Lima vs Medellin - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lima	Medellin
🚶 Cost of living one person	$977	$906
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2440	$2260
🏠 One person rent	$407	$408
🏘️ Family rent	$726	$761
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$275
🚐 Transport expenses	$203	$133
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$498	$432
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	78	66
😀 Quality of life	65	53
🏙️ Population	9.94M	2.53M

The cost of living in Lima is 8% more expensive than in Medellin. Cities ranked 5647th and 6005th ($977 vs $906) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Peru and Colombia, respectively. Check Peru vs Colombia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lima compared to 0.5 months in Medellin. Lima ranked 1st best city to live in Peru vs Medellin ranked 2nd in Colombia, while ranked 4234th and 6049th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lima vs Medellin infographic

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Prices in Lima vs Medellin

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

	Lima	Medellin
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.73	$6.13
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.33	$7.21
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2.02
☕ Cappuccino	$3.29	$1.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.88	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$525	$439
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$305	$312
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$943	$851
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$577	$618
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.3	$47.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.6	$73.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$23.8	$22.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10%	14.16%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1476	$1715
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1418	$1447
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.79
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$33.7	$41.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.6	$13.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.45	$1.12
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.9	$1.3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.94	$2.33
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.74	$5.44
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.28	$5.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.7	$9.62
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$2.49
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.54
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.29
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.19
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.24	$1.83
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.11	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.64	$1.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.28	$3.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$4.41
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.11	$4.4
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.08	$1.85
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.1	$2.28
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.1	$29.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.4	$4.57
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.9	$31.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$10.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.9	$64
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.1	$99.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$201	$292
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7764	$5682

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Lima

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Callao	$790
64 km or 40 mi	Huaral	$727
122 km or 76 mi	Huacho	$685
198 km or 123 mi	Huancayo	$562
205 km or 128 mi	Pisco	$614
251 km or 156 mi	Huanuco	$622
265 km or 165 mi	Ica	$656
285 km or 177 mi	Huaraz	$561
329 km or 204 mi	Ayacucho	$598
372 km or 231 mi	Chimbote	$504
483 km or 300 mi	Abancay	$591
489 km or 304 mi	Trujillo	$714
490 km or 304 mi	Pucallpa	$489
567 km or 352 mi	Cajamarca	$549
572 km or 355 mi	Cusco	$626
623 km or 387 mi	Tarapoto	$562
655 km or 407 mi	Chachapoyas	$549
663 km or 412 mi	Chiclayo	$598
685 km or 426 mi	Cruzeiro do Sul	$580
732 km or 455 mi	Jaen	$548
765 km or 475 mi	Arequipa	$588
838 km or 521 mi	Juliaca	$547
855 km or 531 mi	Puerto Maldonado	$560
858 km or 533 mi	Piura	$565
866 km or 538 mi	Puno	$520
891 km or 554 mi	Sullana	$505
896 km or 557 mi	Paita	$518
927 km or 576 mi	Loja	$600
952 km or 591 mi	Talara	$513
987 km or 614 mi	Mancora	$505
988 km or 614 mi	Tacna	$414
1014 km or 630 mi	Iquitos	$694
1014 km or 630 mi	Arica	$748
1015 km or 631 mi	Tumbes	$463
1029 km or 639 mi	Machala	$569
1032 km or 642 mi	Rio Branco	$735
1041 km or 647 mi	Cuenca	$758
1073 km or 666 mi	El Alto	$673
1077 km or 669 mi	La Paz	$688
1138 km or 707 mi	Milagro	$697

Cities near Medellin

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Envigado	$897
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Bello	$839
131 km or 82 mi	Manizales	$653
135 km or 84 mi	Quibdo	$705
160 km or 99 mi	Pereira	$680
171 km or 106 mi	Cartago	$649
179 km or 111 mi	Salento	$605
190 km or 118 mi	Armenia	$598
205 km or 127 mi	Ibague	$529
209 km or 130 mi	Facatativa	$674
212 km or 131 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1031
221 km or 137 mi	Zipaquira	$709
232 km or 144 mi	Girardot	$493
239 km or 148 mi	Soacha	$794
242 km or 150 mi	Turbo	$664
246 km or 153 mi	Bogota	$887
250 km or 155 mi	Tulua	$513
257 km or 160 mi	Tunja	$563
282 km or 175 mi	Monteria	$645
285 km or 177 mi	Duitama	$882
288 km or 179 mi	Bucaramanga	$657
289 km or 179 mi	Floridablanca	$648
298 km or 185 mi	Sogamoso	$534
308 km or 192 mi	Buenaventura	$742
312 km or 194 mi	Palmira	$666
318 km or 198 mi	Villavicencio	$497
329 km or 204 mi	Cali	$748
331 km or 206 mi	Ocana	$650
334 km or 208 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$669
340 km or 211 mi	Sincelejo	$524
346 km or 215 mi	Magangue	$604
367 km or 228 mi	Yopal	$722
370 km or 230 mi	Neiva	$557
386 km or 240 mi	Cucuta	$562
387 km or 241 mi	San Antonio del Tachira	$601
391 km or 243 mi	Rubio	$599
406 km or 252 mi	San Cristobal	$592
410 km or 255 mi	Tariba	$598
438 km or 272 mi	Popayan	$477
448 km or 279 mi	La Grita	$618