Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Batam and Jiaxing

For one person, living is cheaper in Batam: $586 a month against $637 in Jiaxing, rent and utilities included – about $610 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

28

Cost of Living Index in Batam
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Batam Living Index
31

Cost of Living Index in Jiaxing
Learn more

Jiaxing Living Index

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Batam

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$586

/mo nomad

Jiaxing

🇨🇳 China

$637

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Batam and in Jiaxing

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Batam and in Jiaxing actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $586 in Batam versus $637 in Jiaxing.

Batam $586
Jiaxing $637

Estimated couple costs with rent: $984 in Batam versus $1,073 in Jiaxing.

Batam $984
Jiaxing $1,073

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,382 in Batam versus $1,509 in Jiaxing.

Batam $1,382
Jiaxing $1,509

Living in Batam costs roughly 8% less than in Jiaxing, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both cities sit below the global median: Batam 57% lower, Jiaxing 53% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$1.95 Rp 35.3K

$3.02 ¥20.04

-35.43%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$8.07 Rp 146.4K

$22.92 ¥152

-64.79%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.90 Rp 70.8K

$4.45 ¥29.57

-12.36%

Cappuccino

$2.05 Rp 37.1K

$3.13 ¥20.79

-34.50%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.61 Rp 11.1K

$0.49 ¥3.24

24.49%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.30 Rp 5,454

$0.31 ¥2.09

-3.23%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.47 Rp 44.7K

$0.72 ¥4.76

243.06%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.66 Rp 66.5K

$2.18 ¥14.51

67.89%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.12 Rp 20.4K

$1.90 ¥12.65

-41.05%

White Bread (500g)

$1.09 Rp 19.8K

$2.01 ¥13.37

-45.77%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.81 Rp 14.7K

$0.57 ¥3.81

42.11%

Eggs

$1.22 Rp 22.1K

$1.91 ¥12.72

-36.13%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.45 Rp 135.1K

$7.68 ¥51.0

-2.99%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.47 Rp 44.8K

$3.34 ¥22.18

-26.05%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$4.31 Rp 78.1K

$7.57 ¥50.3

-43.06%

Apples (1kg)

$2.17 Rp 39.3K

$1.60 ¥10.66

35.62%

Banana (1kg)

$2.00 Rp 36.3K

$1.15 ¥7.64

73.91%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.97 Rp 35.8K

$1.01 ¥6.70

95.05%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.03 Rp 18.8K

$0.64 ¥4.27

60.94%

Potato (1kg)

$0.95 Rp 17.2K

$0.57 ¥3.81

66.67%

Onion (1kg)

$1.96 Rp 35.5K

$0.80 ¥5.32

145.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.29 Rp 23.4K

$0.51 ¥3.41

152.94%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.44 Rp 8,044

$0.59 ¥3.90

-25.42%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.72 Rp 49.4K

$5.32 ¥35.34

-48.87%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.78 Rp 250.0K

$11.91 ¥79.1

15.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.68 Rp 30.5K

$0.73 ¥4.87

130.14%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.33 Rp 42.3K

$1.37 ¥9.09

70.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.41 Rp 7,427

$0.23 ¥1.53

78.26%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$16.82 ¥112

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.13 Rp 20.5K

$1.17 ¥7.79

-3.42%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.58 Rp 10.6K

$0.42 ¥2.81

38.10%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.42 Rp 62.1K

$7.45 ¥49.49

-54.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.84 Rp 15.2K

$1.26 ¥8.37

-33.33%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$27.6K Rp 500.0M

$19.4K ¥129.2K

41.77%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$24.6K Rp 446.2M

$19.0K ¥126.2K

29.54%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$67.8 Rp 1.2M

$36.89 ¥245

83.79%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$4.09 Rp 74.3K

$11.70 ¥77.8

-65.04%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$22.58 Rp 409.6K

$5.10 ¥33.86

342.75%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$27.03 Rp 490.3K

$37.89 ¥252

-28.66%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$5.66 Rp 102.6K

$7.48 ¥49.67

-24.33%

Cinema Ticket

$2.66 Rp 48.3K

$5.28 ¥35.08

-49.62%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$83.0 Rp 1.5M

$431 ¥2,863

-80.73%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,186 Rp 57.8M

$13.0K ¥86.1K

-75.41%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$31.46 Rp 570.6K

$35.02 ¥233

-10.17%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$17.99 Rp 326.3K

$21.81 ¥145

-17.51%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$64.4 Rp 1.2M

$63.5 ¥422

1.37%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$23.72 Rp 430.3K

$45.49 ¥302

-47.86%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$265 Rp 4.8M

$282 ¥1,871

-5.91%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$145 Rp 2.6M

$177 ¥1,176

-17.99%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$796 Rp 14.4M

$774 ¥5,141

2.92%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$499 Rp 9.1M

$444 ¥2,948

12.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$542 Rp 9.8M

$3,887 ¥25.8K

-86.07%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,072 ¥13.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$334 Rp 6.1M

$736 ¥4,892

-54.66%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

13.17

3.13

320.77%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Batam: October 26, 2026

Last update for Jiaxing: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Groceries & Markets

Batam

$172 29.3%

Jiaxing

$176 27.7% 2.7% $4.7

Accommodation & Living

Batam

$145 24.8%

Jiaxing

$177 27.8% 21.9% $32

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Batam

$94 16.1%

Jiaxing

$54 8.4% 43.2% $41

Eating Out

Batam

$75 12.8%

Jiaxing

$86 13.5% 14.7% $11

Clothing & Footwear

Batam

$62 10.6%

Jiaxing

$75 11.7% 20.6% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Batam

$32 5.5%

Jiaxing

$48 7.6% 49.7% $16

Getting Around

Batam

$5.7 * 1%

Jiaxing

$21 3.3% 269% $15

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $265 in Batam and $282 in Jiaxing. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Jiaxing pays about 2.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $8 in Batam vs $23 in Jiaxing for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $172 vs $176 per month, with Batam cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Batam

🇨🇳 Jiaxing

🕒 Local time

09:27 9:27 AM

10:27 10:27 AM

1 h ahead of Batam

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,196,396

3,563,700

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.51 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to IDR – Indonesian Rupiah Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesian Rupiah (Rp)

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18,138 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.51 USD). 1 EUR = 20,252 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.64 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.42 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Batam Jiaxing 3,740 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight

From you

Batam
Jiaxing

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Batam vs Jiaxing: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Batam is about 8% cheaper overall, especially in leisure, transport, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 55% lower in Batam. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $265 in Batam versus $282 in Jiaxing. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 3% higher in Jiaxing. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $586 per month in Batam versus $637 in Jiaxing – Batam is about 8% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $1,000 a month, though Batam gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Batam wins on affordability, Jiaxing on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.