Cali vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cali	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$829	$4207
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2097	$9179
🏠 One person rent	$318	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$542	$4382
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$875
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$373
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$453	$5229
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	47	100
😀 Quality of life	60	95
🏙️ Population	2.47M	8.8M

The cost of living in Cali is 80% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 6645th and 4th ($829 vs $4207) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 14th and 2nd 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 1.2 months in New York City. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 5917th and 18th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Cali vs New York City

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

	Cali	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.79	$23.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.7	$107
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.04	$13.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.59	$8.27
☕ Cappuccino	$2.63	$5.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$2.87
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$300	$3712
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$220	$2223
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$555	$5056
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$3881
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.7	$130
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.1	$200
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.5	$66.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.68%	6.64%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1099	$17512
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$890	$9335
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.86	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$134
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$23.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$0.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.53	$4.55
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$6.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.75	$7.96
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.7	$19.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.9	$15.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.97	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$6.67
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$5.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$6.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$3.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$3.46
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.56	$1.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.09	$3.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.3	$18.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$4.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.92	$18.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.52	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$13.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.27	$7.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.8	$2.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.2	$118
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.06	$21.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.2	$156
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.39	$40.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.1	$68.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$256	$2132
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6650	$21999

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 New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2850
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3614
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3134
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3092
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2814
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3307
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2803
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2868
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2738
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2781
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2803
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2801
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2696
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2750
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2792
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2533
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2717
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2809
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2539
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2512
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2684
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2774
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2685
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2477
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2702
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2782
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2665
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2772
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2697
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2734
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2666
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2638
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2497
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2687
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2758
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2690
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2503
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3188