Cost of living comparison

Jamaica

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Jamaica Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 43.2% cheaper than Jamaica overall.

Restaurants: pay 58.4% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 46.3% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 45.6% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 48.5% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 16.6% less in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.5% less in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 20.1% more in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Jamaica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Jamaica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.4% less for restaurants

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.69 JMD2,014.74	$3.42 MYR13.89	-73.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.18 JMD1,298.76	$4.64 MYR18.83	-43.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 JMD171.65	$0.75 MYR3.05	-30.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 JMD113.47	$0.42 MYR1.71	-41.0%
Average			-58.4%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 46.3% less for groceries

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$3.00 JMD476.20	$1.10 MYR4.47	-63.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.70 JMD904.83	$6.94 MYR28.15	+21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.76 JMD2,183.65	$7.18 MYR29.13	-47.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.54 JMD561.46	$2.09 MYR8.48	-41.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.86 JMD453.16	$1.90 MYR7.70	-33.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.46 JMD389.96	$1.35 MYR5.50	-44.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.56 JMD246.97	$0.73 MYR2.95	-53.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.98 JMD473.60	$1.19 MYR4.81	-60.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 JMD206.20	$0.69 MYR2.82	-46.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.36 JMD216.01	$0.57 MYR2.32	-58.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 JMD190.54	$0.61 MYR2.48	-49.1%
Average			-46.3%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.6% less for transportation

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.18 JMD821.40	$2.76 MYR11.22	-46.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.77 JMD5,994.28	$15.28 MYR62.01	-59.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$44,062.55 JMD7M	$40,802.19 MYR166K	-7.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.21 JMD4,159.36	$6.46 MYR26.21	-75.4%
Average			-45.6%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.5% less for housing

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.12 JMD8,112.82	$27.60 MYR112.02	-46.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$697.95 JMD111K	$363.41 MYR1,474.81	-47.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$438.00 JMD69,517.01	$265.07 MYR1,075.72	-39.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.56 JMD18,182.65	$36.69 MYR148.88	-68.0%
Average			-48.5%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 16.6% less for childcare

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$324.59 JMD51,517.43	$231.07 MYR937.73	-28.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,236.21 JMD1M	$8,043.53 MYR32,642.26	-2.3%
Average			-16.6%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 JMD349.67	$3.61 MYR14.64	+63.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.31 JMD842.95	$2.76 MYR11.22	-48.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 JMD1,498.57	$4.35 MYR17.63	-54.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.18 JMD8,758.31	$38.82 MYR157.55	-29.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.65 JMD1,848.24	$4.73 MYR19.19	-59.4%
Average			-34.5%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.1% more for clothing

	Jamaica	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.60 JMD3,746.43	$58.43 MYR237.14	+147.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.47 JMD4,995.23	$30.42 MYR123.46	-3.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.84 JMD11,877.56	$77.72 MYR315.41	+3.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.02 JMD14,763.69	$77.79 MYR315.70	-16.4%
Average			+20.1%

Jamaica vs. Malaysia - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Jamaica vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malaysia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 64.0% more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Jamaica is about 30 times smaller than Malaysia.

Moving from Jamaica to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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