There is no standard rate for a nanny in Bali in 2026, and that is the first thing to know before you budget: the published figures run from single to triple. The expat guide Knowmads Bali quotes 3,500,000 to 6,000,000 IDR a month for full time (215 to 370 USD by its own conversion); the family blog Our Year in Bali says 7 to 9 million; the placement agency Bali Nanny, hardly a neutral party, goes as high as 6.5–11 million live-in, 7–11 million live-out and 7–12 million in Canggu, Seminyak and Uluwatu.
The only verifiable floor is the 2026 minimum wage: 3,791,002.57 IDR in Badung, 3,499,878.78 IDR in Denpasar, 3,207,459 IDR for the provincial UMP (governor's decrees no. 1011 and 1021/03-M/HK/2025, in force on 1 January 2026). By the hour, budget 70,000 to 150,000 IDR; an overnight shift runs 700,000 to 1,000,000 IDR according to Knowmads Bali, and up to 2,000,000 IDR at a premium agency. On vetting, exactly one protocol is documented anywhere: a paid trial week, two references you actually phone, a copy of the KTP, a written agreement.
Why the quoted prices vary by a factor of three
No institution publishes a pay scale for nannies in Bali. What you find online are private estimates, and they do not agree.
| Source | Full time / month (IDR) | Type of source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowmads Bali | 3.5 – 6 M | expat community guide | not shown |
| Mami Berlian (Indonesia, outside Bali) | 3 – 4.5 M (nanny / babysitter) | Indonesian agency, local market | 19 Feb 2026 |
| Bali Nanny — cost guide | 3 – 9 M in tiers | placement agency (Bali) | 18 May 2026 |
| Our Year in Bali | 7 – 9 M | community blog | not shown |
| Bali Nanny — salary guide | 6.5 – 12 M | placement agency (Bali) | 14 Dec 2025 |
Three things to weigh before you settle on a number:
- The spread is not an estimating margin. From 3.5 M to 12 M, the ratio is 1 to 3.4 — the signature of a market with no standard.
- The most generous source sells the service. bali-nanny.com is a placement agency operated by PT Pramana Group, in Denpasar. It has a direct interest in publishing the high end, and its blog carries 12 articles all stamped with the same date, 8 June 2026.
- That agency contradicts itself. In December 2025 it puts live-in at 6.5–11 M; in May 2026, at 3–4 M for a beginner and up to 9 M at the premium end. The more recent version is the lower one.
One hypothesis, which no source confirms, probably accounts for most of the gap: the high ranges look like agency placements in dense expat areas, the low ones like direct hiring inside the local network. Your price depends less on "the market" than on the channel you recruit through.
What is the real floor? The 2026 minimum wage
This is the only solid figure in the whole subject, because it comes from a decree. Decrees no. 1011/03-M/HK/2025 (UMP) and no. 1021/03-M/HK/2025 (UMK), signed by Governor Wayan Koster, took effect on 1 January 2026. The daily Kompas set them out on 25 December 2025; it notes that it received the document that day, without publishing the signature date.
| Area | 2026 minimum wage (IDR/month) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| UMP Bali (province) | 3,207,459 | +7.04% vs 2025 (2,996,561) |
| Badung (Canggu, Seminyak, Uluwatu) | 3,791,002.57 | +7.2% |
| Denpasar | 3,499,878.78 | — |
| Gianyar (Ubud) | 3,316,798.48 | — |
| Tabanan | 3,287,678.87 | — |
| Buleleng, Jembrana, Klungkung, Bangli, Karangasem | 3,207,459 (aligned on the UMP) | — |
A word of caution on how you use this figure. No source we could consult confirms that the UMK applies in law to domestic workers (pekerja rumah tangga). Treat it as a market benchmark, not as an obligation enforceable against a private household.
It is at least useful for spotting content that inflates the floor: the agency Bali Nanny quotes a Badung UMK of "around 6.5 million IDR", against 3,791,002.57 IDR in the decree. A 71% overstatement is not harmless, because a false floor drags up every range calibrated on it. To place this line inside a household budget, see our cost of living in Bali broken down by profile.
Live-in or live-out: which costs more?
This is the worst-handled question online, because the sources contradict each other head-on. Knowmads Bali files live-in among the factors that push pay up, alongside strong English or newborn specialisation ("more for strong English, infant care specialisation, or live-in arrangements"), but attaches no separate figure to it. Bali Nanny says the opposite in cash terms: live-out 7–11 M against live-in 6.5–11 M, precisely because the live-out nanny funds her own rent, transport and meals.
The two only reconcile on one condition: separating the salary paid from the total employer cost. A live-out nanny takes home more in cash because she carries costs the household does not; a live-in takes home less, but the household absorbs housing, food and toiletries. That is our reconstruction, not a fact established by any source.
| Line item (live-in, per Bali Nanny) | Monthly amount (IDR) |
|---|---|
| Base salary (beginner → premium) | 3,000,000 → 9,000,000 |
| Value of a private room provided | ~2,000,000 |
| THR provision spread over 12 months | ~500,000 |
| Health contribution | 150,000 |
| Total employer cost | "can exceed 10 million" |
For a live-out nanny, the same agency puts the meal allowance at 15,000 to 25,000 IDR a day, or 450,000 to 750,000 IDR over a 30-day month.
The "2 M room" line assumes a room you already have going spare. If housing someone forces you to rent bigger, the real expense becomes the rent gap between a two-bedroom and a three-bedroom villa: our yearly rental prices by neighbourhood let you put a number on that delta.
The schedule the same source describes for a live-in is demanding: 14 active hours a day with overnight availability for emergencies, one day off a week, 12 days of paid leave and up to 12 days of paid sick leave a year. These are not verified legal standards but the terms one agency proposes: a starting point for negotiation.
Part-time and overnight care: the unit rates
Plenty of families do not need full time. The good news: unit rates vary far less from one source to the next.
| Format | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly, direct hire | 70,000 – 150,000 IDR / hour | Bali Nanny (14 Dec 2025) |
| Hourly, agency placement | 90,000 – 130,000+ IDR / hour | Bali Nanny (14 Dec 2025) |
| Overnight, newborn | 700,000 – 1,000,000 IDR / night | Knowmads Bali |
| Overnight, budget tier | ~1,000,000 IDR | Bali Nanny (18 May 2026) |
| Overnight, mid tier | ~100 USD / day (the source's wording) | Bali Nanny (18 May 2026) |
| Overnight, premium agency | 2,000,000 IDR | Bali Nanny (18 May 2026) |
Do the arithmetic before you choose: at 100,000 IDR an hour, 40 hours a week comes to roughly 17 million IDR a month, well above every full-time range quoted. Hourly is built for occasional cover; the moment the need becomes regular, monthly is the only sustainable format.
One more benchmark, so you do not anchor blindly on "expat zone" rates: the Indonesian agency Mami Berlian published a grid for the national domestic market on 19 February 2026. Read the job titles carefully — they describe the role and the age of the child in care, never the employee's seniority.
| Role (national grid, 19 Feb 2026) | Monthly salary (IDR) |
|---|---|
| Entry-level housekeeper (ART) | 2,300,000 – 2,700,000 |
| Experienced housekeeper | 2,800,000 – 3,500,000 |
| Newborn babysitter | 3,500,000 – 4,500,000 |
| Nanny for a child aged 2 and over | 3,000,000 – 4,000,000 |
| Elderly carer | 3,500,000 – 5,000,000 |
| Home nurse | 5,000,000 – 7,500,000 |
These figures are not about Bali — the reference points cited are Jakarta and Surabaya — but they show the real level of the Indonesian domestic market, and explain why hiring outside the expat circuit often costs far less.
They also work as a guardrail when you write your ad. A nanny is not a housekeeper: two jobs, two pay scales, and rolling them into one position is the surest way to collect applications that miss the point. As for newborn care, it commands more than looking after a child of two or over, even on this local market: the child's age is a pricing criterion in its own right, exactly like experience.
What Indonesian regulation does — and does not — say
Most guides assert a great deal and cite nothing. Here is only what we were able to read in the official texts, on the Indonesian regulatory portal peraturan.go.id.
The regulation dedicated to domestic workers was repealed in late 2024
There used to be a text specific to the job: Permenaker No. 2 of 2015, Perlindungan Pekerja Rumah Tangga ("protection of domestic workers"), dated 19 January 2015. Its official record now lists it as "Tidak Berlaku" — repealed, replaced by Permenaker No. 18 of 2024 on domestic labour placement, dated 30 December 2024 and in force. The two records confirm each other: the 2015 entry declares itself repealed by the 2024 text, and the 2024 entry does list the 2015 regulation among those it repeals — along with a second one, Permenaker No. 39 of 2016 on worker placement.
We were not able to read the articles of the 2024 text: do not conclude from this that no protection exists any more. What is verifiable is that the dedicated 2015 regulation was repealed and absorbed into a text about placement. The practical consequence: count on no implicit standard framework. Your written agreement does the heavy lifting.
THR: solid market practice, unverified legal obligation
THR (tunjangan hari raya) is the bonus paid before the employee's main religious holiday. Knowmads and Bali Nanny both present it as due, at one month's salary, the agency adding a one-month service threshold.
The reference text exists: Permenaker No. 6 of 2016, in force, dated 8 March 2016. But its official title covers employees "di perusahaan" — in companies — and a private household is not obviously a perusahaan. The official PDF, meanwhile, is a scan with no text layer: eight pages, not one of which yields a single character. The articles setting the scope, the service threshold and the calculation formula therefore remain unverifiable as things stand.
In practice: budget for the THR; a provision of around 500,000 IDR a month spreads the cost. But do not take at face value the guides that write "the law requires you to": no consultable official text confirms it for a private employer.
BPJS Kesehatan: here, at least, the official scale is public
Here the amounts are verifiable, text in hand. Perpres No. 64 of 2020 — the second amendment to Perpres No. 82 of 2018 on health insurance — was signed on 5 May 2020, promulgated on the 6th, and remains in force. Its amounts have applied since 1 July 2020.
| Scheme | Official monthly contribution | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Non-salaried (PBPU/BP) — Kelas I room | 150,000 IDR / person | 34 (3) |
| Non-salaried (PBPU/BP) — Kelas II room | 100,000 IDR / person | 34 (2) |
| Non-salaried (PBPU/BP) — Kelas III room | 35,000 IDR payable + 7,000 IDR state subsidy | 34 (1) b |
| Declared employee (PPU) | 5% of salary: 4% employer + 1% employee | 30 (1) |
| Employee contribution base | ceiling 12,000,000 IDR/month, floor = the kabupaten's UMK | 32 |
| State-covered beneficiary (PBI) | 42,000 IDR / person | 29 (1) |
Three lessons follow. First, the "150,000 IDR a month" the agency quotes matches the official Kelas I rate for a non-salaried worker exactly: the figure is right, even coming from a commercial source.
Second, declaring your nanny as an employee is not necessarily cheaper than letting her contribute on her own. At the floor, 4% of the Badung UMK is 151,640 IDR, slightly more than the 150,000 IDR of the non-salaried scheme. And the gap widens with the salary, since the employee contribution is proportional — 4% of 6,000,000 IDR is 240,000 IDR. Declaring is a trade-off, not a saving.
Third, membership concerns you as well: Perpres No. 59 of 2024 defines the "Peserta" — the insured person — as anyone who pays their contribution, including a foreigner working at least six months in Indonesia. What none of our sources settles is which scheme applies to a nanny employed by a private household: put that question to BPJS Kesehatan directly.
One final reservation, and it is a serious one: this scale may no longer be the one in force. Perpres No. 59 of 2024 (the third amendment to the same 2018 text, 8 May 2024, in force) leaves the amounts in article 34 untouched, but its article 103B set two deadlines: generalisation of the KRIS hospitalisation standard by 30 June 2025, then the setting of the benefits, tariffs and contributions that follow from it "no later than 1 July 2025" (paling lambat tanggal 1 Juli 2025). We could not verify that any subsequent text has actually published new amounts. The scale above is therefore the last one we read in an official text, not necessarily the one that applies today: check the current rate with BPJS Kesehatan before you budget.
How to vet a nanny before you hire
Our sources document exactly one structured protocol, from Knowmads Bali. Four points, more demanding than they look:
1. A paid trial week, every time. Paid: that is what makes the trial serious on both sides, and a week lets you watch the relationship with your child over several days rather than one afternoon.
2. Two references from former expat families — actually phoned. The source is emphatic on this; a reference you never call is worth nothing.
3. A copy of the KTP, the Indonesian national identity card, which you keep.
4. A simple written agreement: hours, salary, public holidays, sick days, notice period.
Do not assume the SKCK — the Indonesian criminal record extract — is part of the local standard. None of our sources mentions it in a nanny hiring protocol; the only attested document is the KTP. Nothing stops you asking a candidate for one, but you are then stepping outside what is documented: negotiate it as such.
Another blind spot: no source publishes agency placement fees. If you go through an agency, ask for the fee structure in writing before the first interview.
That leaves the fourth point, the most neglected of the four: the written agreement. Given the repeal described above, it is what actually structures the relationship. One page is enough, in English and Indonesian, dated and signed in duplicate.
Where do you find a nanny in Bali?
The channels expat families actually use, as catalogued by the blog Our Year in Bali, are almost all informal:
- word of mouth between families, by far the most cited;
- Facebook groups for expats in Bali;
- WhatsApp groups for a neighbourhood or a school;
- preschools, which know their pupils' nannies — the natural reflex if you are already inside the island's international school circuit;
- placement agencies, which charge for the introduction without publishing their rates.
Their limitation is well known: a post in a Facebook group disappears under the feed within hours, and nothing in it is structured — not the area, not the contract type, not the availability. That is the gap classified ads fill: on Lokalfinds, the Family & Kids and Jobs & Services sections let you publish or browse an offer that stays online, filterable by area and attached to a profile. The principle does not change from one channel to the next: the ad gets you in contact, the vetting is still on you.
If you are only just landing on the island and the nanny is one line among many, our complete Bali relocation checklist puts this task back in its proper place in the running order.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a full-time nanny cost in Bali in 2026?
The sources diverge sharply: Knowmads Bali quotes 3,500,000 to 6,000,000 IDR a month, the blog Our Year in Bali 7 to 9 million, and the agency Bali Nanny 6.5 to 12 million depending on the format and the area. No institution publishes an official scale. Work with the wide 3.5 to 12 million IDR range, bearing in mind that the recruitment channel probably explains most of the gap.
Does a live-in nanny cost less than a live-out one?
In cash salary, the agency Bali Nanny puts live-out higher (7–11 million IDR) than live-in (6.5–11 million), because the live-out nanny pays her own rent, transport and meals. But on total employer cost, live-in adds the room (around 2 million IDR a month according to that source), meals and contributions, for a total that "can exceed 10 million".
What is the legal minimum wage in Bali in 2026?
The provincial UMP stands at 3,207,459 IDR a month, up 7.04% on 2025. The 2026 UMK reaches 3,791,002.57 IDR in Badung, 3,499,878.78 IDR in Denpasar, 3,316,798.48 IDR in Gianyar and 3,287,678.87 IDR in Tabanan, under decrees no. 1011 and 1021/03-M/HK/2025. Nothing in the sources we were able to consult confirms that they bind private households employing domestic staff.
Is the THR compulsory for a nanny in Indonesia?
Industry guides present it as due, at one month's salary. The reference text, Permenaker No. 6 of 2016, is in force, but its title covers employees "in companies" (di perusahaan) and its official PDF is an unreadable scan: there is no way to verify the scope for a private household. Budget for it as an established practice, not as a legal certainty.
How much does BPJS health cover cost for a domestic worker?
Perpres No. 64 of 2020, in force, sets the contribution for a non-salaried worker at 150,000 IDR a month in Kelas I, 100,000 in Kelas II and 35,000 in Kelas III (topped up by 7,000 IDR of state subsidy). For a declared employee it reaches 5% of salary, of which 4% falls on the employer, calculated on a contribution base with the UMK as its floor. At that floor, in Badung, the two schemes come out almost identical: 151,640 IDR against 150,000. A 2024 text scheduled a revision for 1 July 2025, so check the current amount.
What documents should you ask a nanny for before hiring?
The only identity document attested by our sources is the KTP, the Indonesian national identity card, of which you keep a copy. Add two references from former employer families that you actually phone, a paid trial week and a written agreement covering hours, salary, public holidays, sick days and notice period. None of the sources consulted mentions the SKCK.
How much does one-off or overnight babysitting cost in Bali?
Budget 70,000 to 150,000 IDR an hour hiring directly, or 90,000 to 130,000 IDR and up through an agency. For an overnight with a newborn, Knowmads Bali gives 700,000 to 1,000,000 IDR; Bali Nanny ranges from about 1,000,000 IDR at the budget end to 2,000,000 IDR at the premium end. As soon as the need becomes regular, a monthly package works out considerably cheaper.
Sources
- (official) peraturan.go.id — Permenaker No. 2 of 2015, *Perlindungan Pekerja Rumah Tangga* — official portal: status "repealed".
- (official) peraturan.go.id — Permenaker No. 18 of 2024, *Penempatan Tenaga Kerja Dalam Negeri* (30 Dec 2024) — the text in force that repeals the 2015 one.
- (official) peraturan.go.id — Permenaker No. 6 of 2016, THR Keagamaan (8 Mar 2016, in force) — the THR framework, with a title limited to employees "in companies". Official PDF is a scan: 8 pages, zero extractable characters, body text unreadable.
- (official) peraturan.go.id — Perpres No. 64 of 2020, 2nd amendment to Perpres No. 82 of 2018 on health insurance (PDF) (signed 5 May 2020, promulgated 6 May 2020) — official BPJS Kesehatan scale, articles 29, 30, 32 and 34, read in the full text.
- (official) peraturan.go.id — Perpres No. 59 of 2024, 3rd amendment to the same text (8 May 2024) — leaves the amounts in article 34 unchanged; article 103B: KRIS deadline of 30 June 2025 and revision deadline of 1 July 2025; definition of "Peserta" covering foreigners working 6 months or more.
- (press) Kompas — Daftar UMK 2026 di Bali (25 Dec 2025) — 2026 UMP and UMK, decree numbers, rates of increase.
- (community) Knowmads Bali — Hiring a Nanny in Bali — non-commercial expat guide: 3.5–6 M IDR, overnight care, vetting protocol. No date shown.
- (commercial) Bali Nanny — 2026 Salary Guide, live-in and live-out (14 Dec 2025) — agency: hourly rates, areas, meal allowance. Its UMK error is not reproduced here.
- (commercial) Bali Nanny — Full-Time Live-in Babysitter, Cost Guide (18 May 2026) — same agency: total employer cost, working conditions. Contradicts the previous article.
- (community) Our Year in Bali — Hiring a Nanny in Bali — expat family blog: 7–9 M IDR, recruitment channels. No date shown.
- (commercial) Mami Berlian Agency — Gaji pembantu dan babysitter 2026 (19 Feb 2026) — Indonesian placement agency: national domestic market grid, Jakarta and Surabaya benchmarks, no Balinese figures.
Three of the five sources with numbers in this article are placement agencies, which have a direct commercial interest in the salary levels they publish: every figure here is attributed by name so you can weigh it accordingly. The regulatory amounts, by contrast, were read in the official texts.
URLs consulted and re-checked on 22 July 2026. Rupiah amounts move: re-check the minimum wage decrees and BPJS rates before you fix a budget.
