Cali vs Charlotte - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cali	Charlotte
🚶 Cost of living one person	$829	$2403
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2097	$5638
🏠 One person rent	$318	$1453
🏘️ Family rent	$542	$2444
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$626
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$154
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$453	$4246
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	47	68
😀 Quality of life	60	89
🏙️ Population	2.47M	875K

The cost of living in Cali is 65% less expensive than in Charlotte. Cities ranked 6645th and 1073rd ($829 vs $2403) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 14th and 918th in Colombia and the United States, respectively. Check Colombia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Cali compared to 1.8 months in Charlotte. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Charlotte ranked 78th in the United States, while ranked 5917th and 283rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/cali/charlotte.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cali vs Charlotte infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cali/charlotte" target="_blank">Cali vs Charlotte - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cali vs Charlotte

Prices for goods and services in Cali and Charlotte are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cali	Charlotte
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.79	$17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.7	$67.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.04	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.59	$5.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.63	$5.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$2.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$300	$1623
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$220	$1199
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$555	$2971
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$2035
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.7	$101
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.1	$154
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.5	$68
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.68%	6.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1099	$4032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$890	$2433
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.86	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$84.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$18.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$0.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.53	$3.35
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$3.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.75	$5.15
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.7	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.9	$15.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.97	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$4.76
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$5.94
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$4.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$2.94
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$2.93
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.56	$1.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.09	$2.48
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.3	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$2.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.92	$8.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.52	$7.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.27	$5.09
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.8	$1.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.2	$58
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.06	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.2	$113
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.39	$25.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.1	$50.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$256	$1516
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6650	$24528

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cali

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Palmira	$746
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$825
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$537
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$606
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$592
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$719
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$738
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$709
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$789
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$529
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$547
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$717
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$514
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$757
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$637
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$777
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$919
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$1062
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$663
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$640
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$992
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1071
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$575
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$813
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$915
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$569
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$667
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$613
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$902
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$1019
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$614
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1040
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$750
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$598
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$764
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$744
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$754
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$538
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$656
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$703

Cities near Charlotte

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 10 mi	Matthews	$2195
17 km or 11 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
20 km or 13 mi	Huntersville	$2113
23 km or 14 mi	Indian Trail	$2159
28 km or 18 mi	Cornelius	$2078
30 km or 18 mi	Concord	$1963
31 km or 19 mi	Gastonia	$1968
36 km or 22 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
36 km or 22 mi	Rock Hill	$2002
38 km or 23 mi	Monroe	$2126
40 km or 25 mi	Mooresville	$1978
57 km or 35 mi	Lancaster	$2158
59 km or 37 mi	Salisbury	$2080
62 km or 39 mi	Statesville	$2067
63 km or 39 mi	Shelby	$1736
72 km or 45 mi	Hickory	$1913
94 km or 58 mi	Forest	$2089
101 km or 63 mi	Thomasville	$2030
104 km or 64 mi	Rockingham	$2079
104 km or 65 mi	Spartanburg	$1873
108 km or 67 mi	Asheboro	$2081
111 km or 69 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
113 km or 70 mi	High Point	$1917
120 km or 75 mi	Kernersville	$2202
130 km or 81 mi	Greer	$2221
132 km or 82 mi	Greensboro	$2036
138 km or 86 mi	Columbia	$1858
142 km or 88 mi	Mauldin	$2324
143 km or 89 mi	Lexington	$1951
147 km or 91 mi	Greenville	$2410
152 km or 94 mi	Florence	$1853
152 km or 95 mi	Sumter	$1769
154 km or 96 mi	Sanford	$1943
159 km or 99 mi	Burlington	$2123
160 km or 99 mi	Asheville	$2709
166 km or 103 mi	Greenwood	$2091
176 km or 109 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
179 km or 111 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
180 km or 112 mi	Lumberton	$1987
184 km or 114 mi	Anderson	$1952