Medellin vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Medellin	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1030	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2487	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$494	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$843	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$142	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$552	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	66	82
😀 Quality of life	60	90
🏙️ Population	2.53M	468K

The cost of living in Medellin is 56% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 5342nd and 1213th ($1030 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1060th in Colombia and the United States, respectively. Check Colombia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 5890th and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Medellin vs Raleigh infographic

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Prices in Medellin vs Raleigh

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

	Medellin	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.21	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.9	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.86	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$2.07	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$542	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$383	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$987	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$671	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.7	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$86	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$23	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.1%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2220	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1524	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.87	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.3	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.07	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.63	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.52	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.78	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.8	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.66	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40.3	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$63	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$402	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6383	$24117

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766