Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kota Kinabalu vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Kota Kinabalu is 25.7% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 61.4% less in Kota Kinabalu
Groceries: pay 3.2% more in Kota Kinabalu
Transportation: pay 18.6% more in Kota Kinabalu
Housing: pay 31.9% less in Kota Kinabalu
Childcare: pay 61.0% less in Kota Kinabalu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.0% less in Kota Kinabalu
Clothing: pay 25.4% less in Kota Kinabalu

The cost of transportation and groceries in Kota Kinabalu are more expensive than in Mexico City. Expenses including restaurants, childcare, housing, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kota Kinabalu.

Kota Kinabalu vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kota Kinabalu instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.4% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$197.31	$3.55 MYR14.61	-67.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$160.32	$4.74 MYR19.48	-46.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.47	$0.67 MYR2.77	-61.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.70	$0.38 MYR1.56	-70.9%
Average			-61.4%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% more for groceries

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.71	$1.15 MYR4.71	-56.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$91.60	$13.03 MYR53.58	+158.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$118.83	$6.50 MYR26.73	-0.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$47.38	$2.54 MYR10.42	-2.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$69.15	$1.85 MYR7.61	-51.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.88	$1.24 MYR5.08	-9.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.54	$0.56 MYR2.28	-30.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.69	$1.77 MYR7.29	+82.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.47	$0.86 MYR3.54	-5.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.42	$0.68 MYR2.80	-29.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$18.07	$0.79 MYR3.24	-20.7%
Average			+3.2%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.6% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$93.37	$1.84 MYR7.56	-64.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$355.17	$41.21 MYR169.42	+110.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	$28,436.02 MYR116,900.47	+42.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$80.42	$3.79 MYR15.59	-14.3%
Average			+18.6%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.9% less for housing

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$562.20	$33.00 MYR135.65	+6.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	$379.15 MYR1,558.67	-64.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	$165.88 MYR681.92	-75.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$679.03	$39.62 MYR162.89	+6.1%
Average			-31.9%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of housing

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pay 61.0% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	$130.33 MYR535.79	-69.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	$5,213.27 MYR21,431.75	-52.2%
Average			-61.0%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$59.19	$2.37 MYR9.74	-27.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$69.31	$2.65 MYR10.88	-30.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.93	$4.15 MYR17.05	-4.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	$43.44 MYR178.60	-25.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$118.39	$5.09 MYR20.94	-21.8%
Average			-22.0%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Kota Kinabalu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	$59.77 MYR245.73	-1.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$873.77	$22.90 MYR94.14	-52.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	$71.09 MYR292.25	-32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	$94.79 MYR389.67	-14.5%
Average			-25.4%

Mexico City vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of clothing

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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

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