Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Mexico

Mexico City vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 39.5% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 27.1% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 7.9% more in Mexico City
Housing: pay 59.3% more in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 15.6% more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.1% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 17.9% more in Mexico City

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

Planning a move to Mexico? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Mexico City vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$11.13 MX$205.76	+127.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$11.07 MX$204.73	+126.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$1.63 MX$30.14	+101.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$1.30 MX$24.06	+182.5%
Average			+129.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.1% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$3.03 MX$56.07	+177.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$6.02 MX$111.38	-13.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$6.73 MX$124.42	-15.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$2.87 MX$53.00	+13.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$4.39 MX$81.13	+117.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$1.43 MX$26.42	-7.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.90 MX$16.67	+10.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.93 MX$17.19	-10.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$1.04 MX$19.27	+46.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.91 MX$16.90	+54.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.85 MX$15.71	+36.7%
Average			+27.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.9% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$5.76 MX$106.56	+79.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$20.03 MX$370.37	+63.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-48.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$6.54 MX$120.88	-40.6%
Average			+7.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.3% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$34.66 MX$640.87	+31.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	+70.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	+81.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$47.71 MX$882.34	+0.3%
Average			+59.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.6% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	+45.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$12,045.70 MX$223K	-8.2%
Average			+15.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.34 MX$61.73	-24.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.80 MX$70.36	+22.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$5.29 MX$97.74	+20.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	+16.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$6.68 MX$123.46	+33.1%
Average			+12.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.9% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	-1.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$53.64 MX$991.98	+28.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	+26.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	+20.7%
Average			+17.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Kuala Lumpur vs. Mexico City

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Mexico City?

Size Comparison · See true size

Kuala Lumpur is about 6 times smaller than Mexico City.

More cost comparisons

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Lima

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Athens

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Paris

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Shanghai

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Ho Chi Minh City

Kuala Lumpur vs.

New York City

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Berlin

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Warsaw

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Malaysia vs. Mexico. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malaysia and Mexico.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Kuala Lumpur

Add prices for Mexico City

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Mexico City or Kuala Lumpur. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.