Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 26.7% more expensive than Petaling Jaya.

Restaurants: pay 33.0% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 11.0% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 7.8% more in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 4.4% less in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.8% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 5.5% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Petaling Jaya Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.0% more for restaurants

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.55 MYR14.61	$5.80 KES750.88	+63.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.48	$6.97 KES901.06	+47.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 MYR3.23	$0.70 KES90.79	-10.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.41 MYR1.70	$0.55 KES71.04	+32.4%
Average			+33.0%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.0% less for groceries

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.99 MYR4.06	$0.55 KES70.69	-44.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 MYR21.92	$5.57 KES720.08	+4.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.24 MYR29.75	$3.36 KES434.10	-53.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 MYR9.16	$1.64 KES212.73	-26.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.52 MYR6.25	$2.92 KES377.51	+92.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 MYR5.08	$1.41 KES181.96	+13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 MYR3.20	$0.47 KES61.40	-39.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.15 MYR4.72	$0.89 KES115.07	-22.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 MYR2.31	$0.46 KES59.01	-18.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.18	$0.49 KES63.50	-7.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.55	$0.51 KES65.52	-18.3%
Average			-11.0%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.84 MYR7.56	$5.40 KES698.38	+193.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.71	$30.96 KES4,004.71	+161.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,621.80 MYR129,997.22	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	-31.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.85 MYR15.83	$17.03 KES2,202.59	+342.2%
Average			+166.4%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.8% more for housing

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.69 MYR93.28	$39.86 KES5,156.50	+75.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$465.05 MYR1,911.81	$476.96 KES61,695.24	+2.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$345.29 MYR1,419.51	$206.31 KES26,686.56	-40.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.51 MYR129.55	$29.32 KES3,793.22	-6.9%
Average			+7.8%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4% less for childcare

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$229.86 MYR944.95	$224.14 KES28,992.44	-2.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,360.19 MYR38,479.74	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	-6.3%
Average			-4.4%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.55 MYR14.61	$2.32 KES300.35	-34.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.95 MYR12.11	$2.37 KES306.55	-19.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.25 MYR17.49	$3.10 KES400.47	-27.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.94 MYR135.41	$45.30 KES5,859.39	+37.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.46	$7.35 KES951.12	+47.8%
Average			+0.8%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% less for clothing

	Petaling Jaya	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.76 MYR204.58	$19.62 KES2,538.28	-60.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.52 MYR141.90	$24.88 KES3,218.07	-27.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$53.55 MYR220.16	$67.92 KES8,785.33	+26.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$44.55 MYR183.14	$62.28 KES8,055.48	+39.8%
Average			-5.5%

Petaling Jaya vs. Nairobi - 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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