Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Ipoh Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 89.2% more expensive than Ipoh.

Restaurants: pay 76.9% more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 53.8% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 24.9% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 2.9 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 78.9% more in Tokyo

The cost of housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, and transportation in Tokyo are more expensive than in Ipoh. Notably, housing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

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Tokyo vs. Ipoh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Ipoh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 76.9% more for restaurants

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.30 MYR13.49	$7.59 ¥1,200	+129.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$5.06 ¥800	+14.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 MYR2.95	$1.64 ¥259	+127.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.89 ¥140	+92.3%
Average			+76.9%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.8% more for groceries

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 MYR4.26	$1.71 ¥270	+63.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.76 MYR27.59	$5.29 ¥836	-21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.67 MYR31.30	$5.75 ¥909	-25.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 MYR9.31	$2.26 ¥358	-0.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$3.08 ¥487	+52.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MYR5.67	$2.15 ¥340	+55.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$1.07 ¥170	+31.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$1.96 ¥309	+88.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$2.39 ¥377	+235.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$1.53 ¥241	+158.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$1.46 ¥231	+135.2%
Average			+53.8%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.9% more for transportation

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.90 MYR7.75	$4.08 ¥645	+115.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$63.27 ¥9,997
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-47.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$28.47 ¥4,499	+158.5%
Average			+24.9%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.9 times more for housing

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$30.33 ¥4,793	+15.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$367.05 MYR1,498.75	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+248.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$244.70 MYR999.17	$692.48 ¥109K	+183.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$113.45 ¥17,926	+138.5%
Average			+186.7%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+348.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+39.1%
Average			+149.7%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 78.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.80 ¥600	-13.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.81 MYR11.49	$3.56 ¥563	+26.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.92 ¥620	-10.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.47 MYR99.92	$66.31 ¥10,478	+171.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.43 MYR13.99	$12.65 ¥1,999	+269.3%
Average			+78.9%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay about the same for clothing

	Ipoh	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.18 MYR249.79	$55.50 ¥8,770	-9.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.71 MYR149.88	$32.95 ¥5,207	-10.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.18 MYR249.79	$65.04 ¥10,278	+6.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$61.18 MYR249.79	$70.74 ¥11,178	+15.6%

Ipoh vs. Tokyo - 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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