Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Jamaica

Kingston vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Kingston is 59.7% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Kingston
Groceries: pay 91.1% more in Kingston
Transportation: pay 76.4% more in Kingston
Housing: pay 70.1% more in Kingston
Childcare: pay 13.0% less in Kingston
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.3% more in Kingston
Clothing: pay 30.1% less in Kingston

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

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Kingston vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.86	$13.53 JMD2,147.95	+176.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.86	$8.18 JMD1,298.76	+67.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.28	$1.17 JMD186.07	+45.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.87	$0.72 JMD113.78	+55.6%
Average			+105.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.1% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.44	$3.75 JMD595.94	+243.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.40	$5.70 JMD904.83	-18.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.31	$15.66 JMD2,485.51	+96.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.26	$3.54 JMD561.46	+39.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.20	$2.86 JMD453.16	+41.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.28	$2.74 JMD435.08	+77.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.32	$1.76 JMD279.82	+115.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.20	$3.33 JMD529.14	+221.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.89	$1.38 JMD218.67	+93.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.40	$1.47 JMD233.39	+148.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.52	$1.20 JMD190.54	+93.2%
Average			+91.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of groceries

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pay 76.4% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.06	$5.42 JMD859.92	+68.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.65	$37.77 JMD5,994.28	+208.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR169K	$44,062.55 JMD7M	+5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.69	$26.37 JMD4,186.01	+139.5%
Average			+76.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.1% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR106.62	$52.78 JMD8,376.82	+100.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,507.45	$960.80 JMD152K	+55.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,507.10	$569.14 JMD90,330.48	+53.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR193.02	$128.52 JMD20,398.19	+170.2%
Average			+70.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of housing

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pay 13.0% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,213.76	$361.00 JMD57,295.20	+20.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,262.64	$8,238.45 JMD1M	-37.2%
Average			-13.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.87	$2.20 JMD349.67	-50.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.56	$5.31 JMD842.95	+71.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.87	$9.44 JMD1,498.57	+114.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR198.40	$61.69 JMD9,790.66	+26.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.36	$13.22 JMD2,098.00	+163.5%
Average			+41.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.1% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Kingston
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR289.99	$23.60 JMD3,746.43	-67.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR170.13	$31.47 JMD4,995.23	-24.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR349.90	$77.63 JMD12,321.58	-10.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR389.89	$102.81 JMD16,317.76	+7.0%
Average			-30.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kingston - 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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