Medellin vs Rotterdam - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Medellin	Rotterdam
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1030	$2615
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2487	$6248
🏠 One person rent	$494	$1599
🏘️ Family rent	$843	$2836
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$653
🚐 Transport expenses	$142	$206
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$552	$3894
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	66	94
😀 Quality of life	60	94
🏙️ Population	2.53M	664K

The cost of living in Medellin is 61% less expensive than in Rotterdam. Cities ranked 5342nd and 689th ($1030 vs $2615) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 5th in Colombia and the Netherlands, respectively. Check Colombia vs the Netherlands comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 1.5 months in Rotterdam. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Rotterdam ranked 5th in the Netherlands, while ranked 5890th and 67th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Medellin vs Rotterdam infographic

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Prices in Medellin vs Rotterdam

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

	Medellin	Rotterdam
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.21	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.9	$91.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.86	$14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.78	$7.86
☕ Cappuccino	$2.07	$4.59
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$3.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$542	$1583
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$383	$1310
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$987	$2846
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$671	$2421
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.7	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$86	$272
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$23	$57.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.1%	3.99%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2220	$6107
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1524	$4426
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.87	$4.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.3	$76
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$33.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.07	$2.3
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$2.38
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.53	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$14
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.11	$14.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$18.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$3.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$2.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$2.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$4.92
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.93
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.63	$1.2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$3.96
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$7.15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.52	$14.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.78	$8.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.89	$5.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$1.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.8	$48.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.66	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40.3	$41
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$22.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$63	$101
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$131
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$402	$2107
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6383	$13809

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 Rotterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.4 mi	Ridderkerk	$2329
13 km or 8 mi	Delft	$2228
19 km or 12 mi	Leidschendam	$2392
21 km or 13 mi	The Hague	$2581
23 km or 14 mi	Sliedrecht	$2262
25 km or 16 mi	Scheveningen	$2374
26 km or 16 mi	Leiden	$2222
27 km or 17 mi	Oegstgeest	$2134
41 km or 25 mi	Etten-Leur	$2057
43 km or 27 mi	Breda	$2087
43 km or 27 mi	Roosendaal	$2175
47 km or 29 mi	Utrecht	$2718
49 km or 30 mi	Bergen op Zoom	$2224
50 km or 31 mi	Zandvoort	$1846
52 km or 32 mi	Haarlem	$2589
54 km or 34 mi	Zaltbommel	$2302
55 km or 34 mi	Zeist	$2414
56 km or 35 mi	Tilburg	$2238
59 km or 36 mi	Amsterdam	$3118
59 km or 37 mi	Hilversum	$2568
60 km or 38 mi	IJmuiden	$2252
61 km or 38 mi	Hoogstraten	$1701
62 km or 39 mi	Goes	$2374
63 km or 39 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2263
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2706
67 km or 42 mi	Huizen	$2256
72 km or 45 mi	Almere	$2230
73 km or 45 mi	Purmerend	$2178
74 km or 46 mi	Veenendaal	$1829
74 km or 46 mi	Turnhout	$1639
76 km or 47 mi	Middelburg	$2089
79 km or 49 mi	Antwerp	$1818
81 km or 51 mi	Wageningen	$2318
82 km or 51 mi	Beveren	$1804
82 km or 51 mi	Ede	$1860
83 km or 52 mi	Uden	$2359
84 km or 52 mi	Mortsel	$1696
85 km or 53 mi	Veldhoven	$2168
87 km or 54 mi	Herentals	$1512
88 km or 54 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1671