Sidoarjo vs Tulungagung: Which City Wins for Expats in 2026?

Sidoarjo leads on digital nomad suitability. Use our tool below to personalize the estimate based on your income and lifestyle.

Household
Lifestyle
Schooling

Sidoarjo is approximately 15% less expensive than Tulungagung based on cost of living including rent. This makes Sidoarjo a more budget-friendly option for expats considering a move.

Sidoarjo has a FIRE Score of 80/100, indicating its suitability for financial independence and early retirement. The city's safety index is 60, which is relatively safe.

Recommended profile: Sidoarjo is ideal for GeoArbitragers and remote workers looking to maximize savings.

Overall Winner

About Sidoarjo

Sidoarjo is a cheap place to live, with a 1-bedroom outside the center at $168/mo and a 3-bedroom in the center at $279/mo, but it is not a soft landing for most foreigners. English proficiency is limited, the expat community is very few, and the air quality index of 85 is a real daily cost. Come for the FIRE math and the 12 km hop to SUB, not for a ready-made social life.

About Indonesia

Skip this if you need English-speaking doctors or a fast path to citizenship, both weak here. But budget retirees can live well on $429.70/mo excl. rent plus sub-$320 rent, and the $2,000/mo Retirement KITAS is achievable. Best suited for low-cost-focused retirees, not remote workers facing the $387/mo nomad visa threshold.

MONTHLY SAVINGS

$2,636/mo

Nomad Viability
Moderate Suitability

Cost of Living (Without Rent)

Single Person$487/mo
Family of Four$1,758/mo

Rent Per Month

1 Bedroom (City Centre)
$251
1 Bedroom (Outside Centre)
$168
3 Bedroom (City Centre)
$279
3 Bedroom (Outside Centre)
$251

Attractiveness

FIRE Score
87/100
Retiree Score
48/100
Nomad Score
46/100



City Details
Retiree55

About Tulungagung

Tulungagung is a cheap small town, not a cheap city with big-city comforts: $288/mo for a one-bedroom in the center and $1 restaurant meals sound unbeatable until you see a local average net salary of $112/mo and an expat score of 53/100. The budget tier lands at $342/mo, but the $2,000/mo income floor on both the Indonesia Retirement Visa (KITAS) and the Indonesia Remote Worker Visa (E33G) means you must earn like a foreigner to live here legally. Limited English, fair healthcare, and 19 Mbps internet make daily life workable but not frictionless, and the digital nomad score of 46/100 tells you this is not a remote-work hub. Come for the low rent and the dry season from June to September, stay only if you can tolerate a 65-thousand-person town where your money goes far but your options do not.

About Indonesia

Skip this if you need English-speaking doctors or a fast path to citizenship, both weak here. But budget retirees can live well on $429.70/mo excl. rent plus sub-$320 rent, and the $2,000/mo Retirement KITAS is achievable. Best suited for low-cost-focused retirees, not remote workers facing the $387/mo nomad visa threshold.

MONTHLY SAVINGS

$2,542/mo

Nomad Viability
Moderate Suitability

Cost of Living (Without Rent)

Single Person$1,550/mo
Family of Four$5,600/mo

Rent Per Month

1 Bedroom (City Centre)
$288
1 Bedroom (Outside Centre)
$198
3 Bedroom (City Centre)
N/A
3 Bedroom (Outside Centre)
N/A

Attractiveness

FIRE Score
71/100
Retiree Score
53/100
Nomad Score
25/100



City Details

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Battle of Lifestyles

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MetricSidoarjoTulungagung
1BR Apartment (Center)$251.28$288.33
1BR Apartment (Outside)$167.52$198.23
3BR Apartment (Center)$279.2N/A
3BR Apartment (Outside)$251.28N/A
Safety Index6063
Internet Speed20Mbps18.7Mbps
Walkability ScoreN/AN/A

Monthly cost by categoryOne person, computed from each city's own average prices

CategorySidoarjoTulungagung
Total (rent included)$368/moN/A
Excluding rent$200/moN/A
Rent$168/moN/A
Groceries$69.00/moN/A
Dining out$17.00/moN/A
Entertainment & lifestyle$12.00/moN/A
Utilities & connectivity$102/moN/A
TransportN/AN/A

Usage-based estimates from this city's own average prices. A row marked N/A means that city is missing data, so no figure is shown instead of a stale one.

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Sidoarjo vs Tulungagung -- Frequently Asked Questions

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The Rewire Abroad city comparison tool lets you compare any two cities side by side across metrics that matter most for expats: cost of living, rent, safety, internet speed, and unique attractiveness scores like FIRE and Nomad scores.

The FIRE Score is a financial runway index based on your specific income relative to the local cost of living and rent in that city.

The Retiree Score is a holistic measure of healthcare quality, safety, and general pace of life.

The Nomad Score measures suitability for remote workers, prioritizing average internet speeds, coworking density, and the size of the local expat community.

The monthly cost includes rent and living expenses adjusted using country-level cost of living averages and lifestyle multipliers.

The Savings Rate is the percentage of your income left over after covering all estimated monthly costs in that city.

The tool compares exactly two cities at a time for a clean head-to-head breakdown.

Rewire Abroad has data on hundreds of cities worldwide. If a city appears in the search dropdown, full data is available.

We aggregate data from private and official international sources, adjusted by country-level data for accuracy.