Cost of living comparison

compared to

Petaling Jaya vs. Malaysia Cost of Living Summary

Petaling Jaya is 4.1% more expensive than Malaysia overall.

Restaurants: pay 7.8% more in Petaling Jaya
Groceries: pay 4.6% less in Petaling Jaya
Transportation: pay 19.0% less in Petaling Jaya
Housing: pay 11.9% more in Petaling Jaya
Childcare: pay 42.5% more in Petaling Jaya
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.6% more in Petaling Jaya
Clothing: pay 11.4% less in Petaling Jaya

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Petaling Jaya are more expensive than in Malaysia. Expenses including transportation, clothing, and groceries are lower in Petaling Jaya.

Petaling Jaya vs. Malaysia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Petaling Jaya instead of Malaysia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.8% more for restaurants

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.22 MYR13.24	$3.55 MYR14.61	+10.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.41 MYR18.14	$4.74 MYR19.48	+7.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 MYR3.00	$0.79 MYR3.23	+7.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 MYR1.62	$0.41 MYR1.70	+5.5%
Average			+7.8%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.6% less for groceries

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 MYR4.18	$0.99 MYR4.06	-3.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.79 MYR32.02	$5.33 MYR21.92	-31.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 MYR27.41	$7.24 MYR29.75	+8.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.99 MYR8.17	$2.23 MYR9.16	+12.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MYR7.95	$1.52 MYR6.25	-21.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 MYR5.26	$1.24 MYR5.08	-3.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MYR2.74	$0.78 MYR3.20	+17.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.29 MYR5.31	$1.15 MYR4.72	-11.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 MYR3.01	$0.56 MYR2.31	-23.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.19	$0.53 MYR2.18	-0.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.62 MYR2.55	+5.9%
Average			-4.6%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.0% less for transportation

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.86 MYR7.63	$1.84 MYR7.56	-0.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.26 MYR62.75	$11.85 MYR48.71	-22.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,849.31 MYR147,376.52	$31,621.80 MYR129,997.22	-11.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.52 MYR26.79	$3.85 MYR15.83	-40.9%
Average			-19.0%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.9% more for housing

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.18 MYR111.74	$22.69 MYR93.28	-16.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$349.73 MYR1,437.75	$465.05 MYR1,911.81	+33.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$247.40 MYR1,017.08	$345.29 MYR1,419.51	+39.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.37 MYR141.31	$31.51 MYR129.55	-8.3%
Average			+11.9%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.5% more for childcare

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$170.62 MYR701.42	$229.86 MYR944.95	+34.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,229.51 MYR25,609.50	$9,360.19 MYR38,479.74	+50.3%
Average			+42.5%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.72 MYR15.30	$3.55 MYR14.61	-4.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.63 MYR10.79	$2.95 MYR12.11	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.18 MYR17.17	$4.25 MYR17.49	+1.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.40 MYR149.64	$32.94 MYR135.41	-9.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.62 MYR18.97	$4.98 MYR20.46	+7.8%
Average			+1.6%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.4% less for clothing

	Malaysia	Petaling Jaya
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.37 MYR244.08	$49.76 MYR204.58	-16.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.69 MYR122.04	$34.52 MYR141.90	+16.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.68 MYR290.55	$53.55 MYR220.16	-24.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.86 MYR233.75	$44.55 MYR183.14	-21.7%
Average			-11.4%

Malaysia vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Malaysia vs.

Ankara

Malaysia vs.

London

Malaysia vs.

Dodoma

Malaysia vs.

Beijing

Malaysia vs.

Cairo

Malaysia vs.

Singapore

Malaysia vs.

Vienna

Malaysia vs.

Delhi

Share this

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 Malaysia

Add prices for Petaling Jaya

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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