Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ubud, Bali and Putian

For one person, living is cheaper in Putian: $518 a month against $1,353 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $10,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

66

Cost of Living Index in Ubud, Bali
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Ubud, Bali Living Index
25

Cost of Living Index in Putian
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Putian Living Index

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Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,353

/mo nomad

Putian

🇨🇳 China

$518

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,353 in Ubud, Bali versus $518 in Putian.

Ubud, Bali $1,353
Putian $518

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,297 in Ubud, Bali versus $854 in Putian.

Ubud, Bali $2,297
Putian $854

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,241 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,190 in Putian.

Ubud, Bali $3,241
Putian $1,190

Living in Ubud, Bali is roughly 161% more expensive than in Putian, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Ubud, Bali is 0% above, Putian is 62% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.23 Rp 58.1K

$2.21 ¥14.79

46.15%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.88 Rp 627.8K

$23.26 ¥156

49.96%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.70 Rp 102.5K

$5.17 ¥34.57

10.25%

Cappuccino

$2.62 Rp 47.1K

$2.44 ¥16.32

7.38%

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

$1.72 Rp 31.0K

$0.43 ¥2.88

300.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.81 Rp 14.6K

$0.29 ¥1.92

179.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 Rp 47.7K

$0.77 ¥5.16

244.16%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.37 Rp 78.6K

$2.93 ¥19.58

49.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.57 Rp 28.3K

$1.47 ¥9.82

6.80%

White Bread (500g)

$2.19 Rp 39.5K

$2.25 ¥15.07

-2.67%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.18 Rp 21.2K

$0.93 ¥6.19

26.88%

Eggs

$2.16 Rp 38.8K

$1.58 ¥10.58

36.71%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.65 Rp 317.7K

$11.73 ¥78.4

50.47%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.78 Rp 68.0K

$2.43 ¥16.22

55.56%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.95 Rp 215.1K

$12.18 ¥81.4

-1.89%

Apples (1kg)

$3.60 Rp 64.8K

$2.55 ¥17.03

41.18%

Banana (1kg)

$1.59 Rp 28.6K

$1.42 ¥9.49

11.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.31 Rp 41.6K

$1.70 ¥11.34

35.88%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.91 Rp 34.3K

$1.98 ¥13.25

-3.54%

Potato (1kg)

$1.78 Rp 32.1K

$1.02 ¥6.79

74.51%

Onion (1kg)

$2.33 Rp 41.9K

$1.77 ¥11.86

31.64%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.00 Rp 18.0K

$0.93 ¥6.19

7.53%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.53 Rp 9,509

$0.50 ¥3.36

6.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.29 Rp 41.1K

$3.04 ¥20.31

-24.67%

Wine (Bottle)

$22.07 Rp 397.3K

$11.18 ¥74.8

97.41%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.35 Rp 42.2K

$0.83 ¥5.58

183.13%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.98 Rp 53.6K

$1.71 ¥11.44

74.27%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.23 Rp 4,112

$0.74 ¥4.92

-68.92%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.90 Rp 160.2K

$22.38 ¥150

-60.23%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.47 Rp 8,466

$1.52 ¥10.16

-69.08%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.43 Rp 7,737

$0.29 ¥1.94

48.28%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.47 Rp 98.4K

$7.02 ¥46.94

-22.08%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.83 Rp 14.9K

$1.31 ¥8.76

-36.64%

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

$23.9K Rp 429.8M

$19.4K ¥129.8K

22.99%

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

$32.8K Rp 590.1M

$17.8K ¥118.8K

84.51%

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

$80.0 Rp 1.4M

$44.03 ¥294

81.67%

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

$6.56 Rp 118.1K

$8.87 ¥59.3

-26.04%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.60 Rp 334.8K

$10.55 ¥70.6

76.30%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.1 Rp 974.1K

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.28 Rp 329.0K

Cinema Ticket

$4.25 Rp 76.5K

$10.08 ¥67.4

-57.84%

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

$493 Rp 8.9M

$492 ¥3,286

0.24%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,597 Rp 100.7M

$24.5K ¥163.6K

-77.13%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$45.58 Rp 820.4K

$39.10 ¥261

16.57%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.96 Rp 629.4K

$29.11 ¥195

20.10%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$77.7 Rp 1.4M

$103 ¥691

-24.81%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.5 Rp 1.4M

$85.7 ¥573

-8.39%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,131 Rp 20.4M

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$673 Rp 12.1M

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,613 Rp 65.0M

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,702 Rp 30.6M

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,717 Rp 48.9M

$2,637 ¥17.6K

3.03%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,241 Rp 40.3M

$1,115 ¥7,452

101.07%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$166 Rp 3.0M

$480 ¥3,211

-65.36%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

13.78

3.46

298.27%

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

Last update for Ubud, Bali: October 19, 2026

Last update for Putian: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ubud, Bali

$673 49.7%

Putian

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Ubud, Bali

$287 21.2%

Putian

$215 41.6% 25% $72

Clothing & Footwear

Ubud, Bali

$107 7.9%

Putian

$116 22.4% 8.7% $9.2

Eating Out

Ubud, Bali

$106 7.9%

Putian

$75 14.5% 29.4% $31

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ubud, Bali

$105 7.8%

Putian

$63 12.3% 39.7% $42

Sport & Entertainment

Ubud, Bali

$63 4.6%

Putian

$20 * 3.9% 67.8% $42

Getting Around

Ubud, Bali

$12 0.9%

Putian

$28 5.5% 128% $16

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

Cost Breakdown

Putian pays 189% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $35.00 in Ubud, Bali vs $23.00 in Putian for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $287 vs $215 per month, with Putian cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🇨🇳 Putian

🕒 Local time

11:10 11:10 AM

Same time as Ubud, Bali

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

74,800

1,954,000

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 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 October 23, 2026: 1 USD = 18,000 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD). 1 EUR = 20,236 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 23, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Ubud, Bali Putian 3,800 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight

From you

Ubud, Bali
Putian

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

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

Putian is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and leisure. The 161% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 189% lower in Putian. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Childcare runs $493 in Ubud, Bali versus $492 in Putian. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 33% higher in Ubud, Bali. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $518 in Putian versus $1,353 in Ubud, Bali, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Putian but tight or insufficient in Ubud, Bali. The gap between the two cities makes Putian the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Putian 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, Ubud, Bali and Putian 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 Putian gentler on the wallet – expenses run 161% less than in Ubud, Bali. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.