Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ubud, Bali and Xiamen

For one person, living is cheaper in Xiamen: $832 a month against $1,349 in Ubud, Bali, rent and utilities included – about $6,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

65

Cost of Living Index in Ubud, Bali
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Ubud, Bali Living Index
40

Cost of Living Index in Xiamen
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Xiamen Living Index

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Ubud, Bali

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$1,349

/mo nomad

Xiamen

🇨🇳 China

$832

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,349 in Ubud, Bali versus $832 in Xiamen.

Ubud, Bali $1,349
Xiamen $832

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,305 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,337 in Xiamen.

Ubud, Bali $2,305
Xiamen $1,337

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,261 in Ubud, Bali versus $1,842 in Xiamen.

Ubud, Bali $3,261
Xiamen $1,842

Living in Ubud, Bali is roughly 62% more expensive than in Xiamen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.32 Rp 60.2K

$2.93 ¥19.53

13.31%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.64 Rp 645.8K

$23.60 ¥157

51.02%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.53 Rp 100.3K

$5.20 ¥34.58

6.35%

Cappuccino

$2.72 Rp 49.3K

$2.57 ¥17.09

5.84%

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

$1.70 Rp 30.8K

$0.47 ¥3.11

261.70%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.76 Rp 13.8K

$0.35 ¥2.35

117.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 Rp 48.1K

$1.51 ¥10.08

75.50%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.38 Rp 79.4K

$2.95 ¥19.61

48.47%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.49 Rp 27.0K

$1.47 ¥9.77

1.36%

White Bread (500g)

$2.28 Rp 41.2K

$2.28 ¥15.17

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.19 Rp 21.6K

$0.95 ¥6.31

25.26%

Eggs

$2.04 Rp 36.9K

$1.64 ¥10.89

24.39%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.70 Rp 320.8K

$12.02 ¥80.0

47.25%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.96 Rp 71.8K

$2.45 ¥16.27

61.63%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.19 Rp 220.9K

$11.76 ¥78.3

3.66%

Apples (1kg)

$3.66 Rp 66.2K

$2.58 ¥17.19

41.86%

Banana (1kg)

$1.52 Rp 27.5K

$1.48 ¥9.82

2.70%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.23 Rp 40.4K

$1.67 ¥11.12

33.53%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.97 Rp 35.7K

$1.99 ¥13.25

-1.01%

Potato (1kg)

$1.85 Rp 33.5K

$0.97 ¥6.49

90.72%

Onion (1kg)

$2.42 Rp 43.9K

$1.81 ¥12.06

33.70%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.99 Rp 17.9K

$0.93 ¥6.17

6.45%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.51 Rp 9,303

$0.54 ¥3.62

-5.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.22 Rp 40.3K

$2.92 ¥19.40

-23.97%

Wine (Bottle)

$22.24 Rp 403.0K

$11.38 ¥75.7

95.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.26 Rp 41.0K

$0.79 ¥5.29

186.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.97 Rp 53.8K

$1.74 ¥11.58

70.69%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.25 Rp 4,548

$0.16 ¥1.08

56.25%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$7.82 Rp 141.8K

$11.93 ¥79.4

-34.45%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.44 Rp 7,964

$1.46 ¥9.69

-69.86%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.43 Rp 7,793

$0.29 ¥1.91

48.28%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.41 Rp 98.0K

$7.39 ¥49.16

-26.79%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.82 Rp 14.9K

$1.33 ¥8.85

-38.35%

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

$23.8K Rp 432.0M

$19.7K ¥131.4K

20.76%

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

$31.7K Rp 575.3M

$17.6K ¥116.9K

80.72%

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

$79.1 Rp 1.4M

$43.23 ¥288

82.88%

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

$6.45 Rp 116.8K

$8.70 ¥57.9

-25.86%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.58 Rp 336.7K

$10.38 ¥69.0

79.00%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.48 Rp 896.7K

$47.30 ¥315

4.61%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.65 Rp 319.8K

$10.31 ¥68.6

71.19%

Cinema Ticket

$4.27 Rp 77.4K

$10.24 ¥68.2

-58.30%

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

$491 Rp 8.9M

$496 ¥3,303

-1.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,674 Rp 102.8M

$24.8K ¥165.0K

-77.11%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.64 Rp 808.9K

$39.20 ¥261

13.88%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.95 Rp 633.4K

$29.55 ¥197

18.27%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$79.9 Rp 1.4M

$107 ¥711

-25.25%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.4 Rp 1.4M

$84.5 ¥562

-6.02%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,125 Rp 20.4M

$352 ¥2,345

219.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$671 Rp 12.2M

$266 ¥1,769

152.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,565 Rp 64.6M

$841 ¥5,597

323.77%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,723 Rp 31.2M

$544 ¥3,617

217.05%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,732 Rp 49.5M

$8,588 ¥57.1K

-68.19%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,284 Rp 41.4M

$4,847 ¥32.3K

-52.88%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$164 Rp 3.0M

$1,179 ¥7,848

-86.11%

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 25, 2026

Last update for Xiamen: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ubud, Bali

$672 49.8%

Xiamen

$266 32% 60.4% $406

Groceries & Markets

Ubud, Bali

$288 21.4%

Xiamen

$217 26.1% 24.8% $72

Eating Out

Ubud, Bali

$108 8%

Xiamen

$87 10.4% 19.5% $21

Clothing & Footwear

Ubud, Bali

$108 8%

Xiamen

$117 14.1% 8.9% $9.6

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ubud, Bali

$104 7.7%

Xiamen

$62 7.5% 40.1% $42

Sport & Entertainment

Ubud, Bali

$58 4.3%

Xiamen

$68 8.2% 16.8% $9.8

Getting Around

Ubud, Bali

$11 0.9%

Xiamen

$15 1.9% 35.5% $4.1

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,125 in Ubud, Bali and $352 in Xiamen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Xiamen pays about 7.2 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $36 in Ubud, Bali vs $24 in Xiamen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $288 vs $217 per month, with Xiamen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Ubud, Bali

🇨🇳 Xiamen

🕒 Local time

14:48 2:48 PM

Same time as Ubud, Bali

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

74,800

3,531,000

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.52 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 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 November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18,120 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.52 USD). 1 EUR = 20,232 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.65 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.43 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Ubud, Bali Xiamen 3,680 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight

From you

Ubud, Bali
Xiamen

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 Xiamen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Xiamen wins on cost – living expenses run 38% lower than in Ubud, Bali. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Xiamen the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 86% 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: $1,125 in Ubud, Bali versus $352 in Xiamen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $491 in Ubud, Bali versus $496 in Xiamen. 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 $832 in Xiamen versus $1,349 in Ubud, Bali, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Xiamen but tight or insufficient in Ubud, Bali. The gap between the two cities makes Xiamen 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.