Cost of living comparison

Marshall Islands

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Marshall Islands Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 50.3% cheaper than Marshall Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.7% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 66.5% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 22.8% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 66.1% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.0% less in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 26.5% more in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Marshall Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Marshall Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 63.7% less for restaurants

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00	$3.42 MYR13.98	-65.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.50	$4.64 MYR18.95	-55.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83	$0.75 MYR3.07	-59.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$0.42 MYR1.72	-78.9%
Average			-63.7%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 66.5% less for groceries

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40	$1.10 MYR4.49	-67.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$15.39	$6.94 MYR28.32	-54.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.52	$7.18 MYR29.31	-15.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.19	$2.09 MYR8.53	-59.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.99	$1.90 MYR7.75	-62.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99	$1.35 MYR5.53	-32.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$3.29	$0.73 MYR2.97	-77.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.95	$1.19 MYR4.84	-70.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$5.79	$0.69 MYR2.83	-88.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.39	$0.57 MYR2.34	-76.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.49	$0.61 MYR2.50	-75.5%
Average			-66.5%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.8% less for transportation

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.81	$2.76 MYR11.29	-59.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$15.28 MYR62.39
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+63.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$6.46 MYR26.37
Average			-22.8%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.1% less for housing

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$80.00	$27.60 MYR112.71	-65.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$775.00	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	-53.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$875.00	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	-69.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$191.13	$36.69 MYR149.79	-80.8%
Average			-66.1%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$150.00	$231.07 MYR943.51	+54.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,640.00	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	+204.7%
Average			+116.6%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.50	$3.61 MYR14.73	-19.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.33	$2.76 MYR11.29	-36.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.00	$4.35 MYR17.74	-27.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50	$38.82 MYR158.52	+3.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.73 MYR19.31
Average			-19.0%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.5% more for clothing

	Marshall Islands	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.00	$58.43 MYR238.60	-16.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$30.42 MYR124.22	-23.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$30.00	$77.72 MYR317.35	+159.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00	$77.79 MYR317.65	+55.6%
Average			+26.5%

Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Marshall Islands vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 15 statistics

Make 54.6% more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Marshall Islands is about 1,822 times smaller than Malaysia.

Moving from Marshall Islands to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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