Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bali vs. Penang Cost of Living Summary

Bali is 30.9% more expensive than Penang.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% more in Bali
Groceries: pay 40.1% more in Bali
Transportation: pay 8.2% less in Bali
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Bali
Childcare: pay 1.9% more in Bali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in Bali
Clothing: pay 17.1% more in Bali

The cost of housing, groceries, restaurants, clothing, and childcare in Bali are more expensive than in Penang. Expenses including transportation and entertainment and sports are lower in Bali. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Bali.

Bali vs. Penang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bali instead of Penang, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% more for restaurants

	Penang	Bali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.55 MYR14.61	$2.98 IDR49,748.94	-16.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.27 MYR17.54	$4.17 IDR69,648.52	-2.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 MYR2.86	$1.18 IDR19,619.23	+68.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 MYR1.46	$0.56 IDR9,369.38	+57.9%
Average			+27.1%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.1% more for groceries

	Penang	Bali
Bread 1 loaf	$1.06 MYR4.35	$2.32 IDR38,654.12	+119.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.89 MYR32.44	$7.83 IDR130,687.71	-0.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.04 MYR28.94	$6.60 IDR110,118.90	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.08 MYR8.55	$2.18 IDR36,389.10	+4.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MYR9.06	$1.75 IDR29,124.84	-20.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.06 MYR4.36	$1.50 IDR25,112.05	+41.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 MYR2.87	$0.66 IDR11,095.40	-4.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 MYR4.64	$1.16 IDR19,332.77	+2.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 MYR2.68	$1.22 IDR20,319.62	+86.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 MYR1.53	$0.85 IDR14,165.07	+128.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.50 MYR2.05	$0.95 IDR15,833.15	+90.3%
Average			+40.1%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.2% less for transportation

	Penang	Bali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.84 MYR7.56	$3.04 IDR50,671.24	+65.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.77 MYR73.06	$8.29 IDR138,318.73	-53.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,767.77 MYR138,819.31	$25,369.74 IDR423,409,521.05	-24.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.07 MYR20.85	$4.07 IDR67,980.52	-19.7%
Average			-8.2%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Penang	Bali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.78 MYR126.52	$22.24 IDR371,125.35	-27.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$325.83 MYR1,339.48	$941.26 IDR15,709,287.34	+188.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$196.68 MYR808.56	$655.25 IDR10,935,810.14	+233.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.46 MYR104.65	$65.74 IDR1,097,132.12	+158.2%
Average			+138.2%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.9% more for childcare

	Penang	Bali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$239.34 MYR983.91	$264.18 IDR4,409,087.41	+10.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,250.00 MYR25,693.75	$5,829.73 IDR97,295,519.17	-6.7%
Average			+1.9%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Penang	Bali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.27 MYR17.54	$2.53 IDR42,286.60	-40.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MYR11.97	$2.34 IDR39,031.66	-19.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.38 MYR18.02	$2.23 IDR37,287.22	-49.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.94 MYR135.41	$78.64 IDR1,312,527.92	+138.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.57 MYR22.89	$3.88 IDR64,673.62	-30.4%
Average			-0.2%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.1% more for clothing

	Penang	Bali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.09 MYR226.49	$50.94 IDR850,120.10	-7.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.03 MYR119.34	$35.42 IDR591,161.34	+22.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.09 MYR292.25	$84.41 IDR1,408,737.47	+18.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$53.02 MYR217.97	$71.76 IDR1,197,587.27	+35.3%
Average			+17.1%

Penang vs. Bali - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Penang vs.

Moscow

Penang vs.

Madrid

Penang vs.

Kiev

Penang vs.

Canberra

Penang vs.

Ankara

Penang vs.

Beijing

Penang vs.

Washington

Penang vs.

Dublin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Malaysia vs. Indonesia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malaysia and Indonesia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Penang

Add prices for Bali

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Bali or Penang. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.