Cost of living comparison

Indonesia

compared to

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Jakarta Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 40.3% more expensive than Jakarta.

Restaurants: pay 69.0% more in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 14.6% more in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 29.6% more in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 49.1% more in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 76.8% more in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 65.2% more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 17.9% more in Kuala Lumpur

The cost of childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, and clothing in Kuala Lumpur are more expensive than in Jakarta. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Kuala Lumpur.

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Kuala Lumpur vs. Jakarta Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Jakarta, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.0% more for restaurants

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.65 IDR47,488.14	$4.89 MYR19.99	+84.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.35 IDR59,985.02	$4.89 MYR19.99	+46.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 IDR8,075.87	$0.81 MYR3.30	+79.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 IDR4,595.01	$0.46 MYR1.88	+79.3%
Average			+69.0%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.6% more for groceries

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.11 IDR19,879.65	$1.09 MYR4.47	-1.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.72 IDR84,483.51	$7.00 MYR28.60	+48.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.26 IDR94,138.63	$7.96 MYR32.53	+51.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 IDR32,615.29	$2.53 MYR10.33	+38.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.39 IDR24,906.50	$2.02 MYR8.25	+45.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 IDR22,756.44	$1.55 MYR6.32	+21.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.61 IDR10,986.58	$0.82 MYR3.35	+33.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 IDR20,910.45	$1.04 MYR4.23	-11.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,089.64	$0.71 MYR2.91	+14.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,155.60	$0.59 MYR2.42	-5.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 IDR17,232.23	$0.62 MYR2.54	-35.5%
Average			+14.6%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.6% more for transportation

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.17 IDR56,733.38	$3.22 MYR13.15	+1.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.73 IDR210K	$12.24 MYR49.99	+4.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,939.41 IDR500M	$41,736.41 MYR171K	+49.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.20 IDR57,235.71	$11.01 MYR44.99	+244.2%
Average			+29.6%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.1% more for housing

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.02 IDR340K	$26.27 MYR107.33	+38.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$365.05 IDR7M	$617.87 MYR2,524.32	+69.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$196.92 IDR4M	$371.37 MYR1,517.24	+88.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.54 IDR1M	$47.56 MYR194.32	-41.7%
Average			+49.1%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 76.8% more for childcare

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$153.00 IDR3M	$299.09 MYR1,221.92	+95.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,208.60 IDR147M	$13,124.70 MYR53,620.95	+59.9%
Average			+76.8%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 65.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.51 IDR44,988.77	$4.40 MYR18.00	+75.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 IDR35,718.98	$3.10 MYR12.65	+55.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.82 IDR50,487.40	$4.40 MYR18.00	+56.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.13 IDR468K	$48.89 MYR199.73	+87.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.35 IDR59,985.02	$5.02 MYR20.49	+49.6%
Average			+65.2%

Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.9% more for clothing

	Jakarta	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.46 IDR1M	$71.46 MYR291.94	+22.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 IDR514K	$41.92 MYR171.28	+46.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.00 IDR1M	$86.22 MYR352.25	+19.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.17 IDR2M	$96.07 MYR392.51	-9.5%
Average			+17.9%

Jakarta 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

Compare further: Jakarta vs. Kuala Lumpur

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Size Comparison · See true size

Jakarta is about 2.7 times bigger than Kuala Lumpur.

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