Households in Kuala Lumpur earn more than twice as much than those in Kelantan, according to the latest state-level data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
The figures also show that half of Malaysia’s states and federal territories still have a median household income of below RM6,000 a month.
Klang Valley households earn over RM10,000
According to DOSM’s Laporan Sosioekonomi Negeri 2025, Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest median monthly gross household income at RM10,802.
This was closely followed by Putrajaya at RM10,769 and Selangor at RM10,726, making them the only three locations to cross the RM10,000 mark.
However, the figure dropped by around RM3,000 for Johor, which came in fourth with a median household income of RM7,712.
Pulau Pinang and Labuan followed closely behind at RM7,386 and RM7,383 respectively.
On the other end of the list, Kelantan recorded the lowest median household income at RM4,083.
This means the median household income in Kuala Lumpur is RM6,719 higher, or around 2.6 times that of Kelantan.
Perak, Sabah, Kedah and Perlis also recorded median household incomes of below RM5,000.
Overall, only eight out of Malaysia’s 16 states and federal territories had a median household income above RM6,000.
DOSM noted that the household income figures refer to 2024, while the economic growth, employment and inflation figures in the report are for 2025.
All states recorded economic growth
Despite the income gap, every state recorded positive gross domestic product growth in 2025.
Johor recorded the strongest growth at 8.0%, followed by Pulau Pinang at 7.3%, Selangor at 6.3% and Perak at 5.7%. All four exceeded Malaysia’s national growth rate of 5.2%.
The services sector was the main driver of growth in most states, while manufacturing contributed the most to Pulau Pinang’s performance.
DOSM also highlighted the expansion of data centres as one of Johor’s growth drivers.
Domestic tourism continued to support the services sector, with the number of domestic visitors rising 11.5% to 290.1 million in 2025. Domestic tourism spending also increased 13.6% to RM121.3 billion.
National inflation eased to 1.4%
Meanwhile, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sarawak, Pulau Pinang and Perak collectively contributed 73.2% of Malaysia’s total GDP.
National inflation eased to 1.4% in 2025, with Johor recording the highest state inflation rate at 2.0% and Kelantan recording the lowest at 0.3%.
Malaysia’s unemployment rate also fell to 3.0%, although Sabah remained the highest at 7.2%, followed by Labuan at 6.3%.
Median income refers to the middle point of all household incomes. This means half of the households earn more than the stated amount, while the other half earn less.
The figures represent the combined income of a household and should not be confused with an individual worker’s salary.
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