Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cartagena vs. Barranquilla Cost of Living Summary

Cartagena is 53.1% more expensive than Barranquilla.

Restaurants: pay 9.1% more in Cartagena
Groceries: pay 31.7% more in Cartagena
Transportation: pay 3.5% less in Cartagena
Housing: pay 77.1% more in Cartagena
Childcare: pay 3.5 times more in Cartagena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.8% less in Cartagena
Clothing: pay 15.8% more in Cartagena

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, clothing, and restaurants in Cartagena are more expensive than in Barranquilla. Expenses including entertainment and sports and transportation are lower in Cartagena. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Cartagena.

Cartagena vs. Barranquilla Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cartagena instead of Barranquilla, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.1% more for restaurants

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.18 COP19,664.76	$6.08 COP23,106.09	+17.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.77 COP33,331.76	$9.99 COP37,949.89	+13.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 COP3,576.53	$0.88 COP3,360.84	-6.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 COP2,403.47	$0.70 COP2,670.02	+11.1%
Average			+9.1%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.7% more for groceries

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Bread 1 loaf	$1.39 COP5,262.37	$2.01 COP7,651.68	+45.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.45 COP9,322.38	$3.71 COP14,093.07	+51.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.94 COP14,966.75	$4.75 COP18,051.51	+20.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 COP7,810.45	$2.30 COP8,750.82	+12.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.48 COP9,421.72	$2.95 COP11,194.34	+18.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 COP5,184.63	$1.56 COP5,942.07	+14.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 COP2,428.25	$0.94 COP3,567.92	+46.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 COP2,844.47	$0.72 COP2,720.54	-4.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 COP1,494.07	$0.78 COP2,973.26	+99.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 COP1,704.45	$0.76 COP2,898.93	+70.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.71 COP2,708.45	$0.53 COP2,006.95	-25.9%
Average			+31.7%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5% less for transportation

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.94 COP14,984.10	$3.99 COP15,160.48	+1.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.94 COP132,737.10	$30.54 COP116,022.06	-12.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,175.22 COP61,452,361.81	$22,645.31 COP86,033,306.54	+40.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.92 COP102,256.73	$15.45 COP58,708.83	-42.6%
Average			-3.5%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of transportation

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pay 77.1% more for housing

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.99 COP87,344.29	$26.66 COP101,273.49	+15.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$258.80 COP983,237.79	$776.41 COP2,949,713.37	+200.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$235.51 COP894,746.39	$451.77 COP1,716,359.12	+91.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$114.30 COP434,245.00	$115.21 COP437,706.07	+0.8%
Average			+77.1%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of housing

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pay 3.5 times more for childcare

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$64.70 COP245,809.45	$151.40 COP575,194.11	+134.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,941.03 COP7,374,283.42	$9,058.12 COP34,413,322.61	+366.7%
Average			+250.3%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.55 COP5,899.43	$0.91 COP3,441.33	-41.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 COP7,865.90	$1.68 COP6,391.05	-18.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.98 COP11,307.23	$2.46 COP9,340.76	-17.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.65 COP86,033.31	$37.46 COP142,323.67	+65.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 COP17,206.66	$3.11 COP11,798.85	-31.4%
Average			-8.8%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% more for clothing

	Barranquilla	Cartagena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.99 COP250,725.64	$51.76 COP196,647.56	-21.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.94 COP216,312.31	$41.41 COP157,318.05	-27.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.41 COP324,468.47	$133.72 COP508,006.19	+56.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.64 COP294,971.34	$120.77 COP458,844.30	+55.6%
Average			+15.8%

Barranquilla vs. Cartagena - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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