Cost of living comparison

compared to

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Petaling Jaya is 3.8% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 20.8% less in Petaling Jaya
Groceries: pay 28.6% more in Petaling Jaya
Transportation: pay 39.8% less in Petaling Jaya
Housing: pay 7.3% more in Petaling Jaya
Childcare: pay 4.7% more in Petaling Jaya
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% more in Petaling Jaya
Clothing: pay 35.7% more in Petaling Jaya

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

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.8% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
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	$0.79 MYR3.23	+12.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.41 MYR1.70	-24.5%
Average			-20.8%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.6% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$0.99 MYR4.06	+80.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$5.33 MYR21.92	-4.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$7.24 MYR29.75	+115.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.23 MYR9.16	+35.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$1.52 MYR6.25	-47.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$1.24 MYR5.08	-12.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.78 MYR3.20	+64.2%
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			+28.6%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.8% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$1.84 MYR7.56	-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	$31,621.80 MYR129,997.22	+45.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$3.85 MYR15.83	-77.4%
Average			-39.8%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.3% more for housing

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$22.69 MYR93.28	-43.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$465.05 MYR1,911.81	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$345.29 MYR1,419.51	+67.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$31.51 MYR129.55	+7.5%
Average			+7.3%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of housing

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pay 4.7% more for childcare

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$229.86 MYR944.95	+2.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$9,360.19 MYR38,479.74	+6.7%
Average			+4.7%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$3.55 MYR14.61	+53.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$2.95 MYR12.11	+24.3%
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	$32.94 MYR135.41	-27.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$4.98 MYR20.46	-32.3%
Average			+11.0%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.7% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Petaling Jaya
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	$34.52 MYR141.90	+38.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$53.55 MYR220.16	-21.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$44.55 MYR183.14	-28.5%
Average			+35.7%

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya - 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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