Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madrid vs. Cartagena Cost of Living Summary
Madrid is 29.9% more expensive than Cartagena.
Madrid vs. Cartagena Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madrid instead of Cartagena, you would:
pay 77.5% more for restaurants
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$5.71
COP18,489.52
|
$17.92
€16.07
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.21
COP33,031.91
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.51
COP8,138.85
|
$3.30
€2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.31
COP7,472.56
|
$2.30
€2.06
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of restaurants
pay 24.5% less for groceries
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.78
COP8,994.90
|
$1.57
€1.41
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.61
COP21,387.88
|
$8.35
€7.49
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$7.05
COP22,811.88
|
$5.25
€4.71
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.86
COP15,741.08
|
$4.15
€3.72
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.82
COP25,296.15
|
$4.23
€3.79
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.17
€1.05
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.96
€0.86
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.15
€1.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.16
€1.04
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$1.00
€0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.97
€0.87
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of groceries
pay 5.7% more for transportation
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.91
COP15,878.35
|
$6.88
€6.17
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$57.81
COP187K
|
$36.95
€33.15
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$23,157.99
COP75M
|
$35,271.67
€31,643.98
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.28
COP111K
|
$15.84
€14.21
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of transportation
pay 83.2% more for housing
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
?? |
$34.86
€31.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,028.35
COP3M
|
$1,491.38
€1,337.99
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$574.35
COP2M
|
$1,193.86
€1,071.07
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$59.04
COP191K
|
$144.11
€129.28
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of housing
pay 83.9% more for childcare
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$617.63
COP2M
|
$668.48
€599.73
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$5,713.07
COP18M
|
$17,859.91
€16,023.02
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of childcare
pay 10.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.21
COP10,394.11
|
$3.92
€3.52
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.32
COP13,992.07
|
$3.07
€2.76
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$6.72
€6.03
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$93.02
COP301K
|
$50.67
€45.46
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$8.03
COP25,985.28
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Cartagena
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$86.50
€77.60
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$42.98
€38.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$108.99
€97.78
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$112.77
€101.17
|
Cartagena vs. Madrid - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Cartagena vs. Madrid
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