Cali vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cali	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$850	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2137	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$330	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$553	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$294	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$132	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$505	$4362
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	47	82
😀 Quality of life	62	89
🏙️ Population	2.47M	468K

The cost of living in Cali is 62% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 6549th and 1363rd ($850 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1143rd 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 0.6 months in Cali compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Raleigh ranked 54th in the United States, while ranked 5632nd and 219th 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	$5.09	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.81	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$2.67	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$346	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$227	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$639	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.4	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$83.8	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.5	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.49%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1128	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$904	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.2	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.83	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.08	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.13	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.6	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.29	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.65	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.27	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.31	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.83	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.8	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.15	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.1	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.54	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.7	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$259	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6818	$24243

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	$788
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$856
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$563
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$631
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$606
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$749
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$769
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$749
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$862
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$537
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$559
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$737
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$524
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$802
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$675
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$816
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$958
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$1106
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$694
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$672
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$1041
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1162
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$593
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$858
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$1012
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$557
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$680
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$613
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$864
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$1045
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$630
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1001
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$740
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$592
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$797
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$795
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$816
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$516
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$653
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$733

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729