Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 35.1% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 58.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 26.6% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 43.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 30.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 40.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 32.3% less in Kuala Lumpur

Expenses including restaurants, transportation, childcare, clothing, housing, and groceries are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of San Jose, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.1% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,460.85	$4.54 MYR19.32	-58.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,899.60	$4.54 MYR19.32	-53.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC1,005.29	$0.84 MYR3.59	-57.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC736.64	$0.53 MYR2.27	-63.4%
Average			-58.1%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.6% less for groceries

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,309.26	$0.95 MYR4.03	-63.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,150.38	$7.58 MYR32.22	+77.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,646.81	$7.22 MYR30.69	-0.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,645.02	$2.36 MYR10.02	-27.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,221.92	$1.94 MYR8.23	-56.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC983.52	$1.24 MYR5.27	-36.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC317.79	$0.69 MYR2.94	+9.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC802.23	$1.25 MYR5.32	-21.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC679.74	$0.63 MYR2.66	-53.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC655.23	$0.47 MYR1.98	-64.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC600.51	$0.51 MYR2.18	-57.0%
Average			-26.6%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.0% less for transportation

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,767.08	$1.77 MYR7.54	-67.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,172.34	$11.36 MYR48.30	-70.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,618,474.85	$37,478.71 MYR159,378.19	+1.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC8,037.79	$10.22 MYR43.47	-35.9%
Average			-43.0%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.3% less for housing

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC27,023.35	$25.27 MYR107.44	-52.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC374,169.31	$536.30 MYR2,280.60	-27.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC233,755.86	$371.69 MYR1,580.61	-19.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,793.74	$50.02 MYR212.73	-20.7%
Average			-30.3%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 40.0% less for childcare

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC262,945.13	$250.80 MYR1,066.55	-51.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,265,262.99	$8,920.55 MYR37,934.64	-28.2%
Average			-40.0%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.1% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,469.88	$4.09 MYR17.39	+40.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,861.22	$2.92 MYR12.41	-20.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,547.79	$4.09 MYR17.39	-19.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC30,102.32	$44.75 MYR190.29	-25.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,899.60	$4.77 MYR20.28	-50.9%
Average			-15.1%

San Jose vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.3% less for clothing

	San Jose	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC37,103.43	$57.74 MYR245.53	-21.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,620.49	$35.00 MYR148.84	-31.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC63,523.11	$76.75 MYR326.39	-39.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC59,151.62	$73.25 MYR311.51	-37.6%
Average			-32.3%

San Jose 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: July 2025

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