Cost of living comparison
compared to
Kota Kinabalu vs. Washington Cost of Living Summary
Kota Kinabalu is 60.6% cheaper than Washington.
- Restaurants
-
pay 77.9% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Groceries
-
pay 33.3% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Transportation
-
pay 48.1% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Housing
-
pay 75.7% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Childcare
-
pay 91.0% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 64.5% less in Kota Kinabalu
- Clothing
-
pay 33.7% less in Kota Kinabalu
Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing are lower in Kota Kinabalu.
Kota Kinabalu vs. Washington Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Kota Kinabalu instead of Washington, you would:
pay 77.9% less for restaurants
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$3.55
MYR14.61
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$4.74
MYR19.48
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.20
|
$0.67
MYR2.77
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.79
|
$0.38
MYR1.56
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of restaurants
pay 33.3% less for groceries
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.43
|
$1.15
MYR4.71
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.04
|
$13.03
MYR53.58
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.19
|
$6.50
MYR26.73
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.55
|
$2.54
MYR10.42
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.74
|
$1.85
MYR7.61
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.95
|
$1.24
MYR5.08
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$0.56
MYR2.28
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$1.77
MYR7.29
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$0.86
MYR3.54
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.35
|
$0.68
MYR2.80
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.64
|
$0.79
MYR3.24
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of groceries
pay 48.1% less for transportation
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.53
|
$1.84
MYR7.56
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$77.50
|
$41.21
MYR169.42
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,699.74
|
$28,436.02
MYR116,900.47
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.73
|
$3.79
MYR15.59
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of transportation
pay 75.7% less for housing
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$69.41
|
$33.00
MYR135.65
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,568.48
|
$379.15
MYR1,558.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,088.16
|
$165.88
MYR681.92
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$146.54
|
$39.62
MYR162.89
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of housing
pay 91.0% less for childcare
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,650.00
|
$130.33
MYR535.79
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$40,166.67
|
$5,213.27
MYR21,431.75
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of childcare
pay 64.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$2.37
MYR9.74
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.07
|
$2.65
MYR10.88
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$4.15
MYR17.05
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$103.76
|
$43.44
MYR178.60
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.75
|
$5.09
MYR20.94
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 33.7% less for clothing
|
Washington
|
Kota Kinabalu
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$76.00
|
$59.77
MYR245.73
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.40
|
$22.90
MYR94.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.31
|
$71.09
MYR292.25
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$133.22
|
$94.79
MYR389.67
|
|
Washington vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of clothing
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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