Medellin vs Quito - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Medellin	Quito
🚶 Cost of living one person	$873	$902
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2221	$2227
🏠 One person rent	$395	$387
🏘️ Family rent	$782	$657
🍽️ Food expenses	$264	$324
🚐 Transport expenses	$130	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$417	$561
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	67	63
😀 Quality of life	53	60
🏙️ Population	2.53M	1.76M

The cost of living in Medellin is 3% less expensive than in Quito. Cities ranked 6207th and 6126th ($873 vs $902) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd 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 0.6 months in Quito. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Quito ranked 1st in Ecuador, while ranked 6039th and 5262nd 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	$5.77	$5.63
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24	$35.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.82	$8.06
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.83	$2.73
☕ Cappuccino	$1.96	$3.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.98	$1.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$436	$423
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$300	$305
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$864	$780
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$646	$534
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.7	$28.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$70.3	$44.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21.7	$29.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	15.54%	11.47%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1473	$1507
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1403	$1142
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$43	$22.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.7	$11.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.98	$0.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.15
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.28	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.21	$2.37
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$9.26
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.4	$7.55
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$7.82
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$2.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.18
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.35
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.35
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.05
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.53	$0.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.59	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.7	$11.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.05	$1.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.18	$6.54
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.27	$5.88
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.2	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.89	$3.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.22	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27	$42.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.13	$6.99
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.3	$39.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.07	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.2	$56.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$91.7	$100
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$239	$300
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6129	$7183

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	$871
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Bello	$789
131 km or 82 mi	Manizales	$653
135 km or 84 mi	Quibdo	$661
160 km or 99 mi	Pereira	$641
171 km or 106 mi	Cartago	$619
179 km or 111 mi	Salento	$562
190 km or 118 mi	Armenia	$541
205 km or 127 mi	Ibague	$501
209 km or 130 mi	Facatativa	$641
212 km or 131 mi	Barrancabermeja	$573
221 km or 137 mi	Zipaquira	$681
232 km or 144 mi	Girardot	$483
239 km or 148 mi	Soacha	$748
242 km or 150 mi	Turbo	$634
246 km or 153 mi	Bogota	$868
250 km or 155 mi	Tulua	$477
257 km or 160 mi	Tunja	$526
282 km or 175 mi	Monteria	$620
285 km or 177 mi	Duitama	$851
288 km or 179 mi	Bucaramanga	$642
289 km or 179 mi	Floridablanca	$584
298 km or 185 mi	Sogamoso	$523
308 km or 192 mi	Buenaventura	$718
312 km or 194 mi	Palmira	$652
318 km or 198 mi	Villavicencio	$475
329 km or 204 mi	Cali	$733
331 km or 206 mi	Ocana	$590
334 km or 208 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$638
340 km or 211 mi	Sincelejo	$506
346 km or 215 mi	Magangue	$582
367 km or 228 mi	Yopal	$687
370 km or 230 mi	Neiva	$520
386 km or 240 mi	Cucuta	$552
387 km or 241 mi	San Antonio del Tachira	$601
391 km or 243 mi	Rubio	$598
406 km or 252 mi	San Cristobal	$592
410 km or 255 mi	Tariba	$598
438 km or 272 mi	Popayan	$462
448 km or 279 mi	La Grita	$617

Cities near Quito

Distance	City	Cost of living
74 km or 46 mi	Santo Domingo	$592
77 km or 48 mi	Ibarra	$528
114 km or 71 mi	Ambato	$574
138 km or 86 mi	Quevedo	$651
151 km or 94 mi	Ipiales	$504
163 km or 101 mi	Riobamba	$545
183 km or 114 mi	Esmeraldas	$618
210 km or 130 mi	Pasto	$488
210 km or 130 mi	Babahoyo	$827
227 km or 141 mi	Tumaco	$544
235 km or 146 mi	Portoviejo	$760
244 km or 152 mi	Milagro	$722
258 km or 161 mi	Manta	$870
262 km or 163 mi	Duran	$808
267 km or 166 mi	Guayaquil	$910
303 km or 188 mi	Cuenca	$770
307 km or 191 mi	Montanita	$761
348 km or 216 mi	La Libertad	$813
364 km or 226 mi	Popayan	$462
376 km or 233 mi	Machala	$594
381 km or 237 mi	Florencia	$398
426 km or 265 mi	Loja	$617
430 km or 267 mi	Tumbes	$454
463 km or 288 mi	Cali	$733
484 km or 301 mi	Buenaventura	$718
484 km or 301 mi	Palmira	$652
501 km or 311 mi	Neiva	$520
516 km or 321 mi	Mancora	$495
543 km or 337 mi	Tulua	$477
574 km or 357 mi	Talara	$504
575 km or 357 mi	Sullana	$498
602 km or 374 mi	Piura	$564
610 km or 379 mi	Jaen	$517
611 km or 380 mi	Paita	$509
616 km or 383 mi	Armenia	$541
623 km or 387 mi	Cartago	$619
631 km or 392 mi	Salento	$562
635 km or 395 mi	Ibague	$501
641 km or 398 mi	Pereira	$641
650 km or 404 mi	Girardot	$483