Cost of living comparison

compared to

Johor Bahru vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Johor Bahru is 0.4% cheaper than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 18.3% less in Johor Bahru
Groceries: pay 26.0% more in Johor Bahru
Transportation: pay 31.1% less in Johor Bahru
Housing: pay 17.2% more in Johor Bahru
Childcare: pay 30.0% less in Johor Bahru
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.3% more in Johor Bahru
Clothing: pay 22.4% more in Johor Bahru

The cost of groceries, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports in Johor Bahru are more expensive than in Nairobi. Expenses including transportation, childcare, and restaurants are lower in Johor Bahru.

Johor Bahru vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Johor Bahru instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.3% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$3.55 MYR14.61	-38.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$4.74 MYR19.48	-32.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$0.78 MYR3.23	+11.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.47 MYR1.94	-14.2%
Average			-18.3%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.0% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$0.98 MYR4.03	+79.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$5.33 MYR21.92	-4.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$7.01 MYR28.83	+108.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$1.86 MYR7.66	+13.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$2.20 MYR9.04	-24.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$1.24 MYR5.08	-12.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.68 MYR2.79	+42.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$1.15 MYR4.72	+28.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.56 MYR2.31	+23.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.53 MYR2.18	+8.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.62 MYR2.55	+22.4%
Average			+26.0%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.1% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$1.84 MYR7.58	-65.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$11.85 MYR48.71	-61.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$35,545.02 MYR146,125.59	+64.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$6.69 MYR27.52	-60.7%
Average			-31.1%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.2% more for housing

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$30.15 MYR123.96	-24.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$494.94 MYR2,034.72	+3.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$375.20 MYR1,542.44	+81.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$31.51 MYR129.55	+7.5%
Average			+17.2%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.0% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$153.04 MYR629.15	-31.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$6,279.62 MYR25,815.52	-28.4%
Average			-30.0%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$3.55 MYR14.61	+53.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.91 MYR11.95	+22.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$4.25 MYR17.49	+37.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$34.36 MYR141.25	-24.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$4.98 MYR20.46	-32.3%
Average			+11.3%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.4% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Johor Bahru
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$49.76 MYR204.58	+153.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$16.59 MYR68.19	-33.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$71.09 MYR292.25	+4.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$40.23 MYR165.37	-35.4%
Average			+22.4%

Nairobi vs. Johor Bahru - 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

Nairobi vs.

Washington

Nairobi vs.

Lima

Nairobi vs.

Berlin

Nairobi vs.

Wellington

Nairobi vs.

Algiers

Nairobi vs.

Rome

Nairobi vs.

Paris

Nairobi vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Nairobi

Add prices for Johor Bahru

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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