71.3%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.2% less for groceries

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95	$1.09 MYR4.47	-62.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.77	$7.00 MYR28.60	+46.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.38	$7.96 MYR32.53	+135.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.93	$2.53 MYR10.33	-35.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39	$2.02 MYR8.25	-54.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.01	$1.55 MYR6.32	-23.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70	$0.82 MYR3.35	+17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.01	$1.04 MYR4.23	-48.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70	$0.71 MYR2.91	-58.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43	$0.59 MYR2.42	-58.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00	$0.62 MYR2.54	-37.6%
Average			-30.2%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.6% less for transportation

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.71	$3.22 MYR13.15	-13.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$58.00	$12.24 MYR49.99	-78.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,052.00	$41,736.41 MYR171K	+19.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94	$11.01 MYR44.99	-7.8%
Average			-32.6%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.3% less for housing

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.15	$26.27 MYR107.33	-63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,161.80	$617.87 MYR2,524.32	-46.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$864.75	$371.37 MYR1,517.24	-57.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$143.28	$47.56 MYR194.32	-66.8%
Average			-55.3%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 47.0% less for childcare

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,183.50	$299.09 MYR1,221.92	-74.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,812.00	$13,124.70 MYR53,620.95	+11.1%
Average			-47.0%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.00	$4.40 MYR18.00	-11.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.00	$3.10 MYR12.65	-48.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.03	$4.40 MYR18.00	-45.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$63.75	$48.89 MYR199.73	-23.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$5.02 MYR20.49	-66.6%
Average			-42.8%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.0% less for clothing

	Des Moines	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.68	$71.46 MYR291.94	+17.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.33	$41.92 MYR171.28	-3.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.00	$86.22 MYR352.25	-16.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$145.78	$96.07 MYR392.51	-34.1%
Average			-11.0%

Des Moines vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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