Cost of living comparison

compared to

Johor Bahru vs. Kenya Cost of Living Summary

Johor Bahru is 35.9% more expensive than Kenya overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.0% more in Johor Bahru
Groceries: pay 59.7% more in Johor Bahru
Transportation: pay 22.1% less in Johor Bahru
Housing: pay 87.6% more in Johor Bahru
Childcare: pay 13.4% less in Johor Bahru
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.7% more in Johor Bahru
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in Johor Bahru

The cost of clothing, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Johor Bahru are more expensive than in Kenya. Expenses including transportation and childcare are lower in Johor Bahru. Notably, clothing and housing are significantly more expensive in Johor Bahru.

Johor Bahru vs. Kenya Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johor Bahru instead of Kenya, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.0% more for restaurants

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.74 KES481.53	$3.55 MYR14.56	-5.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES794.28	$4.74 MYR19.42	-23.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 KES69.06	$0.78 MYR3.21	+46.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 KES57.22	$0.47 MYR1.93	+6.0%
Average			+6.0%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of restaurants

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pay 59.7% more for groceries

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 KES69.63	$0.98 MYR4.01	+81.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 KES562.21	$5.33 MYR21.85	+22.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.52 KES324.46	$7.01 MYR28.73	+178.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 KES206.16	$1.86 MYR7.63	+16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.57 KES331.06	$2.20 MYR9.01	-14.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 KES138.85	$1.24 MYR5.06	+14.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 KES51.60	$0.68 MYR2.78	+69.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 KES89.38	$1.15 MYR4.70	+65.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 KES40.98	$0.56 MYR2.31	+76.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 KES38.01	$0.53 MYR2.17	+79.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 KES47.41	$0.62 MYR2.54	+68.4%
Average			+59.7%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.1% less for transportation

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES694.90	$1.84 MYR7.55	-65.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.41 KES3,400.54	$11.85 MYR48.55	-55.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,331.14 KES2,488,829.85	$35,545.02 MYR145,638.63	+83.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.74 KES1,768.47	$6.69 MYR27.43	-51.3%
Average			-22.1%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.6% more for housing

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.35 KES4,808.22	$30.15 MYR123.55	-19.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$194.00 KES24,977.17	$494.94 MYR2,027.94	+155.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$131.26 KES16,898.73	$375.20 MYR1,537.30	+185.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$24.47 KES3,150.06	$31.51 MYR129.12	+28.8%
Average			+87.6%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of housing

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pay 13.4% less for childcare

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.28 KES22,180.60	$153.04 MYR627.06	-11.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,439.34 KES957,794.06	$6,279.62 MYR25,729.49	-15.6%
Average			-13.4%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.03 KES261.25	$3.55 MYR14.56	+75.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 KES293.38	$2.91 MYR11.91	+27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 KES360.54	$4.25 MYR17.43	+51.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.27 KES3,767.87	$34.36 MYR140.78	+17.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.10 KES785.94	$4.98 MYR20.39	-18.5%
Average			+30.7%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Kenya	Johor Bahru
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$12.46 KES1,603.57	$49.76 MYR203.89	+299.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.02 KES2,577.99	$16.59 MYR67.96	-17.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.44 KES4,433.51	$71.09 MYR291.28	+106.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.93 KES4,239.65	$40.23 MYR164.81	+22.2%
Average			+102.7%

Kenya vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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