# B40, M40, T20: How Malaysia Classifies Income Groups

> B40, M40 and T20 are not fixed salary amounts — they are your household's relative position in the nationwide income list, ranked by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

- Category: cost-of-living
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-08-08
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/cost-of-living/b40-m40-t20-income-classification

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Most Malaysians know the B40, M40 and T20 labels — but those labels do not come from your payslip. They come from where your household sits in a long list covering the entire country.

## What do B40, M40 and T20 actually mean?

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) ranks all households by monthly income, from lowest to highest, then cuts them into three parts:

- **B40** — *Bottom 40%*, the 40% of households with the lowest income.
- **M40** — *Middle 40%*, the middle 40%.
- **T20** — *Top 20%*, the 20% of households with the highest income.

Because it is based on position (percentiles) rather than a fixed ringgit amount, the B40/M40 boundary is the income at the 40th percentile, while the M40/T20 boundary is the income at the 80th percentile. The ringgit figure at those cut-off points moves every time a new survey is conducted.

## What is a "typical" income in Malaysia?

The two main measures are the median (the midpoint) and the mean (the average). Based on the 2024 Household Income Survey released by DOSM on 8 October 2025:

| Measure | 2024 | 2022 | Annual growth rate | Overall change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median household income | RM7,017 | RM6,338 | +5.1% per year | +10.7% (two years) |
| Mean household income | RM9,155 | RM8,479 | +3.8% per year | +8.0% (two years) |

Note the difference: **5.1% and 3.8% are annual growth rates** (per year), not the total increase over two years. Between 2022 and 2024, the median actually rose about 10.7% overall.

A median of RM7,017 means half of households earn below that level and half above it. Because the median (the 50th percentile) sits above the B40 boundary but below the T20 boundary, Malaysia's median household falls within **M40**.

## Why do the ringgit figures differ by place?

The same income amount can put you in a different group depending on location, because income is not distributed the same way across the country. In 2024:

- **Urban:** median RM8,139, mean RM10,145.
- **Rural:** median RM4,588, mean RM5,669.
- **Highest states (median):** W.P. Kuala Lumpur RM10,805, W.P. Putrajaya RM10,769, Selangor RM10,726.

That is why a "T20 household in a rural area" can be just an "M40 household in Kuala Lumpur". Household size matters too — an average of 3.7 people with 1.8 income earners means these labels describe a whole family, not a single individual.

## Why shouldn't I memorise one fixed cut-off figure?

Because it keeps changing. The B40/M40/T20 ringgit boundaries are recalculated every survey round (roughly once every two years) and rise with income growth — so the "up to RMx,xxx" figures that go viral online are often from older rounds. The exact official cut-off values for 2024 are published in DOSM's full report.

## What's next

- **For your exact position:** refer to the full 2024 Household Income Survey report on the DOSM portal, which lists the latest cut-off values.
- **For aid checks:** remember that most schemes assess the income of the entire household, not one person's salary.
- **For fair comparison:** weigh the local cost of living — the same label means different things in a big city versus a rural area.

## Sources

- Household Income Survey Report, Malaysia & States 2024 (dikeluarkan 2025-10-08) — https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/household-income-survey-report--malaysia--states-2024 (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM))
- Household Income Survey Report, Malaysia & States 2022 — https://www.dosm.gov.my/portal-main/release-content/household-income-survey-report--malaysia--states (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM))

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