Medellin vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medellin	Santiago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$906	$1133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2260	$2851
🏠 One person rent	$408	$502
🏘️ Family rent	$761	$950
🍽️ Food expenses	$275	$373
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$159
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$432	$777
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	66	91
😀 Quality of life	53	77
🏙️ Population	2.53M	6.26M

The cost of living in Medellin is 20% less expensive than in Santiago. Cities ranked 6005th and 4686th ($906 vs $1133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Colombia and Chile, respectively. Check Colombia vs Chile comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medellin compared to 0.7 months in Santiago. Medellin ranked 2nd best city to live in Colombia vs Santiago ranked 1st in Chile, while ranked 6049th and 764th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Medellin vs Santiago infographic

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Prices in Medellin vs Santiago

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

	Medellin	Santiago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.13	$12.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$47.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.21	$8.28
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.02	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$1.92	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$1.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$439	$490
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$312	$386
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$851	$956
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$618	$777
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.3	$75.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.5	$117
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.9	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	14.16%	5.21%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1715	$3078
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1447	$3323
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.79	$0.86
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.1	$43.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.5	$10.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.3	$1.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.6
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.33	$4.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.44	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$6.31
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.62	$10.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.98
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$2.04
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.79
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.54
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.83	$2.33
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$5.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.13	$1.5
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.41	$5.34
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.41	$4.52
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.4	$4.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.85	$2.39
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.28	$3.09
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.3	$38.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.57	$6.35
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.1	$46.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$16.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$64	$53.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.4	$74.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$292	$414
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5682	$8040

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 Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$875
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$930
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$759
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$720
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$798
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$827
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$833
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$832
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1074
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$874
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$805
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$920
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$765
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$812
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$823
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$815
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$790
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$835
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$511
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$814
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$860
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$768
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$735
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$642
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$807
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$814
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$731
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$750
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$671
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$902
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$810
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$722
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$800
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$762
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$710
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$793
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$791
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$786
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$680
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$731