Cost of Living in Surabaya, Indonesia

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How Much Does It Cost to Live In Surabaya?

There are many cities in Indonesia that have a lower cost of living and Surabaya is definitely one of them.

Of course, it still depends on which part of Surabaya you want to live in, but generally, it is one of the cheaper parts of Indonesia.

Still, Surabaya is a place where tourist wander to from time to time, since it’s the second largest city in Indonesia, so you can expect there to be some more expensive aspects to it.

Don’t be fooled, it does have some fancy restaurants and cafes for you to spend more money than you thought you would.

RESTAURANTS

Surabaya has many pricey restaurants and cafes where you can have a great time and spend more money than eating street food, because it’s the second largest city in Indonesia. Inexpensive restaurants offer cheap but basic meals, like those with some chicken, rice and eggs. However, if you go to a mid range restaurant, expect to pay a little more. Generally, though, Surabaya offers plenty of delicious and cheap food.

MARKETS

Naturally, grocery shopping is always a better choice if you’re the type of tourist that likes to cook, both because of your health and because it’s way cheaper. You can cut half (or even more) the meal budget. Of course, you can always count on eating on the streets as a cheap option, but if you’re someone who prefers home-cooked meals, then this is a great combo for you. Markets and supermarkets offer affordable prices for its products.

TRANSPORTATION

Cities of Indonesia are huge and filled with traffic jams and chaotic situations on the roads. People spend and awful lot of money on transportation in Surabaya, too. Their cities are large and require the people to travel all the time. However, transportation costs aren’t too high. Gasoline costs less than 1$ per liter, and you can buy a one-way ticket for public transportation for less than a dollar.

UTILITIES (MONTHLY)

When it comes to monthly prices of utilities, the cheapest one is definitely the price of one minute of mobile phone services, though the internet isn’t expensive either. Monthly price of basic utilities, including electricity, heating, cooling and water for a normal-sized apartment, amounts to around 30 dollars.

SPORTS & LEISURE

It’s fitness time! You won’t need to cash out huge amounts of money to spend quality leisure time (or fitness time) in Surabaya. You can go to a movie for a fairly low price, and if you’re into sports – pay a monthly fee for a fitness club, which is just a bit more than 20$. Of course, an hour of renting a tennis court remains a bit expensive, yet cheaper than in other cities of Indonesia.

CLOTHING & SHOES

Like most other things, shopping in Surabaya is inexpensive, yet you can get cheaper offers in Bandung, for example. Here, you can buy a pair of quality jeans for about 30$, while you can buy other types of light clothing like shirts and dresses in known chain stores like Zara or H&M for less than this. Of course, sneakers and shoes of known brands like Nike remain more expensive, costing twice as much and even more.

RENT PER MONTH

When it comes to renting an apartment, it remains at the same level as Bali, for instance, or other Indonesian cities for that measure, and definitely cheaper than Jakarta. Of course, it does depend on the neighborhood where you want to rent, but regardless of the area, it is cheaper everywhere in comparison to Jakarta, probably due to the fact that Jakarta is very popular, being the capital of Indonesia.

Cost of Living Averages Table for Surabaya

How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Surabaya?

As expected and seen in other Indonesian cities so far, the biggest bulk of money in Surabaya is spent by its citizens in markets and supermarkets – where people spend on food for a living.

The second place in the pie chart of money spending in Surabaya goes to expenses of rent – because you’ve gotta live somewhere, right?

Though people of Indonesia use transportation virtually for everything, it is still surprising that transportation is such an important part of their everyday life, so these expenses are third, followed by restaurants and basic utilities because – like it or not, bills have to be paid.

As in other Indonesian cities, more money is spent on sports and leisure than on shopping for clothes.

Average Costs Breakdown

Surabaya: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages

With a relatively low minimum wage, yet higher than in most Indonesian cities, of just above 222.43$, all the necessary costs for a normal life in Surabaya can hardly be covered.

Even though the average salary is a bit higher, it is still hard to make ends meet for citizens of Surabaya.

If you’re planning on visiting Surabaya for a longer amount of time, count on cashing out at least 500$ a month so that you could live in normal conditions.

The average salary in Surabaya is about 100$ more than the minimum wage, but it is still not enough to cover the rent expenses, bills, utilities, food and clothing.

For tourists, Surabaya will be a very pleasant surprise, however, due to its low prices in comparison to the western countries, but that goes for most Indonesian cities.

Surabaya Safety Overview

READ THE FULL REPORT: Surabaya Safety Review

Safety Index:

80

• OVERALL RISK: LOW
• TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: MEDIUM
• PICKPOCKETS RISK: LOW
• NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: MEDIUM
• MUGGING RISK: LOW
• TERRORISM RISK: MEDIUM
• SCAMS RISK: LOW
• WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: LOW

Cost of Living by City in Surabaya