Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Surakarta and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Surakarta: $589 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $22,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

28

Cost of Living Index in Surakarta
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Surakarta Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Surakarta

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$589

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Surakarta and in Barcelona

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $589 in Surakarta versus $2,453 in Barcelona.

Surakarta $589
Barcelona $2,453

Estimated couple costs with rent: $933 in Surakarta versus $3,509 in Barcelona.

Surakarta $933
Barcelona $3,509

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,278 in Surakarta versus $4,564 in Barcelona.

Surakarta $1,278
Barcelona $4,564

Living in Surakarta costs roughly 76% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Surakarta is 57% below, Barcelona is 80% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$1.70 Rp 30.9K

$17.59 €15.76

-90.34%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$11.39 Rp 206.6K

$67.5 €60.5

-83.12%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.06 Rp 55.4K

$13.53 €12.12

-77.38%

Cappuccino

$1.55 Rp 28.2K

$3.19 €2.86

-51.41%

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

$0.53 Rp 9,664

$2.91 €2.61

-81.79%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.23 Rp 4,147

$1.89 €1.70

-87.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.40 Rp 25.5K

$4.01 €3.59

-65.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 Rp 50.4K

$4.53 €4.06

-38.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.86 Rp 15.6K

$1.31 €1.17

-34.35%

White Bread (500g)

$0.74 Rp 13.4K

$2.02 €1.81

-63.37%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.75 Rp 13.5K

$1.85 €1.66

-59.46%

Eggs

$1.00 Rp 18.1K

$4.83 €4.33

-79.30%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.78 Rp 141.1K

$16.74 €15.00

-53.52%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$1.62 Rp 29.4K

$9.12 €8.17

-82.24%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$5.32 Rp 96.5K

$19.64 €17.60

-72.91%

Apples (1kg)

$1.97 Rp 35.8K

$2.98 €2.67

-33.89%

Banana (1kg)

$1.30 Rp 23.7K

$2.02 €1.81

-35.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.80 Rp 32.6K

$2.70 €2.42

-33.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.41 Rp 25.5K

$2.80 €2.51

-49.64%

Potato (1kg)

$1.36 Rp 24.7K

$2.09 €1.87

-34.93%

Onion (1kg)

$1.64 Rp 29.8K

$2.07 €1.85

-20.77%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.53 Rp 9,568

$1.46 €1.31

-63.70%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.43 Rp 7,783

$0.94 €0.84

-54.26%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.93 Rp 34.9K

$6.87 €6.16

-71.91%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.23 Rp 149.3K

$7.89 €7.07

4.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.61 Rp 29.3K

$1.41 €1.26

14.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.97 Rp 53.8K

$2.54 €2.27

16.93%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.41 Rp 7,401

$3.14 €2.82

-86.94%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$11.35 Rp 205.8K

$25.45 €22.80

-55.40%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.47 Rp 8,488

$2.99 €2.68

-84.28%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.43 Rp 7,747

$1.49 €1.34

-71.14%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$2.58 Rp 46.8K

$33.37 €29.91

-92.27%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.78 Rp 14.1K

$1.80 €1.61

-56.67%

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

$25.0K Rp 454.0M

$33.2K €29.7K

-24.59%

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

$32.9K Rp 596.8M

$31.7K €28.4K

3.80%

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

$77.7 Rp 1.4M

$180 €162

-56.93%

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

$2.06 Rp 37.3K

$13.84 €12.40

-85.12%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.73 Rp 339.7K

$33.70 €30.20

-44.42%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$16.13 Rp 292.6K

$51.5 €46.16

-68.69%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$8.31 Rp 150.7K

$15.96 €14.30

-47.93%

Cinema Ticket

$1.88 Rp 34.1K

$10.99 €9.85

-82.89%

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

$33.22 Rp 602.5K

$917 €821

-96.38%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$1,841 Rp 33.4M

$16.5K €14.8K

-88.83%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$58.8 Rp 1.1M

$87.0 €78.0

-32.46%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$36.70 Rp 665.7K

$38.51 €34.51

-4.70%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$68.2 Rp 1.2M

$106 €94.8

-35.54%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$65.7 Rp 1.2M

$120 €107

-45.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$223 Rp 4.0M

$1,699 €1,523

-86.90%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$147 Rp 2.7M

$1,355 €1,214

-89.13%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$559 Rp 10.1M

$2,603 €2,332

-78.51%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$367 Rp 6.7M

$2,062 €1,848

-82.19%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,102 Rp 20.0M

$6,915 €6,196

-84.06%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$712 Rp 12.9M

$5,128 €4,595

-86.11%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$155 Rp 2.8M

$2,211 €1,981

-92.99%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.5

3.28

128.66%

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

Last update for Surakarta: October 26, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Surakarta

$147 25%

Barcelona

$322 13.1% 118% $174

Accommodation & Living

Surakarta

$147 25%

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3% 820% $1.2K

Clothing & Footwear

Surakarta

$103 17.5%

Barcelona

$158 6.4% 53.1% $55

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Surakarta

$98 16.7%

Barcelona

$228 9.3% 132% $129

Eating Out

Surakarta

$57 9.7%

Barcelona

$268 10.9% 370% $211

Sport & Entertainment

Surakarta

$20 3.4%

Barcelona

$74 3% 269% $54

Getting Around

Surakarta

$16 2.7%

Barcelona

$48 2% 211% $33

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $223 in Surakarta and $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 14 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $11 in Surakarta vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $147 vs $322 per month, with Surakarta cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Surakarta

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

13:10 1:10 PM

07:10 7:10 AM

6 h behind Surakarta

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

503,421

1,660,122

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.51 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD 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).

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Surakarta Barcelona 12,120 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Surakarta
Barcelona

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

Surakarta vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $589 in Surakarta and $2,453 in Barcelona, so Surakarta is about 76% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 93% lower in Surakarta. 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: $223 in Surakarta versus $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $33 in Surakarta versus $917 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 118% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $589 in Surakarta versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Surakarta but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Surakarta 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.

Expats usually find Surakarta gentler on the wallet – expenses run 76% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.