Medellin vs Quito - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medellin	Quito
🚶 Cost of living one person	$906	$884
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2260	$2179
🏠 One person rent	$408	$367
🏘️ Family rent	$761	$595
🍽️ Food expenses	$275	$329
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$88.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$432	$683
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	66	64
😀 Quality of life	53	55
🏙️ Population	2.53M	1.76M

The cost of living in Medellin is 3% more expensive than in Quito. Cities ranked 6005th and 6124th ($906 vs $884) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Colombia and Ecuador, respectively. Check Colombia vs Ecuador comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 0.8 months in Quito. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Quito ranked 1st in Ecuador, while ranked 6049th and 5845th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Medellin vs Quito infographic

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Prices in Medellin vs Quito

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

	Medellin	Quito
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.13	$5.31
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$32.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.21	$7.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$2.79
☕ Cappuccino	$1.92	$3.14
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$1.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$439	$410
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$312	$291
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$851	$719
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$618	$482
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.3	$24.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.5	$38.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.9	$27.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	14.16%	11.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1715	$1517
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1447	$971
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.79	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.1	$24.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.5	$11.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$0.85
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.3	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.64
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.33	$2.42
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.44	$9.58
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$8.26
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.62	$8.21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.12
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$1.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.05
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$0.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.83	$2.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$11.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.77
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.41	$7.31
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.41	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.4	$8.08
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.85	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.28	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.3	$39.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.57	$6.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$41.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$10.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$64	$51.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.4	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$292	$276
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5682	$8036

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Quito

Distance	City	Cost of living
74 km or 46 mi	Santo Domingo	$532
77 km or 48 mi	Ibarra	$519
114 km or 71 mi	Ambato	$573
138 km or 86 mi	Quevedo	$651
151 km or 94 mi	Ipiales	$531
163 km or 101 mi	Riobamba	$538
183 km or 114 mi	Esmeraldas	$610
210 km or 130 mi	Pasto	$514
210 km or 130 mi	Babahoyo	$823
227 km or 141 mi	Tumaco	$571
235 km or 146 mi	Portoviejo	$716
244 km or 152 mi	Milagro	$697
258 km or 161 mi	Manta	$990
262 km or 163 mi	Duran	$806
267 km or 166 mi	Guayaquil	$925
303 km or 188 mi	Cuenca	$758
307 km or 191 mi	Montanita	$766
348 km or 216 mi	La Libertad	$816
364 km or 226 mi	Popayan	$477
376 km or 233 mi	Machala	$569
381 km or 237 mi	Florencia	$410
426 km or 265 mi	Loja	$600
430 km or 267 mi	Tumbes	$463
463 km or 288 mi	Cali	$748
484 km or 301 mi	Buenaventura	$742
484 km or 301 mi	Palmira	$666
501 km or 311 mi	Neiva	$557
516 km or 321 mi	Mancora	$505
543 km or 337 mi	Tulua	$513
574 km or 357 mi	Talara	$513
575 km or 357 mi	Sullana	$505
602 km or 374 mi	Piura	$565
610 km or 379 mi	Jaen	$548
611 km or 380 mi	Paita	$518
616 km or 383 mi	Armenia	$598
623 km or 387 mi	Cartago	$649
631 km or 392 mi	Salento	$605
635 km or 395 mi	Ibague	$529
641 km or 398 mi	Pereira	$680
650 km or 404 mi	Girardot	$493