Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint John's Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 35.2% more expensive than Saint John's.

Restaurants: pay 57.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 40.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 26.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 53.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 4.9 times more in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.9% more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 21.0% more in Kuala Lumpur

The cost of childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Kuala Lumpur are more expensive than in Saint John's. Expenses including restaurants, housing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint John's Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Saint John's, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 57.4% less for restaurants

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.88 EC$37.50	$4.74 MYR19.59	-65.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.10 EC$30.00	$4.74 MYR19.59	-57.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.07 EC$5.60	$0.89 MYR3.66	-57.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.96 EC$2.58	$0.49 MYR2.01	-49.1%
Average			-57.4%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.1% less for groceries

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$2.78 EC$7.50	$0.98 MYR4.03	-64.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.07 EC$11.00	$7.13 MYR29.45	+75.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.40 EC$22.71	$7.98 MYR32.96	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.37 EC$14.50	$2.23 MYR9.21	-58.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.69 EC$9.98	$2.09 MYR8.65	-43.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.96 EC$8.00	$1.32 MYR5.45	-55.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.11 EC$3.00	$0.75 MYR3.09	-32.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.22 MYR5.04	-67.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$0.69 MYR2.86	-81.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$0.57 MYR2.34	-56.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$0.62 MYR2.56	-52.1%
Average			-40.1%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.5% less for transportation

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.29 EC$17.00	$1.87 MYR7.71	-70.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$11.85 MYR48.96
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,681.34 EC$64,000.00	$40,284.36 MYR166,475.12	+70.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$51.53 EC$139.27	$10.66 MYR44.07	-79.3%
Average			-26.5%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.4% less for housing

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$77.58 EC$209.67	$25.49 MYR105.32	-67.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,048.39 EC$2,833.33	$573.16 MYR2,368.60	-45.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$678.37 EC$1,833.33	$350.71 MYR1,449.31	-48.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.04 EC$267.65	$46.59 MYR192.54	-53.0%
Average			-53.4%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 4.9 times more for childcare

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$264.45 MYR1,092.86
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,850.10 EC$5,000.00	$9,004.74 MYR37,212.09	+386.7%
Average			+386.7%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.85 EC$5.00	$4.27 MYR17.63	+130.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.95 EC$10.67	$3.06 MYR12.65	-22.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$4.27 MYR17.63
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.67 EC$166.67	$46.43 MYR191.86	-24.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.20 EC$16.75	$4.98 MYR20.56	-19.7%
Average			+15.9%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.0% more for clothing

	Saint John's	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.00 EC$135.13	$61.66 MYR254.80	+23.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$37.10 MYR153.34
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.00 EC$200.00	$87.80 MYR362.83	+18.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$82.47 MYR340.83
Average			+21.0%

Saint John's vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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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