Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

South Korea

Daejeon vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Daejeon is 15.0% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 35.7% more in Daejeon
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Daejeon
Transportation: pay 2.4% less in Daejeon
Housing: pay 13.3% less in Daejeon
Childcare: pay 29.5% more in Daejeon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.3% more in Daejeon
Clothing: pay 1.3% more in Daejeon

The cost of groceries, restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Daejeon are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Expenses including housing and transportation are lower in Daejeon. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Daejeon.

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Daejeon vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 35.7% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.88	$7.46 ₩10,179	+52.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.88	$5.45 ₩7,431	+11.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.28	$1.23 ₩1,680	+52.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.87	$0.66 ₩896	+42.6%
Average			+35.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.45	$2.71 ₩3,690	+147.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.43	$5.50 ₩7,507	-21.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.34	$8.08 ₩11,020	+1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.27	$2.52 ₩3,441	-0.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.20	$3.64 ₩4,964	+80.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.29	$4.99 ₩6,810	+222.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.33	$2.52 ₩3,440	+208.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.21	$2.60 ₩3,540	+150.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.89	$2.69 ₩3,671	+278.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.40	$2.37 ₩3,232	+300.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.52	$1.25 ₩1,708	+101.6%
Average			+105.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4% less for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.07	$4.72 ₩6,440	+46.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.69	$11.20 ₩15,269	-8.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$28,162.26 ₩38M	-32.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.72	$9.18 ₩12,521	-16.6%
Average			-2.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.3% less for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR106.70	$22.39 ₩30,538	-14.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,509.49	$373.20 ₩509K	-39.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,508.33	$298.56 ₩407K	-19.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR193.17	$133.06 ₩181K	+179.8%
Average			-13.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of housing

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pay 29.5% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,214.74	$302.29 ₩412K	+1.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,305.95	$21,781.84 ₩30M	+66.0%
Average			+29.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.89	$3.55 ₩4,835	-19.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.58	$3.68 ₩5,015	+18.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.89	$3.36 ₩4,581	-23.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR198.56	$33.59 ₩45,807	-31.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.37	$11.20 ₩15,269	+123.2%
Average			+7.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.3% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Daejeon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR290.23	$64.19 ₩87,542	-10.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR170.27	$41.05 ₩55,986	-2.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR350.18	$93.30 ₩127K	+8.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR390.21	$106.36 ₩145K	+10.7%
Average			+1.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Daejeon - 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

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