---
title: "Living in Bandung as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/bandung
description: "Cool highland city with Indonesia's creative scene"
dataset: 2026.09.4 (2026-09-26)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Bandung, Indonesia

Bandung scores 39.2/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 297 of 309 cities. Expect about $1,042 per month, a nomad visa (Visa Rumah Kedua Pekerja Jarak Jauh), and a measured median download speed of 10.8 Mbps.

Bandung is a highland university city with a cooler climate than Jakarta, a big creative and café culture and now a 45-minute high-speed train to the capital. Traffic is heavy and costs are very low.

Known for: Cool climate, Creative and café scene, High-speed rail, Very low costs.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 39.2 |
| Cost of living | 65 |
| Safety | 50 |
| Healthcare | 53 |
| Internet | 37 |
| Visa ease | 22 |
| Getting there & around | 11 |
| Climate | 8 |
| Air quality | 61 |
| Quality of life | 45 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,042 | city | 2026-09 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 4.1 | country | 2021 | [^5] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 55.5 | country | 2024 | [^6] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 67 | country | 2023 | [^7] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 68.3 | country | 2021 | [^8] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 10.8 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 5.3 | city | 2024 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | Visa Rumah Kedua Pekerja Jarak Jauh (min $4,998/mo) | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Visa-free days US / EU / UK | visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required / visa or e-visa required | editorial | 2026-02 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (BDO) | 9 | city | 2026-09 | [^12] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 2 / 2 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Comfortable months | 1 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^14] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 22.7 | city | 2023 | [^15] |
| Human Development Index | 0.728 | country | 2023 | [^16] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^17] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 21.4 | 337 | 90 | no |
| Feb | 21.4 | 365 | 91 | no |
| Mar | 21.7 | 338 | 91 | no |
| Apr | 22 | 285 | 90 | no |
| May | 21.8 | 178 | 90 | no |
| Jun | 21.1 | 103 | 89 | no |
| Jul | 20.5 | 75 | 88 | no |
| Aug | 20.5 | 44 | 86 | no |
| Sep | 21.2 | 89 | 84 | yes |
| Oct | 22 | 181 | 84 | no |
| Nov | 22.2 | 294 | 87 | no |
| Dec | 21.7 | 317 | 89 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Husein Sastranegara Airport | BDO | 9 | 0 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 9, of which 0 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Cebu City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/cebu) (42.6) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-cebu)
- [Hoi An](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/hoi-an) (49.4) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-hoi-an)
- [Colombo](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/colombo) (46.8) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-colombo)
- [Davao City](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/davao) (44.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-davao)
- [Chennai](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/chennai) (43.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/bandung-vs-chennai)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Bandung as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $1,042 per month in Bandung. That is a 65/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Bandung safe for digital nomads?

Bandung scores 50/100 on safety. Indonesia records 4.1 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2021) and a political-stability score of 55.5/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does Indonesia have a digital nomad visa?

Yes. Indonesia offers the Visa Rumah Kedua Pekerja Jarak Jauh with a minimum income of about $4,998 per month. Verify current rules with the issuing authority before applying.

### How fast is the internet in Bandung?

Measured median download speed in Bandung was 10.8 Mbps (upload 5.3 Mbps) across 514,578 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Which airports serve Bandung and how many nonstop flights are there?

Bandung is served by Husein Sastranegara Airport (BDO) with 9 nonstop destinations, of which 0 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Bandung?

The most comfortable months are Sep. Mean temperatures range from 69°F (21°C) in Jul to 72°F (22°C) in Nov (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Bandung or Cebu City: which is better for digital nomads?

Cebu City is the city with the closest factor profile to Bandung in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/cities (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^5]: Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/estimates-of-rates-of-homicides-per-100-000-population (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^10]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^11]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^12]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^13]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^14]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04), Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis. CC BY 4.0. https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/surface-pm2-5/ (retrieved 2026-09-26)
[^16]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^17]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/bandung