Malaysia · Households · Data from KRI, Oct 2026
From income
to wellbeing,
in seven charts.
The median Malaysian household earned this much a month in 2024. Wages made up 62.9% of household income.
Every number on this page comes from The State of Households 2026: From Income To Wellbeing, published by Khazanah Research Institute on 23 Oct 2026. We drew the charts. The research is theirs.
Scroll to move through the charts. Click a chart to switch its view.
The household. One house of cubes for the median household and its RM7,017 a month in 2024.
Where it comes from. The same house, split by source. 62.9% of household income came from wages in 2024. The other 37.1% is everything else.
Mood
Malaysians say they are happier than in 2021
The index is out of 10. KRI suggests part of the jump may be people feeling better after the pandemic years. The wider Malaysian Well-Being Index has risen since 2000, with the environment part dipping between 2005 and 2008.
Out of 10. Two columns against a ghost column of 10. The 2021 score was 6.48 and the 2024 score was 7.60.
Where you live
In 111 of 166 districts, poverty is above the national rate
National poverty rate, 2024
districts with a poverty rate above 5.1%
districts above double the national rate, over 10.2%
Districts above the national median income hold 46.2% of households. The central region leads on income.
All 166. One ball per district. 55 at or below the national rate, 45 above it, and 66 above double it.
The extremes. Pitas in Sabah had a poverty rate of 50%. Kuala Krai in Kelantan, the highest in the Peninsula, had 20.2%. The national rate was 5.1%.
The squeeze
The poorest tenth now keeps almost nothing back
In 2019, households in the bottom 10% had 10.8% of their income left after spending. In 2024 it was 1.9%. Their gross income in 2024 was RM2,227 a month.
For the bottom 10% that rise was 21.3%. Spending for every group in the lower 70% rose by more than 15%.
Left over. Two jars of bottom 10% income. The bright cubes at the top are what is left after spending: 10.8% in 2019, 1.9% in 2024.
Spending up. How much more a month each group spent in 2024 than in 2019. RM384 more for the bottom 10%, RM65 more for the top 10%.
Food
We now spend more eating out than eating at home
Food weighs on the poor most. It took 38.3% of spending for the bottom 10% of households and 24.5% for the top 10%.
Out vs home. Two plates, area to scale. RM902.70 a month on eating out, RM875.80 on food at home.
Share of spending. The bright arc is the part of all spending that goes to food. 38.3% for the bottom 10%, 24.5% for the top 10%.
Health
More than half of adults are overweight or obese
of adults overweight, 2023
of adults obese, 2023
Both shares rose between 2019 and 2023. Diabetes is now one of the leading causes of death in most states.
A hundred adults. Each ball is 1% of adults, rounded. Amber is overweight, red is obese.
Ageing
Perak is getting old fastest
In 2024, 41.7% of households in Perak had at least one older person living in them. Two years earlier it was 35.5%.
Perak, 2 years. Share of Perak households with at least one older person: 35.5% in 2022, 41.7% in 2024.
Older heads. The four states with the highest share of households headed by an older person in 2024.
The fine print
Where this comes from
Also in the report
Services nearby
97.8% of households live within 5km of a public health facility, 98.7% within 5km of a primary school and 95.9% within 5km of a secondary school. Treated water, electricity and telecoms are close to universal.
Work
Labour force participation was 70.6%. Formal jobs sit mostly in cities. Skill-related underemployment was 18.6% in Kuala Lumpur and 26.5% in Pulau Pinang, the two lowest reported. Women take part less and earn less than men.
Food supply
Malaysia buys from a few import sources. Nearly three quarters of beef imports come from India and about two thirds of vegetable imports come from China.
About this page
Source
Khazanah Research Institute, The State of Households 2026: From Income To Wellbeing, 23 Oct 2026. Lead author Rachel Gong. KRI publishes it under CC BY 3.0. KRI drew on DOSM survey data, including the Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
Who made it
Artifisi Sdn Bhd built this page as an unofficial sample of an interactive report. KRI did not make, ask for or check it. Any mistake in copying a number is ours.
Limits
We show headline figures only, rounded the way the report rounds them. The health dot grid rounds each share to the nearest 1%. Read the full report for method, definitions and the district tables.