Fortaleza vs Medellin - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Fortaleza	Medellin
🚶 Cost of living one person	$758	$1030
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1752	$2487
🏠 One person rent	$328	$494
🏘️ Family rent	$471	$843
🍽️ Food expenses	$244	$297
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.5	$142
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$340	$552
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	42	66
😀 Quality of life	61	60
🏙️ Population	2.43M	2.53M

The cost of living in Fortaleza is 26% less expensive than in Medellin. Cities ranked 6833rd and 5342nd ($758 vs $1030) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 25th and 3rd in Brazil and Colombia, respectively. Check Brazil vs Colombia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Fortaleza compared to 0.5 months in Medellin. Fortaleza ranked 16th best city to live in Brazil vs Medellin ranked 2nd in Colombia, while ranked 5841st and 5890th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Fortaleza vs Medellin infographic

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Prices in Fortaleza vs Medellin

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

	Fortaleza	Medellin
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.16	$6.21
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.5	$28.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.49	$7.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.96	$2.78
☕ Cappuccino	$2.19	$2.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.04	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$344	$542
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$224	$383
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$430	$987
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$337	$671
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.5	$55.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.2	$86
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16	$23
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.9%	13.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1344	$2220
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$743	$1524
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.8	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$44.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.26	$14.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.52	$1.41
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$2.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.16	$6.06
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.61	$6.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.15	$9.06
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$2.68
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.06
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.76
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.29
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.19
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.15
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$0.63
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$2.22
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.16	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$1.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.08	$2.52
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.89	$5.78
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.54	$4.89
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.4	$2.55
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.93	$1.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.1	$33.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.06	$4.66
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$45.6	$40.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$10.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.9	$63
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.3	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$230	$402
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2167	$6383

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Fortaleza

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.9 mi	Caucaia	$713
112 km or 69 mi	Caninde	$637
120 km or 74 mi	Itapipoca	$510
125 km or 78 mi	Aracati	$639
148 km or 92 mi	Russas	$630
148 km or 92 mi	Quixada	$644
190 km or 118 mi	Sobral	$656
200 km or 124 mi	Acarau	$772
209 km or 130 mi	Mossoro	$538
273 km or 169 mi	Camocim	$690
288 km or 179 mi	Crateus	$613
300 km or 186 mi	Ico	$590
305 km or 189 mi	Iguatu	$591
342 km or 213 mi	Caico	$623
366 km or 227 mi	Piripiri	$617
372 km or 231 mi	Parnaiba	$662
392 km or 243 mi	Patos	$563
397 km or 247 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$576
402 km or 250 mi	Crato	$571
434 km or 269 mi	Natal	$583
487 km or 303 mi	Salgueiro	$562
487 km or 303 mi	Campina Grande	$566
495 km or 307 mi	Picos	$572
498 km or 309 mi	Teresina	$572
501 km or 312 mi	Timon	$554
536 km or 333 mi	Chapadinha	$618
546 km or 340 mi	Arcoverde	$580
550 km or 342 mi	Caxias	$568
554 km or 344 mi	Joao Pessoa	$726
578 km or 359 mi	Goiana	$575
580 km or 360 mi	Caruaru	$545
584 km or 363 mi	Carpina	$579
600 km or 373 mi	Codo	$596
602 km or 374 mi	Floriano	$566
617 km or 383 mi	Garanhuns	$631
618 km or 384 mi	Camaragibe	$559
619 km or 384 mi	Paulista	$416
622 km or 387 mi	Coroata	$624
623 km or 387 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$699
626 km or 389 mi	Olinda	$561

Cities near Medellin

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Envigado	$950
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Bello	$881
131 km or 82 mi	Manizales	$678
135 km or 84 mi	Quibdo	$708
160 km or 99 mi	Pereira	$730
171 km or 106 mi	Cartago	$679
179 km or 111 mi	Salento	$655
190 km or 118 mi	Armenia	$667
205 km or 127 mi	Ibague	$506
209 km or 130 mi	Facatativa	$722
212 km or 131 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1082
221 km or 137 mi	Zipaquira	$762
232 km or 144 mi	Girardot	$515
239 km or 148 mi	Soacha	$848
242 km or 150 mi	Turbo	$721
246 km or 153 mi	Bogota	$976
250 km or 155 mi	Tulua	$511
257 km or 160 mi	Tunja	$637
282 km or 175 mi	Monteria	$663
285 km or 177 mi	Duitama	$960
288 km or 179 mi	Bucaramanga	$693
289 km or 179 mi	Floridablanca	$686
298 km or 185 mi	Sogamoso	$581
308 km or 192 mi	Buenaventura	$782
312 km or 194 mi	Palmira	$693
318 km or 198 mi	Villavicencio	$546
329 km or 204 mi	Cali	$759
331 km or 206 mi	Ocana	$704
334 km or 208 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$715
340 km or 211 mi	Sincelejo	$547
346 km or 215 mi	Magangue	$667
367 km or 228 mi	Yopal	$777
370 km or 230 mi	Neiva	$565
386 km or 240 mi	Cucuta	$620
387 km or 241 mi	San Antonio del Tachira	$673
391 km or 243 mi	Rubio	$671
406 km or 252 mi	San Cristobal	$684
410 km or 255 mi	Tariba	$673
438 km or 272 mi	Popayan	$572
448 km or 279 mi	La Grita	$677