Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ubud, Bali and Tembisa

For one person, living is cheaper in Tembisa: $1,097 a month against $1,331 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $2,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

64

Cost of Living Index in Ubud, Bali
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Ubud, Bali Living Index
52

Cost of Living Index in Tembisa
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Tembisa Living Index

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Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,331

/mo nomad

Tembisa

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,097

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,331 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,097 in Tembisa.

Ubud, Bali $1,331
Tembisa $1,097

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,255 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,746 in Tembisa.

Ubud, Bali $2,255
Tembisa $1,746

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,180 in Ubud, Bali versus $2,396 in Tembisa.

Ubud, Bali $3,180
Tembisa $2,396

Living in Ubud, Bali is roughly 21% more expensive than in Tembisa, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Ubud, Bali 2% lower, Tembisa 19% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.38 Rp 61.2K

$9.39 R 157

-64.00%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.65 Rp 628.6K

$37.92 R 632

-8.62%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.57 Rp 101.1K

$5.61 R 93.5

-0.71%

Cappuccino

$2.62 Rp 47.5K

$2.19 R 36.49

19.63%

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

$1.54 Rp 27.9K

$1.03 R 17.15

49.51%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.64 Rp 11.6K

$0.84 R 14.02

-23.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.67 Rp 48.4K

$2.38 R 39.73

12.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.26 Rp 77.3K

$2.63 R 43.85

61.98%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.46 Rp 26.5K

$1.18 R 19.62

23.73%

White Bread (500g)

$2.29 Rp 41.6K

$1.10 R 18.28

108.18%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.11 Rp 20.1K

$1.73 R 28.87

-35.84%

Eggs

$2.10 Rp 38.1K

$2.40 R 40.05

-12.50%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$15.94 Rp 289.2K

$8.54 R 142

86.65%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.88 Rp 70.4K

$4.90 R 81.7

-20.82%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.40 Rp 206.8K

$7.14 R 119

59.66%

Apples (1kg)

$3.55 Rp 64.4K

$1.85 R 30.83

91.89%

Banana (1kg)

$1.54 Rp 27.9K

$1.68 R 27.99

-8.33%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.23 Rp 40.5K

$1.79 R 29.81

24.58%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.97 Rp 35.8K

$1.66 R 27.71

18.67%

Potato (1kg)

$1.86 Rp 33.7K

$1.37 R 22.80

35.77%

Onion (1kg)

$2.42 Rp 43.9K

$1.42 R 23.73

70.42%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.02 Rp 18.6K

$1.17 R 19.45

-12.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.52 Rp 9,475

$1.21 R 20.22

-57.02%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.20 Rp 39.9K

$3.39 R 56.5

-35.10%

Wine (Bottle)

$21.79 Rp 395.2K

$4.60 R 76.6

373.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.33 Rp 42.2K

$1.50 R 25.01

55.33%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.97 Rp 53.9K

$1.85 R 30.80

60.54%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.25 Rp 4,542

$2.00 R 33.30

-87.50%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$8.17 Rp 148.3K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.44 Rp 7,941

$0.74 R 12.26

-40.54%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.47 Rp 8,489

$0.89 R 14.82

-47.19%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.60 Rp 101.6K

$12.30 R 205

-54.47%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.83 Rp 15.0K

$1.52 R 25.35

-45.39%

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

$24.4K Rp 443.5M

$30.5K R 508.4K

-19.87%

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

$31.7K Rp 575.0M

$35.5K R 591.5K

-10.71%

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

$77.5 Rp 1.4M

$148 R 2,464

-47.60%

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

$6.14 Rp 111.5K

$29.63 R 494

-79.28%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.92 Rp 343.1K

$37.06 R 618

-48.95%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.0 Rp 925.0K

$34.10 R 568

49.53%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.25 Rp 331.0K

$11.10 R 185

64.41%

Cinema Ticket

$4.38 Rp 79.5K

$7.29 R 121

-39.92%

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

$492 Rp 8.9M

$233 R 3,878

111.58%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.2K Rp 221.7M

$6,189 R 103.1K

97.47%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$45.16 Rp 819.2K

$52.6 R 877

-14.21%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.89 Rp 632.9K

$29.62 R 494

17.79%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$78.3 Rp 1.4M

$99.5 R 1,658

-21.28%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$77.9 Rp 1.4M

$91.8 R 1,530

-15.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,078 Rp 19.5M

$364 R 6,066

196.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$665 Rp 12.1M

$363 R 6,042

83.37%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,510 Rp 63.7M

$802 R 13.4K

337.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,671 Rp 30.3M

$815 R 13.6K

104.91%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,340 Rp 42.4M

$724 R 12.1K

223.41%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,236 Rp 40.6M

$637 R 10.6K

251.11%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$166 Rp 3.0M

$563 R 9,381

-70.45%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

13.78

10.92

26.19%

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

Last update for Ubud, Bali: November 1, 2026

Last update for Tembisa: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ubud, Bali

$665 50%

Tembisa

$363 33.1% 45.5% $302

Groceries & Markets

Ubud, Bali

$279 21%

Tembisa

$192 17.5% 31.2% $87

Clothing & Footwear

Ubud, Bali

$106 8%

Tembisa

$123 11.2% 15.8% $17

Eating Out

Ubud, Bali

$106 8%

Tembisa

$143 13% 35.2% $37

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ubud, Bali

$103 7.7%

Tembisa

$215 19.6% 109% $112

Sport & Entertainment

Ubud, Bali

$60 4.5%

Tembisa

$49 4.4% 18.6% $11

Getting Around

Ubud, Bali

$12 0.9%

Tembisa

$13 * 1.2% 10.2% $1.2

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 $1,078 in Ubud, Bali and $364 in Tembisa. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tembisa pays about 3.4 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $35 in Ubud, Bali vs $38 in Tembisa. Groceries flip the comparison at $279 vs $192, with Tembisa cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🇿🇦 Tembisa

🕒 Local time

08:01 8:01 AM

02:01 2:01 AM

6 h behind Ubud, Bali

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

74,800

463,109

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.51 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.93 EUR

100 ZAR = 6 USD

100 ZAR = 5.37 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to IDR – Indonesian Rupiah Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesian Rupiah (Rp)

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 18,140 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.51 USD). 1 EUR = 20,286 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.93 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 16.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6 USD). 1 EUR = 18.64 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.37 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Ubud, Bali Tembisa 9,300 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Ubud, Bali
Tembisa

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 Tembisa: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tembisa is about 18% cheaper overall, especially in groceries and leisure. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 70% lower in Ubud, Bali. 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: $1,078 in Ubud, Bali versus $364 in Tembisa. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $492 in Ubud, Bali versus $233 in Tembisa. 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 $35 versus $38 in Tembisa. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $1,500 a month, though Tembisa gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.