Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ubud, Bali and Taiyuan

For one person, living is cheaper in Taiyuan: $589 a month against $1,368 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $9,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

67

Cost of Living Index in Ubud, Bali
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Ubud, Bali Living Index
28

Cost of Living Index in Taiyuan
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Taiyuan Living Index

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Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,368

/mo nomad

Taiyuan

🇨🇳 China

$589

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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 Taiyuan actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,368 in Ubud, Bali versus $589 in Taiyuan.

Ubud, Bali $1,368
Taiyuan $589

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,314 in Ubud, Bali versus $913 in Taiyuan.

Ubud, Bali $2,314
Taiyuan $913

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,260 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,238 in Taiyuan.

Ubud, Bali $3,260
Taiyuan $1,238

Living in Ubud, Bali is roughly 132% more expensive than in Taiyuan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Ubud, Bali is 1% above, Taiyuan is 56% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.33 Rp 59.9K

$2.28 ¥15.23

46.05%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.18 Rp 633.2K

$14.73 ¥98.5

138.83%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.80 Rp 104.5K

$4.40 ¥29.41

31.82%

Cappuccino

$2.73 Rp 49.1K

$2.64 ¥17.62

3.41%

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

$1.64 Rp 29.5K

$0.47 ¥3.12

248.94%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 Rp 15.0K

$0.29 ¥1.92

186.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.70 Rp 48.6K

$1.22 ¥8.13

121.31%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.30 Rp 77.4K

$2.15 ¥14.38

100.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 Rp 27.1K

White Bread (500g)

$2.30 Rp 41.4K

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.18 Rp 21.2K

$0.83 ¥5.52

42.17%

Eggs

$2.14 Rp 38.6K

$1.01 ¥6.76

111.88%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.48 Rp 314.6K

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.03 Rp 72.5K

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.23 Rp 220.1K

$13.02 ¥87.0

-6.07%

Apples (1kg)

$3.55 Rp 63.9K

$1.87 ¥12.52

89.84%

Banana (1kg)

$1.57 Rp 28.3K

$1.38 ¥9.21

13.77%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.24 Rp 40.2K

$0.81 ¥5.41

176.54%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.93 Rp 34.7K

$1.16 ¥7.77

66.38%

Potato (1kg)

$1.88 Rp 33.9K

$0.48 ¥3.20

291.67%

Onion (1kg)

$2.29 Rp 41.3K

$0.29 ¥1.91

689.66%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.99 Rp 17.9K

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.53 Rp 9,475

$0.46 ¥3.08

15.22%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.28 Rp 41.1K

$2.95 ¥19.75

-22.71%

Wine (Bottle)

$23.01 Rp 414.2K

$7.56 ¥50.6

204.37%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.34 Rp 42.2K

$0.87 ¥5.80

168.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.91 Rp 52.4K

$1.45 ¥9.72

100.69%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.24 Rp 4,315

$0.31 ¥2.08

-22.58%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.82 Rp 158.7K

$13.65 ¥91.3

-35.38%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.48 Rp 8,684

$1.18 ¥7.90

-59.32%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.46 Rp 8,233

$0.23 ¥1.53

100.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.45 Rp 98.2K

$3.73 ¥24.91

46.11%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.88 Rp 15.9K

$1.25 ¥8.34

-29.60%

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

$24.6K Rp 442.2M

$20.0K ¥133.6K

22.96%

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

$31.2K Rp 561.4M

$17.5K ¥117.3K

77.85%

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

$83.0 Rp 1.5M

$94.3 ¥631

-11.99%

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

$6.45 Rp 116.0K

$10.27 ¥68.7

-37.20%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.57 Rp 334.2K

$12.74 ¥85.2

45.76%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$55.8 Rp 1.0M

$45.17 ¥302

23.58%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.11 Rp 326.0K

$8.76 ¥58.6

106.74%

Cinema Ticket

$4.38 Rp 78.9K

$6.64 ¥44.37

-34.04%

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

$493 Rp 8.9M

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,754 Rp 103.6M

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$46.19 Rp 831.4K

$27.60 ¥185

67.36%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.33 Rp 636.0K

$67.2 ¥449

-47.41%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$79.1 Rp 1.4M

$74.0 ¥495

6.88%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.4 Rp 1.4M

$59.4 ¥397

31.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,142 Rp 20.6M

$223 ¥1,491

412.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$676 Rp 12.2M

$114 ¥760

494.24%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,503 Rp 63.1M

$556 ¥3,719

529.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,700 Rp 30.6M

$259 ¥1,733

555.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,784 Rp 50.1M

$2,629 ¥17.6K

5.91%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,241 Rp 40.3M

$1,252 ¥8,368

79.02%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$165 Rp 3.0M

$928 ¥6,202

-82.26%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

13.78

3.83

259.79%

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

Last update for Ubud, Bali: October 11, 2026

Last update for Taiyuan: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ubud, Bali

$676 49.4%

Taiyuan

$114 19.3% 83.2% $562

Groceries & Markets

Ubud, Bali

$290 21.2%

Taiyuan

$103 * 17.5% 64.5% $187

Eating Out

Ubud, Bali

$109 8%

Taiyuan

$76 13% 29.7% $32

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ubud, Bali

$108 7.9%

Taiyuan

$117 19.9% 8.6% $9.3

Clothing & Footwear

Ubud, Bali

$108 7.9%

Taiyuan

$103 17.4% 4.5% $4.9

Sport & Entertainment

Ubud, Bali

$65 4.7%

Taiyuan

$58 9.9% 9.5% $6.1

Getting Around

Ubud, Bali

$13 0.9%

Taiyuan

$17 2.9% 37.2% $4.7

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 $1,142 in Ubud, Bali and $223 in Taiyuan. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Taiyuan pays 464% 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 $15.00 in Taiyuan for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $290 vs $103 per month, with Taiyuan cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🇨🇳 Taiyuan

🕒 Local time

21:31 9:31 PM

Same time as Ubud, Bali

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

74,800

3,525,300

💱 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 18, 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 18, 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 Taiyuan 5,160 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Ubud, Bali
Taiyuan

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 Taiyuan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Taiyuan wins on cost – living expenses run 132% lower than in Ubud, Bali. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Taiyuan the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 464% lower in Taiyuan. 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: $1,142 in Ubud, Bali versus $223 in Taiyuan. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Taiyuan – a meal for two runs $15.00 versus $35.00 in Ubud, Bali. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

A monthly transit pass in Taiyuan runs roughly 55% less than in Ubud, Bali. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $589 in Taiyuan versus $1,368 in Ubud, Bali, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Taiyuan but tight or insufficient in Ubud, Bali. The gap between the two cities makes Taiyuan the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Taiyuan delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $589 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Taiyuan hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Ubud, Bali and Taiyuan 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 Taiyuan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 132% less than in Ubud, Bali. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.