Cali vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cali	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$829	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2097	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$318	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$542	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$453	$4411
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	47	82
😀 Quality of life	60	89
🏙️ Population	2.47M	468K

The cost of living in Cali is 64% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 6645th and 1246th ($829 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 14th and 1054th 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 1.9 months in Raleigh. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Raleigh ranked 64th in the United States, while ranked 5917th and 245th 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/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cali vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cali/raleigh" target="_blank">Cali vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cali vs Raleigh

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

	Cali	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.79	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.7	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.04	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.59	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$2.63	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$300	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$220	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$555	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$57.7	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.1	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.5	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.68%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1099	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$890	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.86	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.5	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.53	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.75	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.7	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.9	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.97	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.56	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.09	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.3	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.92	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.52	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.27	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.8	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.2	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.06	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.2	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.39	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.1	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$256	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6650	$24650

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2246
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2470
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1831
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2194
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2278
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2313
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2242
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2109
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2111
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1943
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1780
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1773
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2123
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2081
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1750
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2036
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2056
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2088
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2057
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1917
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2030
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2202
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1987
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2079
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2001
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1847
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2080
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1814
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1963
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1969
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2211
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2378
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2126
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1736