Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mataram and Seoul

For one person, living is cheaper in Mataram: $608 a month against $1,804 in Seoul, rent and utilities included – about $14,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

30

Cost of Living Index in Mataram
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Mataram Living Index
87

Cost of Living Index in Seoul
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Seoul Living Index

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Mataram

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$608

/mo nomad

Seoul

🇰🇷 South Korea

$1,804

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mataram and in Seoul

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $608 in Mataram versus $1,804 in Seoul.

Mataram $608
Seoul $1,804

Estimated couple costs with rent: $967 in Mataram versus $2,877 in Seoul.

Mataram $967
Seoul $2,877

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,327 in Mataram versus $3,950 in Seoul.

Mataram $1,327
Seoul $3,950

Living in Mataram costs roughly 66% less than in Seoul, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mataram is 55% below, Seoul is 33% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$0.93 Rp 16.8K

$9.10 ₩12.1K

-89.78%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$9.22 Rp 166.0K

$66.7 ₩88.6K

-86.17%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.21 Rp 57.8K

$7.49 ₩9,959

-57.14%

Cappuccino

$1.47 Rp 26.4K

$4.19 ₩5,569

-64.92%

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

$0.44 Rp 7,889

$1.55 ₩2,067

-71.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.31 Rp 5,491

$0.79 ₩1,055

-60.76%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.71 Rp 48.8K

$3.64 ₩4,846

-25.55%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.45 Rp 62.1K

$6.14 ₩8,164

-43.81%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.38 Rp 24.9K

$2.11 ₩2,811

-34.60%

White Bread (500g)

$1.47 Rp 26.4K

$3.05 ₩4,051

-51.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.80 Rp 14.5K

$4.21 ₩5,599

-81.00%

Eggs

$1.49 Rp 26.9K

$3.54 ₩4,709

-57.91%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.12 Rp 128.2K

$18.02 ₩24.0K

-60.49%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.00 Rp 54.1K

$10.35 ₩13.8K

-71.01%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.39 Rp 133.0K

$26.47 ₩35.2K

-72.08%

Apples (1kg)

$2.28 Rp 41.1K

$7.91 ₩10.5K

-71.18%

Banana (1kg)

$1.25 Rp 22.4K

$3.44 ₩4,578

-63.66%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.70 Rp 30.6K

$5.64 ₩7,493

-69.86%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.29 Rp 23.1K

$6.41 ₩8,517

-79.88%

Potato (1kg)

$1.24 Rp 22.3K

$3.71 ₩4,938

-66.58%

Onion (1kg)

$1.94 Rp 34.9K

$2.52 ₩3,345

-23.02%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.73 Rp 13.1K

$2.87 ₩3,816

-74.56%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.40 Rp 7,214

$1.16 ₩1,536

-65.52%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.63 Rp 47.3K

$3.37 ₩4,480

-21.96%

Wine (Bottle)

$20.99 Rp 377.9K

$18.72 ₩24.9K

12.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.91 Rp 34.4K

$2.28 ₩3,036

-16.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.04 Rp 54.7K

$3.31 ₩4,397

-8.16%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.27 Rp 4,838

$1.13 ₩1,497

-76.11%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$46.73 ₩62.1K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.50 Rp 8,960

$3.52 ₩4,684

-85.80%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.35 Rp 6,222

$0.64 ₩849

-45.31%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$2.72 Rp 48.9K

$8.76 ₩11.7K

-68.95%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.62 Rp 11.2K

$1.45 ₩1,930

-57.24%

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

$23.8K Rp 428.7M

$29.7K ₩39.4M

-19.71%

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

$30.6K Rp 551.3M

$28.2K ₩37.5M

8.63%

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

$66.0 Rp 1.2M

$211 ₩280.4K

-68.72%

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

$3.96 Rp 71.3K

$35.36 ₩47.0K

-88.80%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$19.47 Rp 350.5K

$20.57 ₩27.4K

-5.35%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$19.35 Rp 348.4K

$57.7 ₩76.7K

-66.46%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$8.15 Rp 146.8K

$16.20 ₩21.5K

-49.69%

Cinema Ticket

$2.85 Rp 51.2K

$11.37 ₩15.1K

-74.93%

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

$94.8 Rp 1.7M

$1,967 ₩2.6M

-95.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,572 Rp 136.3M

$22.8K ₩30.3M

-66.75%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.19 Rp 795.3K

$57.5 ₩76.4K

-23.08%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.84 Rp 519.0K

$33.08 ₩44.0K

-12.82%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$73.5 Rp 1.3M

$70.1 ₩93.2K

4.75%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$71.4 Rp 1.3M

$84.3 ₩112.0K

-15.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$225 Rp 4.0M

$878 ₩1.2M

-74.37%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$133 Rp 2.4M

$624 ₩829.7K

-78.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$530 Rp 9.5M

$2,513 ₩3.3M

-78.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$356 Rp 6.4M

$1,287 ₩1.7M

-72.36%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,184 Rp 21.3M

$30.4K ₩40.4M

-96.10%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$796 Rp 14.3M

$11.9K ₩15.8M

-93.30%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$222 Rp 4.0M

$3,599 ₩4.8M

-93.83%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

9.46

4.08

131.86%

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

Last update for Mataram: October 17, 2026

Last update for Seoul: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Mataram

$201 33.1%

Seoul

$480 26.6% 138% $278

Accommodation & Living

Mataram

$133 21.9%

Seoul

$624 34.6% 369% $491

Clothing & Footwear

Mataram

$98 16.1%

Seoul

$110 6.1% 12.4% $12

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mataram

$89 14.7%

Seoul

$267 14.8% 199% $177

Eating Out

Mataram

$58 9.6%

Seoul

$185 10.3% 219% $127

Sport & Entertainment

Mataram

$25 4.1%

Seoul

$80 4.5% 221% $55

Getting Around

Mataram

$3.3 * 0.5%

Seoul

$58 3.2% 1656% $55

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 $225 in Mataram and $878 in Seoul. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Seoul pays 1520% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $9.00 in Mataram vs $67.0 in Seoul for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $201 vs $480 per month, with Mataram cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Mataram

🇰🇷 Seoul

🕒 Local time

20:26 8:26 PM

21:26 9:26 PM

1 h ahead of Mataram

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

402,843

9,509,458 Capital

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

South Korean Won KRW ₩

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

10,000 KRW = 7.52 USD

10,000 KRW = 6.69 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

KRW, USD, EUR to IDR – Indonesian Rupiah Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesian Rupiah (Rp)

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18,000 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD). 1 EUR = 20,236 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

South Korean Won exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 1,330 KRW (10,000 KRW = 7.52 USD). 1 EUR = 1,495 KRW (10,000 KRW = 6.69 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mataram Seoul 5,250 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Mataram
Seoul

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

Mataram vs Seoul: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mataram and Seoul differ by about 197% in total monthly costs ($608 vs $1,804 including rent). Mataram is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 1520% lower in Seoul. 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: $225 in Mataram versus $878 in Seoul. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 138% higher in Seoul. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $608 per month in Mataram versus $1,804 in Seoul – a 197% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $608 in Mataram versus $1,804 in Seoul, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Mataram but tight or insufficient in Seoul. The gap between the two cities makes Mataram the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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.

Safety-wise, Mataram and Seoul are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Mataram gentler on the wallet – expenses run 197% less than in Seoul. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.