Photos: Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped; West Palm Beach by Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Penang or West Palm Beach?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose Penang for
- prices
- food and drink
- culture and sights
What lies behind each score is written up on Penang’s own page.
Choose West Palm Beach for
- beaches
- shopping
- live music and the arts
What lies behind each score is written up on West Palm Beach’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Penang and West Palm Beach.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, 2 points apart
Wins on prices and food and drink with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and shopping with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Penang in July
West Palm Beach in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre). West Palm Beach: 1991-2020 normals, Palm Beach International (5.8 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Penang | West Palm Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Malay | - |
| Currency | Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) | US Dollar (USD) |
| Sockets | G240 V, 50 Hz | AB120 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Left | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+8 | UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer |
| Emergency number | 999 | 911 |
| Elevation | 4 m | 6 m |
| Main airport | Penang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations | President Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT)6 km from centre42 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | - | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Penang | West Palm Beach |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 794,313 | 117,415 |
| People per km² | - | 786 |
| Museums within 10 km | 9 | 4 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 12 months | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Penang or West Palm Beach somewhere new.