Medellin vs Panama City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Medellin	Panama City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1030	$1560
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2487	$3547
🏠 One person rent	$494	$943
🏘️ Family rent	$843	$1558
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$429
🚐 Transport expenses	$142	$78.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$552	$982
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	66	43
😀 Quality of life	60	71
🏙️ Population	2.53M	410K

The cost of living in Medellin is 34% less expensive than in Panama City. Cities ranked 5342nd and 3737th ($1030 vs $1560) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Colombia and Panama, respectively. Check Colombia vs Panama comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 0.6 months in Panama City. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Panama City ranked 1st in Panama, while ranked 5890th and 3765th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Medellin vs Panama City infographic

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Prices in Medellin vs Panama City

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

	Medellin	Panama City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.21	$10.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.9	$45.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.86	$8.08
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$2.93
☕ Cappuccino	$2.07	$4.03
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$1.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$542	$1015
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$383	$759
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$987	$1675
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$671	$1306
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.7	$86.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$86	$133
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$23	$45.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.1%	6.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2220	$2662
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1524	$1618
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.87	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.3	$23.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$20.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.07	$0.97
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.79
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$2.25
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.11
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$3.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$6.81
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$9.86
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$3.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.52
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$3.27
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$3.05
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$3.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.63	$1.05
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$2.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.38
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.52	$5.92
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.78	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$8.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$3.05
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.8	$42.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.66	$7.32
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40.3	$58.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$14.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$63	$54
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$91.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$402	$477
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6383	$15637

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

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