Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kuching and Ubud, Bali

For one person, living is cheaper in Kuching: $972 a month against $1,349 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $4,500 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Ubud, Bali outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

47

Cost of Living Index in Kuching
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Kuching Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Ubud, Bali
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Ubud, Bali Living Index

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Kuching

🇲🇾 Malaysia

$972

/mo nomad

Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,349

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Kuching and in Ubud, Bali

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $972 in Kuching versus $1,349 in Ubud, Bali.

Kuching $972
Ubud, Bali $1,349

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,521 in Kuching versus $2,305 in Ubud, Bali.

Kuching $1,521
Ubud, Bali $2,305

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,070 in Kuching versus $3,261 in Ubud, Bali.

Kuching $2,070
Ubud, Bali $3,261

Living in Kuching costs roughly 28% less than in Ubud, Bali, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.37 MYR 13.75

$3.32 Rp 60.4K

1.51%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.51 MYR 99.9

$35.64 Rp 647.8K

-31.23%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.90 MYR 19.98

$5.53 Rp 100.6K

-11.39%

Cappuccino

$3.19 MYR 13.01

$2.72 Rp 49.4K

17.28%

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

$0.78 MYR 3.19

$1.70 Rp 30.9K

-54.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.38 MYR 1.55

$0.76 Rp 13.8K

-50.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.61 MYR 18.79

$2.65 Rp 48.2K

73.96%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.96 MYR 24.30

$4.38 Rp 79.6K

36.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.39 MYR 9.74

$1.49 Rp 27.1K

60.40%

White Bread (500g)

$1.19 MYR 4.87

$2.28 Rp 41.4K

-47.81%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.19 MYR 4.85

$1.19 Rp 21.6K

Eggs

$2.38 MYR 9.68

$2.04 Rp 37.0K

16.67%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.99 MYR 44.77

$17.70 Rp 321.7K

-37.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.34 MYR 17.67

$3.96 Rp 72.0K

9.60%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.00 MYR 40.73

$12.19 Rp 221.6K

-17.97%

Apples (1kg)

$3.17 MYR 12.92

$3.66 Rp 66.4K

-13.39%

Banana (1kg)

$1.32 MYR 5.38

$1.52 Rp 27.6K

-13.16%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.52 MYR 10.28

$2.23 Rp 40.5K

13.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.78 MYR 7.26

$1.97 Rp 35.9K

-9.64%

Potato (1kg)

$1.38 MYR 5.63

$1.85 Rp 33.6K

-25.41%

Onion (1kg)

$1.19 MYR 4.84

$2.42 Rp 44.1K

-50.83%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.61 MYR 6.57

$0.99 Rp 18.0K

62.63%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.55 MYR 2.22

$0.51 Rp 9,332

7.84%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.76 MYR 19.37

$2.22 Rp 40.4K

114.41%

Wine (Bottle)

$22.25 MYR 90.7

$22.24 Rp 404.2K

0.04%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$4.13 MYR 16.81

$2.26 Rp 41.1K

82.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.06 MYR 20.60

$2.97 Rp 54.0K

70.37%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.36 MYR 1.47

$0.25 Rp 4,562

44.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$7.48 MYR 30.47

$7.82 Rp 142.2K

-4.35%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.97 MYR 3.95

$0.44 Rp 7,989

120.45%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.23 MYR 5.01

$0.43 Rp 7,817

186.05%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.82 MYR 35.92

$5.41 Rp 98.3K

63.03%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.94 MYR 3.83

$0.82 Rp 15.0K

14.63%

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

$45.9K MYR 187.2K

$23.8K Rp 433.3M

92.68%

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

$36.1K MYR 146.9K

$31.7K Rp 577.0M

13.58%

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

$35.63 MYR 145

$79.1 Rp 1.4M

-54.93%

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

$10.19 MYR 41.52

$6.45 Rp 117.2K

57.98%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$25.50 MYR 104

$18.58 Rp 337.7K

37.24%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.85 MYR 138

$49.48 Rp 899.4K

-31.59%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$12.26 MYR 49.94

$17.65 Rp 320.8K

-30.54%

Cinema Ticket

$4.87 MYR 19.85

$4.27 Rp 77.7K

14.05%

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

$135 MYR 551

$491 Rp 8.9M

-72.45%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,150 MYR 29.1K

$5,674 Rp 103.1M

26.01%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$64.1 MYR 261

$44.64 Rp 811.4K

43.62%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.52 MYR 153

$34.95 Rp 635.3K

7.35%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.0 MYR 367

$79.9 Rp 1.5M

12.59%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$64.6 MYR 263

$79.4 Rp 1.4M

-18.67%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$469 MYR 1,912

$1,125 Rp 20.4M

-58.29%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$334 MYR 1,361

$671 Rp 12.2M

-50.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$834 MYR 3,399

$3,565 Rp 64.8M

-76.60%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$654 MYR 2,667

$1,723 Rp 31.3M

-62.02%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,053 MYR 8,364

$2,732 Rp 49.6M

-24.85%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,534 MYR 6,248

$2,284 Rp 41.5M

-32.86%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$535 MYR 2,181

$164 Rp 3.0M

226.76%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.37

13.78

-68.29%

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

Last update for Kuching: October 27, 2026

Last update for Ubud, Bali: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Kuching

$334 34.4%

Ubud, Bali

$672 49.8% 101% $337

Groceries & Markets

Kuching

$272 28%

Ubud, Bali

$288 21.4% 5.9% $16

Eating Out

Kuching

$120 12.3%

Ubud, Bali

$108 8% 10% $12

Clothing & Footwear

Kuching

$115 11.9%

Ubud, Bali

$108 8% 6.7% $7.8

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kuching

$71 7.3%

Ubud, Bali

$104 7.7% 45.9% $33

Sport & Entertainment

Kuching

$44 4.5%

Ubud, Bali

$58 4.3% 33.1% $14

Getting Around

Kuching

$16 1.7%

Ubud, Bali

$11 0.9% 28.8% $4.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $469 in Kuching and $1,125 in Ubud, Bali. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kuching pays about 3.3 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $25 in Kuching vs $36 in Ubud, Bali for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $288 per month, with Kuching cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇾 Kuching

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🕒 Local time

03:59 3:59 AM

Same time as Kuching

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

349,147

74,800

💱 Currency

Malaysian Ringgit MYR RM

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

📈 Exchange rate

1 MYR = 0.245 USD

1 MYR = 0.22 EUR

100,000 IDR = 5.5 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

IDR, USD, EUR to MYR – Malaysian Ringgit Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇾 Malaysian Ringgit (RM)

Malaysian Ringgit exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 4.07 MYR (1 MYR = 0.245 USD). 1 EUR = 4.54 MYR (1 MYR = 0.22 EUR).

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18,175 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.5 USD). 1 EUR = 20,233 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

USD to MYR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Kuching Ubud, Bali 1,240 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Kuching
Ubud, Bali

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

Kuching vs Ubud, Bali: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Kuching is about 28% cheaper overall, especially in groceries and leisure. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay in Kuching is about 3.3 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $469 in Kuching versus $1,125 in Ubud, Bali. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Kuching – a meal for two runs $25 versus $36 in Ubud, Bali. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $972 per month in Kuching versus $1,349 in Ubud, Bali – Kuching is about 28% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

For families, Kuching is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Ubud, Bali, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Kuching and Ubud, Bali are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find Kuching gentler on the wallet – expenses run 28% less than in Ubud, Bali. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.