List of cities and towns in Malaysia by population

This article details the list of the most populous settlements in Malaysia. Malaysia designates all populated regions into three categories: a district, municipality, or city. While district boundaries are limited to individual state-drawn district boundaries, some municipalities and cities are made up of several smaller component districts whose elevated status forms a local government. Thus, this list does not include component districts and only includes overall administrative localities defined by their respective local governments.

Within defined boundaries

See also: List of local governments in Malaysia and List of cities in Malaysia

This table lists all cities, municipalities and districts in Malaysia whose population exceeds 250,000 people, according to statistics published in the 2020 Malaysian census by the Malaysian Department of Statistics (DOSM). There are 34 populated regions in Malaysia whose population exceeds 250,000 people. All 13 states and the Federal Territories have at least one city, municipality or district whose population exceeded 250,000 people.

This table displays:

1. The settlement name;
2. The state in which the settlement is located;
3. The settlement's population as of 2020, as estimated in the 2020 census conducted by the DOSM;
4. The settlement's population as of 2010, as estimated in the 2010 census conducted by the DOSM;
5. The settlement's population difference between 2010 and 2020;
6. The land area of the settlement's defined boundaries in square kilometres (km²);
7. The population density of the settlement in people per square kilometres (/km²), as estimated by the settlement's 2020 population figures.
   

Key (local governments)
	Regions administered by city halls and councils (Dewan/Majlis Bandaraya)
	Regions administered by municipal councils (Majlis Perbandaran)
	Regions administered by district councils (Majlis Daerah)
†	National capital
#	State administrative capitals
*	State royal capitals

List of the largest cities, municipalities, districts in Malaysia (with population figures over 250,000 people)

City, municipality or district	State	Government census figures			Land area	Density [note 1]
		2020	2010	Diff.
Kuala Lumpur†	Federal Territories	1,982,112	1,588,750	+24.76%[1]	243 km2[2]	8,156/km2
Kajang	Selangor	1,047,356	795,522	+31.66%[3]	788 km2[4]	1,329/km2
Seberang Perai	Penang	946,092	818,097	+15.65%[5]	751 km2[6]	1,265/km2
Subang Jaya	Selangor	902,086	708,296	+27.36%[3]	162 km2[7]	5,568/km2
Klang*	Selangor	902,025	744,062	+21.23%[3]	573 km2[8]	1,574/km2
Johor Bahru#	Johor	858,118	497,067	+72.64%[9]	373 km2[10]	2,300/km2
Shah Alam#	Selangor	812,327	541,306	+50.07%[3]	290 km2[11]	2,801/km2
George Town#	Penang	794,313	708,127	+12.17%[5]	306 km2[12]	2,596/km2
Petaling Jaya	Selangor	771,687	613,977	+25.69%[3]	97 km2[13]	7,955/km2
Selayang	Selangor	764,327	542,409	+40.91%[3]	546 km2[14]	1,400/km2
Ipoh#	Perak	759,952	657,892	+15.51%[15]	643 km2[16]	1,182/km2
Seremban#[note 2]	Negeri Sembilan	681,541	515,490	+32.21%[18]	923 km2[19]	738/km2
Iskandar Puteri[note 3]	Johor	575,977	529,074	+8.87%[9]	403 km2[10]	1,429/km2
Kuantan#	Pahang	548,014	427,515	+28.19%	324 km2[21]	1,691/km2
Sungai Petani	Kedah	545,053	443,488	+22.90%[22]	913 km2[23]	597/km2
Ampang Jaya	Selangor	531,904	468,961	+13.42%[3]	144 km2[8]	3,964/km2
Kota Kinabalu#	Sabah	500,425	452,058	+10.70%[24]	352 km2[25]	1,422/km2
Malacca City#[note 4]	Melaka	453,904	–	–[27]	270 km2[28]	1,681/km2
Sandakan	Sabah	439,050	396,290	+10.79%[24]	2,275 km2[25]	193/km2
Alor Setar#	Kedah	423,868	405,523	+4.52%[22]	666 km2[29]	636/km2
Tawau	Sabah	420,806	397,673	+5.82%[24]	6,149 km2[25]	68/km2
Batu Pahat	Johor	401,210	209,461	+91.54%[9]	1,873 km2[30]	214/km2
Kota Bharu	Kelantan	396,193	314,964	+25.79%[31]	116 km2[32]	3,415/km2
Kuala Terengganu#*	Terengganu	375,424	337,533	+11.23%[33]	605 km2[34]	621/km2
Kuching#	Sarawak	349,147	325,132	+7.39%[35]	431 km2[36][37]	810/km2
Sepang	Selangor	324,585	207,354	+56.54%[3]	619 km2[38]	524/km2
Kulim	Kedah	319,056	281,260	+13.44%[22]	774 km2[23]	412/km2
Muar*	Johor	314,776	201,148	+56.49%[9]	1,376 km2[30]	229/km2
Pasir Gudang	Johor	312,437	46,571	+570.88%[9]	360 km2[10]	868/km2
Kuala Langat	Selangor	307,418	220,214	+39.60%[3]	858 km2[39]	358/km2
Kulai	Johor	294,156	234,532	+25.42%[9]	747 km2[10]	394/km2
Kangar#	Perlis	284,853	225,590	+26.27%[40]	795 km2[41]	358/km2
Kuala Selangor	Selangor	281,717	205,257	+37.25%[3]	1,195 km2[42]	236/km2
Padawan	Sarawak	260,058	273,485	−4.91%[35]	984 km2[43]	264/km2

Distribution

The population of Peninsular Malaysia by local government area, 2020

There are 34 settlements in Malaysia with a population of over 250,000 people. All 13 states and the Federal Territories have at least one settlement in the list. West Malaysia has more settlements that fit this criterion than East Malaysia, with 29 settlements against the East's five. The states with the smallest number of settlements in this list are Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Terengganu and the Federal Territories, with one locality each respectively, while the state with the highest number of settlements with a population above 250,000 is Selangor, with 10 settlements in the list.

Population	States														Regions		Total
	JHR	KDH	KTN	MLK	NSN	PHG	PNG	PRK	PLS	SBH	SWK	SGR	TRG	FT	WM	EM
1,000,000+	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	2	–	2
750,000–999,999	1	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–	–	–	5	–	–	9	–	9
500,000–749,999	1	1	–	–	1	1	–	–	–	1	–	1	–	–	5	1	6
250,000–499,999	4	2	1	1	–	–	–	–	1	2	2	3	1	–	13	4	17
Total	6	3	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	3	2	10	1	1	29	5	34

Gallery

• 
  1. Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territories
• 
  2. Kajang, Selangor
• 
  3. Seberang Perai, Penang
• 
  4. Subang Jaya, Selangor
• 
  5. Klang, Selangor
• 
  6. Johor Bahru, Johor
• 
  7. Shah Alam, Selangor
• 
  8. George Town, Penang
• 
  9. Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• 
  10. Selayang, Selangor
• 
  11. Ipoh, Perak
• 
  12. Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
• 
  13. Iskandar Puteri, Johor
• 
  14. Kuantan, Pahang
• 
  15. Sungai Petani, Kedah

Largest metropolitan areas by population

The DOSM does not provide any definitions related to metropolitan areas in Malaysia, nor have any statistical calculations that concern build-up areas surrounding an urban centre. However, several major urban regions, such as Greater Kuala Lumpur, the George Town Conurbation and the Johor Bahru Conurbation (Southern Conurbation), have been well-described as metropolitan areas since the early-2010s by local media and government authorities in the latest edition of the National Physical Plan. Despite this, there remains some ambiguity in defining the actual boundaries of other smaller counterparts.

There are 12 metropolitan areas in Malaysia. Perlis and Kelantan are the only states without one. Greater Kuala Lumpur and the George Town Conurbation are the only metropolitan areas that span multiple states (Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Perak; and Penang, Kedah and Perak, respectively). The latter is also the only metropolitan area where the core city is not its most populated settlement (George Town has a population of 794,313, while Seberang Perai has a population of 946,092).

This table displays:

1. The metropolitan area rank by population as of 2020, as estimated with individual local authority population figures by the DOSM;
2. The name of the metropolitan area;
3. The core city of the metropolitan area;
4. The metropolitan area's population as of 2020, as estimated in the 2020 census conducted by the DOSM;
5. The metropolitan area's population as of 2010, as estimated in the 2010 census conducted by the DOSM;
6. The metropolitan area's population difference between 2010 and 2020;
7. The land area of the metropolitan area's defined boundaries in square kilometres (km²);
8. The population density of the metropolitan area in people per square kilometres (/km²);

List of the largest metropolitan areas in Malaysia by population

№	Metropolitan area	Core city	DOSM census figures			Land area	Density (2020)	Ref.
			2020	2010	Diff.
1	Greater Kuala Lumpur[note 5]	Kuala Lumpur	9,085,737	7,119,252	+27.62%	2,793 km2	3,062/km2	[44]
2	George Town Conurbation[note 6]	George Town	2,843,344	2,331,180	+21.97%	3,765 km2	756/km2	[45]
3	Johor Bahru Conurbation[note 7]	Johor Bahru	2,487,601	1,495,098	+66.38%	4,954 km2	502/km2	[46][47][48][49]
4	Greater Ipoh	Ipoh	984,586	828,174	+18.89%	1,988 km2	495/km2	[50]
5	Greater Kota Kinabalu	Kota Kinabalu	949,931	855,556	+11.03%	3,277 km2	290/km2	[51]
6	Greater Kuching	Kuching	934,515	857,110	+9.03%	2,031 km2	460/km2	[52]
7	Greater Kuantan [ms]	Kuantan	884,754	697,788	+26.79%	5,211 km2	170/km2	[53]
8	Seremban metropolitan [note 8]	Seremban	795,279	613,324	+29.67%	1,534 km2	518/km2	[54]
9	Malacca City metropolitan	Malacca City	642,761	484,885	+32.56%	308 km2	2,087/km2	[55]
10	Greater Miri [ms]	Miri	546,338	502,135	+8.80%	5,205 km2	60/km2	[56]
11	Alor Setar metropolitan	Alor Setar	423,868	405,523	+4.52%	609 km2	696/km2	[22]
12	Kuala Terengganu metropolitan	Kuala Terengganu	375,424	337,533	+11.23%	605 km2	621/km2	[33]

See also

• List of capitals in Malaysia
• List of cities in Malaysia