Columbus vs Panama City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Columbus	Panama City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2181	$1560
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$3547
🏠 One person rent	$1256	$943
🏘️ Family rent	$2214	$1558
🍽️ Food expenses	$662	$429
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$78.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3957	$982
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	72	43
😀 Quality of life	90	71
🏙️ Population	906K	410K

The cost of living in Columbus is 40% more expensive than in Panama City. Cities ranked 1512th and 3737th ($2181 vs $1560) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1292nd and 1st in the United States and Panama, respectively. Check the United States vs Panama comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Columbus compared to 0.6 months in Panama City. Columbus ranked 64th best city to live in the United States vs Panama City ranked 1st in Panama, while ranked 217th and 3765th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Columbus vs Panama City infographic

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Prices in Columbus vs Panama City

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

	Columbus	Panama City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.3	$10.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$45.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.3	$8.08
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.21	$2.93
☕ Cappuccino	$4.98	$4.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.74	$1.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1298	$1015
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$759
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2399	$1675
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1787	$1306
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$86.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$244	$133
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$60.7	$45.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	6.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3028	$2662
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2566	$1618
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$61.3	$23.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$20.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$0.97
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$1.79
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.13	$2.25
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$2.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$3.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$6.81
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$9.86
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$3.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$1.52
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$3.27
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$3.05
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.6	$3.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.05
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.25	$2.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.5	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.88	$1.38
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.33	$5.92
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.22	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.75	$8.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.04	$2.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.23	$3.05
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.5	$42.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$7.32
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$86.1	$58.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.9	$14.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.1	$54
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.6	$91.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1105	$477
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28983	$15637

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2105
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2091
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$2020
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2094
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$2030
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2084
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1836
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$2014
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2028
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1951
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$2019
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1932
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1933
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1933
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1954
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1928
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1918
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1842
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1918
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1934
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1697
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1947
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1961
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1965
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1571
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1942
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1917
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$2025
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1980
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1957
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1684
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1850
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1495
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2188
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1482
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1899
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1922
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1743
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$2061

Cities near Panama City

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Balboa	$1400
16 km or 9.9 mi	Tocumen	$1377
26 km or 16 mi	Pacora	$1371
34 km or 21 mi	La Chorrera	$981
59 km or 37 mi	Colon	$1188
108 km or 67 mi	Penonome	$1150
154 km or 96 mi	Chitre	$1150
190 km or 118 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
321 km or 199 mi	Turbo	$721
329 km or 204 mi	David	$925
398 km or 247 mi	Monteria	$663
403 km or 250 mi	Limon	$1288
406 km or 252 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$715
452 km or 281 mi	Sincelejo	$547
463 km or 288 mi	Cartagena	$1105
483 km or 300 mi	Quibdo	$708
494 km or 307 mi	Cartago	$1241
513 km or 319 mi	San Jose	$1398
518 km or 322 mi	Heredia	$1335
521 km or 324 mi	Magangue	$667
526 km or 327 mi	Bello	$881
529 km or 329 mi	Alajuela	$1303
530 km or 329 mi	Medellin	$1030
534 km or 332 mi	Envigado	$950
558 km or 347 mi	Soledad	$883
559 km or 348 mi	Barranquilla	$843
595 km or 370 mi	Puntarenas	$821
617 km or 383 mi	Cartago	$679
617 km or 383 mi	Cienaga	$831
623 km or 387 mi	Manizales	$678
627 km or 390 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
627 km or 390 mi	Pereira	$730
631 km or 392 mi	Santa Marta	$929
632 km or 393 mi	Buenaventura	$782
636 km or 395 mi	Minca	$847
651 km or 404 mi	Salento	$655
652 km or 405 mi	Armenia	$667
657 km or 408 mi	Tulua	$511
658 km or 409 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1082
675 km or 419 mi	Liberia	$953