Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Shah Alam Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 22.0% more expensive than Shah Alam.

Restaurants: pay 40.4% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 18.5% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 12.8% more in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 18.9% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.2% less in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 10.6% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Shah Alam Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Shah Alam, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.4% more for restaurants

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.55 MYR14.56	$5.80 KES747.37	+63.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.27 MYR17.48	$6.97 KES896.85	+63.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 MYR2.86	$0.70 KES90.36	+0.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.41 MYR1.67	$0.55 KES70.70	+34.7%
Average			+40.4%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.5% less for groceries

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.99 MYR4.05	$0.55 KES70.35	-44.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.11 MYR29.13	$5.57 KES716.71	-21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.04 MYR28.85	$3.36 KES432.07	-52.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.08 MYR8.52	$1.64 KES211.74	-20.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MYR9.03	$2.92 KES375.75	+32.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 MYR5.06	$1.41 KES181.11	+13.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 MYR2.86	$0.47 KES61.12	-32.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.15 MYR4.70	$0.89 KES114.54	-22.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 MYR2.67	$0.46 KES58.73	-30.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.17	$0.49 KES63.20	-7.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.51 KES65.21	-18.3%
Average			-18.5%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.84 MYR7.53	$5.40 KES695.11	+193.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.40 MYR63.11	$30.96 KES3,985.98	+101.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,767.77 MYR138,356.69	$21,671.83 KES2,790,186.52	-35.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.31 MYR21.75	$17.03 KES2,192.29	+220.8%
Average			+119.9%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.8% more for housing

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.45 MYR124.76	$39.86 KES5,132.38	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$313.98 MYR1,286.47	$476.96 KES61,406.69	+51.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$274.88 MYR1,126.27	$206.31 KES26,561.75	-24.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.51 MYR129.12	$29.32 KES3,775.48	-6.9%
Average			+12.8%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.9% more for childcare

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$229.86 MYR941.80	$224.14 KES28,856.84	-2.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,250.00 MYR25,608.13	$8,775.09 KES1,129,767.62	+40.4%
Average			+18.9%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.55 MYR14.56	$2.32 KES298.95	-34.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MYR11.93	$2.37 KES305.12	-18.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.27 MYR17.48	$3.10 KES398.60	-27.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.51 MYR157.78	$45.30 KES5,831.99	+17.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.28 MYR25.73	$7.35 KES946.67	+17.1%
Average			-9.2%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.6% less for clothing

	Shah Alam	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.45 MYR227.20	$19.62 KES2,526.41	-64.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.52 MYR141.43	$24.88 KES3,203.02	-27.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.57 MYR252.28	$67.92 KES8,744.25	+10.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$44.55 MYR182.53	$62.28 KES8,017.80	+39.8%
Average			-10.6%

Shah Alam vs. Nairobi - 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

Shah Alam vs.

Delhi

Shah Alam vs.

Paris

Shah Alam vs.

Rome

Shah Alam vs.

Dodoma

Shah Alam vs.

Quito

Shah Alam vs.

Madrid

Shah Alam vs.

Bangkok

Shah Alam vs.

Lima

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Shah Alam

Add prices for Nairobi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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