For people who want a city and mean it. The best hospitals in the country outside Jakarta, direct flights to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, proper supermarkets and an established foreign community — at roughly half Jakarta’s cost and a fraction of its traffic. The catch is the climate: lowland, coastal and relentlessly hot, with no altitude to escape to.
What a month costs
Rp 17–28jt — US$950–1,550 for a couple, per month.
Dollar figures converted at Rp 17,900 to US$1, the rate in August 2026. Rupiah amounts are the ones that matter — the exchange rate moves, your rent doesn’t.
Healthcare
Internationally accredited care in the city
RS Premier Surabaya is JCI-accredited and part of the Ramsay Sime Darby group — the first hospital in eastern Indonesia to win that accreditation. National Hospital is the other private option expats use, and Dr Soetomo, the large public teaching hospital, has held JCI accreditation since 2018. For a city outside Jakarta this is an unusually deep bench, and it is the main practical argument for choosing Surabaya over somewhere prettier.
Climate
Hot, humid and lowland
Surabaya sits barely above sea level on the north coast of Java. It is consistently hot and humid, and unlike Bandung or Malang there is no nearby highland to retreat to. This is the honest trade-off for the healthcare and connectivity.
Getting there
Juanda (SUB) has direct international services including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, alongside a deep domestic network. It is the main airport for the whole of East Java, including Malang.
Renting
Rp 5–9jt a month, estimated
A two-bedroom furnished house in the western districts where most foreign residents settle. Apartments in the central towers are cheaper again, and Surabaya has more of that stock than anywhere outside Jakarta.
Estimated monthly equivalent for a two-bedroom furnished house or villa on an annual contract, for comparison between destinations. Note that Indonesian rentals are normally paid a year in advance rather than monthly — the day-one cost is twelve times these figures, plus deposit and fees.
Buying property
Minimum price for a foreign buyer: Rp 5 billion for a landed house
Surabaya sits in East Java, one of the seven regions in the top band. The Rp 5 billion floor — roughly US$280,000 — is high relative to local prices, so a great deal of perfectly good Surabaya housing is legally out of reach for a foreign buyer even though it is affordable.
Foreigners cannot hold freehold. A landed house is held on Hak Pakai — granted for 30 years, extendable by 20 and renewable for a further 30 — and where a property is currently Hak Milik or HGB, the title must be converted before it can be transferred to you. Land is capped at 2,000 m² per person or family without ministerial permission, one plot each, and the home is supposed to be lived in rather than let out.
Thresholds are set by province under Ministerial Decree No. 1241/SK-HK.02/IX/2022. East Java figures shown. Diaspora Indonesians pay 75 per cent of these floors. Verify against the current decree before committing — these figures move.