Which is cheaper, Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town)?

Penang (George Town) is cheaper: about $974 per month versus $1,055 for one person.

Is Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town) safer?

Johor Bahru scores higher on safety (70 vs 70), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.

Where is the internet faster, Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town)?

Penang (George Town): a measured median of 93.6 Mbps versus 86.4 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

Johor Bahru vs Penang (George Town)

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Penang (George Town) edges it, 62 to 59, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Johor Bahru is stronger on getting there & around; Penang (George Town) on climate. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Johor Bahru

out of 100

Singapore's neighbour at Malaysian prices

Full Johor Bahru profile →

Penang (George Town)

out of 100

Street-food capital with heritage streets

Full Penang (George Town) profile →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Cost of living	65	68 ✓
Safety	70	70
Healthcare	69	69
Internet	84	86 ✓
Visa ease	74	74
Getting there & around	35 ✓	19
Climate	0	33 ✓
Air quality	64 ✓	64
Quality of life	72	72

Cost

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Monthly cost, one person	$1,055	$974 ✓
Central one-bedroom rent	$491	$450 ✓

Safety and health (country-level)

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Homicides per 100k	2.6	2.6
Political stability (0–100)	72.5	72.5
UHC service coverage (0–100)	80	80
Life expectancy	72.8 yrs	72.8 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Download	86.4 Mbps	93.6 Mbps ✓
Upload	46.7 Mbps	55.3 Mbps ✓

Visa

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Nomad visa	DE Rantau Sarawak	DE Rantau Sarawak
Minimum income for the visa	$1,999/mo	$1,999/mo
Visa-free days, US passport	90 days	90 days
Visa-free days, EU passport	90 days	90 days
Visa-free days, UK passport	90 days	90 days

Getting there and around

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Non-stop airport destinations	173 ✓	30
Walkability (1–5, editorial)	2	3 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)	2	2

Climate and air

Metric	Johor Bahru	Penang (George Town)
Comfortable months per year	0	4 ✓
Annual mean PM2.5	21 µg/m³ ✓	21.2 µg/m³

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town)?: Penang (George Town) is cheaper: about $974 per month versus $1,055 for one person.
Is Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town) safer?: Johor Bahru scores higher on safety (70 vs 70), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Johor Bahru or Penang (George Town)?: Penang (George Town): a measured median of 93.6 Mbps versus 86.4 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations). Dataset 2026.09.4. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.