Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tulum and Ubud, Bali

For one person, living is cheaper in Tulum: $1,238 a month against $1,349 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $1,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

59

Cost of Living Index in Tulum
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Tulum Living Index
65

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

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Tulum

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,238

/mo nomad

Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,349

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tulum 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 Tulum and in Ubud, Bali actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,238 in Tulum versus $1,349 in Ubud, Bali.

Tulum $1,238
Ubud, Bali $1,349

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,052 in Tulum versus $2,305 in Ubud, Bali.

Tulum $2,052
Ubud, Bali $2,305

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,866 in Tulum versus $3,261 in Ubud, Bali.

Tulum $2,866
Ubud, Bali $3,261

Living in Tulum costs roughly 8% less than in Ubud, Bali, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.91 MX$148

$3.32 Rp 60.2K

138.25%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$54.9 MX$1,030

$35.64 Rp 645.8K

53.96%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.28 MX$156

$5.53 Rp 100.3K

49.73%

Cappuccino

$3.76 MX$70.6

$2.72 Rp 49.3K

38.24%

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

$1.12 MX$21.06

$1.70 Rp 30.8K

-34.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.16 MX$21.77

$0.76 Rp 13.8K

52.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.90 MX$54.5

$2.65 Rp 48.1K

9.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.70 MX$69.5

$4.38 Rp 79.4K

-15.53%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.58 MX$29.67

$1.49 Rp 27.0K

6.04%

White Bread (500g)

$1.95 MX$36.56

$2.28 Rp 41.2K

-14.47%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.71 MX$32.19

$1.19 Rp 21.6K

43.70%

Eggs

$1.92 MX$36.07

$2.04 Rp 36.9K

-5.88%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$5.42 MX$102

$17.70 Rp 320.8K

-69.38%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.57 MX$142

$3.96 Rp 71.8K

91.16%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.70 MX$163

$12.19 Rp 220.9K

-28.63%

Apples (1kg)

$2.56 MX$48.15

$3.66 Rp 66.2K

-30.05%

Banana (1kg)

$1.36 MX$25.47

$1.52 Rp 27.5K

-10.53%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.43 MX$26.80

$2.23 Rp 40.4K

-35.87%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.52 MX$28.54

$1.97 Rp 35.7K

-22.84%

Potato (1kg)

$2.18 MX$40.84

$1.85 Rp 33.5K

17.84%

Onion (1kg)

$1.82 MX$34.11

$2.42 Rp 43.9K

-24.79%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 MX$27.59

$0.99 Rp 17.9K

48.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.81 MX$15.22

$0.51 Rp 9,303

58.82%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.32 MX$81.2

$2.22 Rp 40.3K

94.59%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.90 MX$148

$22.24 Rp 403.0K

-64.48%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.35 MX$25.38

$2.26 Rp 41.0K

-40.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.31 MX$24.67

$2.97 Rp 53.8K

-55.89%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.33 MX$25.05

$0.25 Rp 4,548

432.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$7.82 Rp 141.8K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.66 MX$49.89

$0.44 Rp 7,964

504.55%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.43 MX$45.63

$0.43 Rp 7,793

465.12%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.27 MX$98.9

$5.41 Rp 98.0K

-2.59%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.43 MX$26.77

$0.82 Rp 14.9K

74.39%

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

$21.5K MX$404.1K

$23.8K Rp 432.0M

-9.72%

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

$23.4K MX$439.4K

$31.7K Rp 575.3M

-26.29%

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

$102 MX$1,910

$79.1 Rp 1.4M

28.69%

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

$16.11 MX$302

$6.45 Rp 116.8K

149.77%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.35 MX$626

$18.58 Rp 336.7K

79.49%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.19 MX$623

$49.48 Rp 896.7K

-32.92%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.65 Rp 319.8K

Cinema Ticket

$6.56 MX$123

$4.27 Rp 77.4K

53.63%

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

$264 MX$4,947

$491 Rp 8.9M

-46.28%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,955 MX$55.5K

$5,674 Rp 102.8M

-47.93%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$41.07 MX$771

$44.64 Rp 808.9K

-8.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.83 MX$616

$34.95 Rp 633.4K

-6.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$93.6 MX$1,758

$79.9 Rp 1.4M

17.18%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$58.7 MX$1,102

$79.4 Rp 1.4M

-26.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$599 MX$11.2K

$1,125 Rp 20.4M

-46.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$539 MX$10.1K

$671 Rp 12.2M

-19.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,511 MX$28.4K

$3,565 Rp 64.6M

-57.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,241 MX$23.3K

$1,723 Rp 31.2M

-28.00%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,150 MX$59.1K

$2,732 Rp 49.5M

15.31%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,783 MX$33.5K

$2,284 Rp 41.4M

-21.93%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$780 MX$14.6K

$164 Rp 3.0M

375.99%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.8

13.78

-21.63%

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

Last update for Tulum: October 26, 2026

Last update for Ubud, Bali: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tulum

$539 43.6%

Ubud, Bali

$672 49.8% 24.5% $132

Groceries & Markets

Tulum

$215 17.4%

Ubud, Bali

$288 21.4% 34% $73

Eating Out

Tulum

$164 13.3%

Ubud, Bali

$108 8% 34.5% $57

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tulum

$151 12.2%

Ubud, Bali

$104 7.7% 31.2% $47

Clothing & Footwear

Tulum

$102 8.2%

Ubud, Bali

$108 8% 5.6% $5.7

Sport & Entertainment

Tulum

$46 3.7%

Ubud, Bali

$58 4.3% 25.3% $12

Getting Around

Tulum

$20 * 1.6%

Ubud, Bali

$11 0.9% 43.3% $8.7

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 $599 in Tulum and $1,125 in Ubud, Bali. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tulum pays about 4.8 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $55 in Tulum vs $36 in Ubud, Bali. Groceries flip the comparison at $215 vs $288, with Tulum cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Tulum

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🕒 Local time

12:27 12:27 PM

01:27 1:27 AM

13 h ahead of Tulum

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

46,721

74,800

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

100,000 IDR = 5.52 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

IDR, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 18,120 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.52 USD). 1 EUR = 20,232 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Tulum Ubud, Bali 17,220 km ≈ 22 h nonstop flight

From you

Tulum
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

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

Tulum wins on cost – living expenses run 8% lower than in Ubud, Bali. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Tulum the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Tulum is about 4.8 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: $599 in Tulum versus $1,125 in Ubud, Bali. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $264 in Tulum versus $491 in Ubud, Bali. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Ubud, Bali – a meal for two runs $36 versus $55 in Tulum. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Tulum is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.