Cost of living comparison

Nairobi, Kenya

compared to

Bintulu, Malaysia

Bintulu vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Bintulu is 9.2% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 14.1% less in Bintulu
Groceries: pay 8.4% more in Bintulu
Transportation: pay 17.1% less in Bintulu
Housing: pay 0.5% less in Bintulu
Childcare: pay 22.2% less in Bintulu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.7% more in Bintulu
Clothing: pay 95.5% more in Bintulu

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

Bintulu vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bintulu instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.1% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 KES497.85	$3.63 MYR15.47	-5.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES796.57	$5.45 MYR23.20	-11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 KES85.62	$0.61 MYR2.61	-7.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 KES68.79	$0.36 MYR1.55	-31.7%
Average			-14.1%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.4% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 KES72.11	$1.29 MYR5.48	+130.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 KES722.20	$7.95 MYR33.84	+42.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.35 KES433.02	$5.99 MYR25.48	+78.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 KES219.99	$2.06 MYR8.77	+21.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 KES350.07	$1.49 MYR6.36	-44.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 KES163.27	$0.72 MYR3.07	-42.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 KES64.55	$0.41 MYR1.75	-17.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 KES112.89	$0.72 MYR3.07	-17.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.06	$0.48 MYR2.04	+4.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 KES62.34	$0.22 MYR0.94	-54.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KES71.87	$0.52 MYR2.19	-7.4%
Average			+8.4%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.1% less for transportation

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 KES797.74	$1.92 MYR8.17	-68.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.83 KES3,982.83	$15.14 MYR64.46	-50.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,266.80 KES2,489,270.65	$37,125.27 MYR158,023.71	+92.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.87 KES1,792.27	$8.18 MYR34.81	-41.1%
Average			-17.1%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.5% less for housing

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.39 KES5,089.54	$28.39 MYR120.85	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$428.53 KES55,365.83	$204.43 MYR870.15	-52.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.44 KES21,503.47	$144.80 MYR616.36	-13.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$22.39 KES2,893.11	$42.81 MYR182.22	+91.2%
Average			-0.5%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.2% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.67 KES21,534.37	$117.36 MYR499.53	-29.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,008.06 KES1,034,640.93	$6,814.31 MYR29,005.11	-14.9%
Average			-22.2%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 KES298.71	$2.73 MYR11.60	+17.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.24 KES289.52	$2.73 MYR11.60	+21.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 KES398.28	$3.86 MYR16.44	+25.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.12 KES5,699.93	$62.84 MYR267.49	+42.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.17 KES796.57	$4.09 MYR17.40	-33.7%
Average			+14.7%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 95.5% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Bintulu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.84 KES2,176.10	$60.19 MYR256.21	+257.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.95 KES2,965.00	$32.82 MYR139.71	+43.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.84 KES7,989.37	$73.82 MYR314.22	+19.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 KES6,783.22	$85.18 MYR362.56	+62.2%
Average			+95.5%

Nairobi vs. Bintulu - 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: June 2025

More cost comparisons

Nairobi vs.

Athens

Nairobi vs.

Madrid

Nairobi vs.

Washington

Nairobi vs.

Berlin

Nairobi vs.

Vienna

Nairobi vs.

Hong Kong

Nairobi vs.

Canberra

Nairobi vs.

Reykjavik

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Nairobi

Add prices for Bintulu

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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