Cost of living in Bali

A comfortable single life in Bali costs IDR 41M a month, about $2,323, all in. That buys a one-bedroom villa with a pool, a cleaner, warung food, a scooter and a coworking desk. A basic version runs IDR 15.3M ($867), a luxury one IDR 103.7M ($5,875). Figures are September 2026 and include rent.

Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at IDR 17,650 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.

You pay the year before you get the keys

Every monthly figure here hides a yearly bill. Owners want the whole term up front, or half of it. That is the first money fact about moving to Bali.

On a one-year villa at IDR 25M a month, the up-front ask is IDR 300M ($17,000). On a two-year Canggu contract, expect at least US$20,000 before you move in (expat.com, November 2025). A deposit sits on top, usually IDR 10–30M ($565–1,700) on a yearly let. CHECK Indonesia has no legal deposit rule, so that range comes from portal terms, not law.

Three budgets, and rent eats the middle one

All-in, single person, monthly, September 2026.

Basic is a kost room or co-living in Kuta or Denpasar. Comfortable is a one-bedroom villa in Canggu or Ubud. Luxury is a two or three-bedroom pool villa in Berawa. The three health lines are estimates: no insurer publishes a rupiah premium table for Bali. The Caisse des Français de l'Étranger does publish one, in euros by age band, from €57 a month (cfe.fr, April 2026).

Rent is 61% of the comfortable budget. In the other city books here it is about a third. The area moves it by $2,380 a month, from IDR 18M in Ubud to IDR 60M in Berawa, and the eight areas foreigners live in prices each.

The comfortable column assumes a foreign salary. The Indonesian remote worker KITAS needs a foreign employer paying US$60,000 a year.

Groceries stay cheap until the label says imported

Numbeo Bali, updated 5 September 2026, 38 contributors.

Numbeo labels its beer line a shop bottle, not a bar draught, and a fresh read confirms this basket's price. The gym row is Expatistan Denpasar, not Numbeo. Local gyms run IDR 200,000–1,000,000 a month (Numbeo Denpasar, 30 July 2026); the Canggu gyms foreigners actually join, such as Body Factory Bali, charge IDR 2.0–3.6M per four weeks (read 11 September 2026).

Denpasar runs 20 to 35% cheaper on almost every line. A warung lunch there is IDR 32,500 ($1.84) (Numbeo Denpasar, 30 July 2026).

Wine, cheese and the pool pump are what hurt

Wine. Duty and excise stack. A basic bottle is IDR 300–425,000 ($17–24), Numbeo's mid-range bottle IDR 386,500 ($21.90) at 5 September 2026.

Dairy and imported meat. Cheese runs IDR 296,410 a kilo ($16.79). Imported beef follows the same curve.

Electricity, once you add a pool. PLN charges IDR 1,444.70 per kWh ($0.082) on 1,300–2,200 VA connections, third quarter 2026 (Kompas, 8 September 2026). Two air conditioners and a pool pump still bill IDR 1.5–3M a month ($85–170).

Internet, which the rent excludes. IndiHome charges IDR 280,000 for 100 Mbps ($15.90), September 2026. A coworking desk adds $200 (Nomads.com, 10 September 2026).

Warung food, labour and the scooter cost very little

Labour. A full-time cleaner is IDR 1.5–3M a month ($85–170), and most villas come with one.

Eating locally. A warung lunch is IDR 50,000 ($2.83), a mid-range dinner for two IDR 530,928 ($30.08). Do the second nightly and food alone passes $900 a month.

The scooter. Rental is IDR 800,000–1.5M a month ($45–85) and fuel IDR 13–14,000 a litre ($0.79). A 3 km GoRide is IDR 12–18,000 ($0.68–1.02). CHECK Rental shops publish daily rates only, so the monthly range is inferred.

Drinking water. You buy it. A 19-litre gallon is IDR 20–25,000 ($1.15–1.40), under $10 a month.

The mistake is reading a Bali average at all

Numbeo puts a one-bedroom in the Bali centre at IDR 17.28M ($979) on 10 September 2026, against IDR 17.4M on 5 September. Its Denpasar page has the same flat at IDR 6.8M ($385) on 30 July 2026. Nomads.com puts a Canggu one-bedroom at $1,548 in September 2026.

That is a four-fold spread inside one "city", and the average describes nowhere. Price the area you will live in, then fund the year up front.

Choose Bali if you work remotely for a foreign employer and accept renting forever; skip it if you want to own, freelance, or need serious healthcare close by.

Rent is the biggest line, and this page gives one number for it. Bali, honestly prices the same stock across five property types, from IDR 3M kost rooms to IDR 210M branded villas, with a rent median per area.

Where Numbeo, Expatistan and Nomads.com disagree with us

Numbeo Bali, read 11 September 2026. A single person spends IDR 10.47M ($593) before rent, a family of four IDR 37.98M ($2,152). Add its own centre one-bedroom and you get IDR 27.75M ($1,572) all in, a third below our IDR 41M. Its rent sample includes Denpasar stock. Ours is a Canggu villa.

Nomads.com Canggu, read 10 September 2026. A local spends $1,591 a month, a foreign resident $2,423, a nomad $3,326, a family $5,568. That lands within $100 of ours, and all four rose from our 8 September read. Prefer the newer set.

Expatistan Denpasar, September 2026. A furnished 85 m² flat was IDR 23.2M ($1,315) in an expensive area, IDR 14.95M ($847) in a normal one. The second sits below Numbeo's centre one-bedroom. CHECK Expatistan refused our fetch on 10 September 2026, so that read is 8 September, on under ten data points.

Numbeo Denpasar, 30 July 2026. A single person spends IDR 7.29M ($413) before rent, and utilities IDR 700,000 ($40) against IDR 1.46M ($83) island-wide. That gap is the pool pump.

No sample is large: 38 contributors for Bali, 16 for Denpasar. Our own figures are portal asks read on 8 September 2026, not signed contracts.

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Your address decides this budget. The eight areas foreigners live in prices each one and names its drawback. Still deciding? Compare all ten cities on rent and transport.