Living

What Bali costs beyond the rent

Rent is the number everyone compares. Electricity, staff, insurance and school fees usually add more to the monthly total than the rent difference between two villas.

Updated 24 September 2026 · 5 min read

The short answer

Electricity is usually the largest and most variable running cost in a villa with air conditioning and a pool — a non-subsidised household connection is billed at roughly IDR 1,352 to IDR 1,700 per kWh depending on capacity, and a villa’s VA rating decides what it can run at once.
Fibre internet runs roughly IDR 230,000 to IDR 900,000 a month depending on speed and provider, and anyone whose income depends on uptime typically adds a backup — Starlink is reported at around IDR 510,000 to IDR 750,000 a month plus a one-off dish cost of roughly IDR 5.4 million.
International health insurance with medical evacuation cover is reported at USD 80 to USD 250 a month for a healthy adult under 45 — Indonesia’s national BPJS scheme is not a substitute, since serious cases are routinely evacuated to Singapore.
If the move includes children, international school tuition alone is reported from around USD 3,000 a year at budget bilingual schools to over USD 28,000 at premium campuses, before registration, transport and lunch fees.

The costs that scale with the house

A bigger villa does not just cost more rent. It costs more to cool, more to clean, more to maintain, and it usually comes with a pool. These costs scale with the property, which is why the jump from a two-bedroom to a four-bedroom is larger than the rent difference suggests.

Electricity is the clearest example. A villa’s connection has a fixed capacity in VA, billed per kWh at a rate that rises with that capacity — roughly IDR 1,352 per kWh at 900 VA up to IDR 1,699.53 per kWh at 3,500 VA and above, under PLN’s 2026 tariff schedule. Air conditioning and the pool pump are the two loads that push a bill up; a four-bedroom villa with a pool and AC in every room can easily run several times the bill of a studio with neither.

Electricity — capacity-rated, billed by consumption, dominated by AC and the pool pump.
Pool service — chemicals and a weekly visit, whether or not anyone swims.
Garden — most villas of any size need someone weekly.
Staff — daily or weekly cleaning is common and inexpensive by Western standards, but it is still a line item.

The costs that don’t scale with the house

These are largely independent of which villa you choose, and they are the ones people forget when comparing a Bali budget to the one they left behind.

Visa or KITAS renewal, plus any agent fee.
Health insurance that actually covers medical evacuation — BPJS, Indonesia’s national scheme, does not.
A scooter or car, plus fuel and servicing — a monthly scooter rental alone is reported at roughly IDR 1,000,000 to IDR 3,600,000 depending on the model.
International school fees, if you are moving with children — reported from around USD 3,000 to over USD 28,000 a year per child.
Flights home, which is a real annual line item most rent comparisons ignore entirely.

What a monthly budget beyond rent actually looks like

Figures below are reported ranges from provider tariffs and relocation-industry sources current to September 2026, not a single audited total — treat them as a starting point to check against your own villa, provider and family size.

Line item	Typical monthly range (reported)	What drives it
Electricity	IDR 800,000 – 4,000,000+	VA capacity, AC use, pool pump
Fibre internet	IDR 230,000 – 900,000	Speed tier, provider, bundling
Household staff	Varies widely by hours and area	Live-in vs live-out, days per week
Health insurance (adult)	USD 80 – 250 (~IDR 1.3m – 4m)	Age, cover level, evacuation limit
Scooter	IDR 1,000,000 – 3,600,000	Model, rental vs ownership

Where budgets go wrong

The recurring mistake is pricing the villa and stopping there. A cheaper villa with an undersized electrical connection, no fibre line, and staff who aren’t included can end up costing more per month than a pricier one that has all three sorted. Ask for the actual electricity bills from the last three months, an actual speed test from the property, and whether staff are included, before comparing two listings on rent alone.

Common questions

Is Bali cheap to live in?

Housing and labour are inexpensive relative to most Western cities. Imported goods, private healthcare and international schooling are not, and for a family with children in international school, school fees alone can exceed the villa rent.

How much does electricity cost for a villa with a pool in Bali?

It depends on the connection’s VA capacity and how much the pool pump and air conditioning run, but a mid-sized villa with both commonly reports a bill several times higher than a studio with neither — see the electricity guide for the per-kWh tariff table.

Do I need private health insurance in Bali?

For anything beyond routine care, yes. BPJS, Indonesia’s national scheme, does not reliably cover the private hospitals expats use, and it does not cover medical evacuation, which is standard practice for serious cases.

How much does an international school cost in Bali?

Reported tuition ranges from around USD 3,000 a year at budget bilingual schools to over USD 28,000 at premium campuses, before registration, transport and lunch fees, which can add several thousand dollars more.

What’s the biggest cost people forget when budgeting for Bali?

Visa renewal and health insurance, because neither shows up in a rental listing. Both are fixed costs independent of which villa you choose, unlike electricity or staff, which scale with the property.

Cost figures are reported ranges from PLN’s published tariffs and relocation-industry sources current to September 2026, not a single audited budget — verify against your own provider, villa and family size.