Medellin vs Recife - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medellin	Recife
🚶 Cost of living one person	$906	$671
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2260	$1826
🏠 One person rent	$408	$285
🏘️ Family rent	$761	$541
🍽️ Food expenses	$275	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$79.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$432	$413
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	66	54
😀 Quality of life	53	54
🏙️ Population	2.53M	1.49M

The cost of living in Medellin is 35% more expensive than in Recife. Cities ranked 6005th and 7055th ($906 vs $671) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 43rd in Colombia and Brazil, respectively. Check Colombia vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 0.6 months in Recife. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Recife ranked 19th in Brazil, while ranked 6049th and 5998th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Medellin vs Recife infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/medellin/recife.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Medellin vs Recife infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/medellin/recife" target="_blank">Medellin vs Recife - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Medellin vs Recife

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

	Medellin	Recife
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.13	$4.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$22.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.21	$6.33
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$1.38
☕ Cappuccino	$1.92	$1.91
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$439	$316
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$312	$198
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$851	$549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$618	$427
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.3	$47.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.5	$73.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.9	$16.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	14.16%	13.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1715	$1247
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1447	$723
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.79	$0.72
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.1	$35.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.5	$6.49
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.16
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.3	$1.13
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.33	$2.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.44	$7.04
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$3.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.62	$6.96
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.18
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$1.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.25
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.01
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.83	$1.64
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$6.95
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.41	$1.66
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.41	$3.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.4	$3.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.85	$1.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.28	$1.04
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.3	$17.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.57	$6.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$52
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$7.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$64	$45
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.4	$71.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$292	$269
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5682	$14050

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	$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 Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$588
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$567
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$446
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$677
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$607
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$563
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$551
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$615
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$503
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$538
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$610
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$572
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$667
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$547
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$571
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$563
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$591
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$569
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$561
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$560
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$412
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$527
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$550
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$565
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$534
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$563
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$597
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$553
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$603
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$545
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$561
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$604
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$554
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$540
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$745
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$531
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$428
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$685
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$595
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$509