Cost of living comparison

compared to

United States vs. Cartagena Cost of Living Summary

United States is 2.7 times more expensive than Cartagena.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in United States
Groceries: pay 85.8% more in United States
Transportation: pay 39.5% more in United States
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in United States
Childcare: pay 5.9 times more in United States
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9 times more in United States
Clothing: pay 10.5% less in United States

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, groceries, and transportation in United States are more expensive than in Cartagena. Notably, childcare, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in United States.

United States vs. Cartagena Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United States instead of Cartagena, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Cartagena	United States
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.08 COP22,715.62	$19.45	+219.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.99 COP37,308.58	$11.12	+11.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 COP3,304.04	$2.56	+189.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 COP2,624.90	$2.00	+185.2%
Average			+151.3%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of restaurants

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pay 85.8% more for groceries

	Cartagena	United States
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 COP7,522.37	$3.56	+76.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.71 COP13,854.92	$6.50	+75.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.75 COP17,746.46	$3.97	-16.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.30 COP8,602.94	$4.27	+85.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 COP11,005.17	$5.41	+83.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 COP5,841.66	$2.37	+51.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 COP3,507.62	$0.78	-16.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 COP2,674.56	$2.04	+184.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 COP2,923.02	$2.21	+182.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 COP2,849.94	$1.34	+76.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 COP1,973.04	$1.38	+162.0%
Average			+85.8%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.5% more for transportation

	Cartagena	United States
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.99 COP14,904.28	$3.41	-14.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.54 COP114,061.42	$65.85	+115.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,645.31 COP84,579,446.12	$32,336.38	+42.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.45 COP57,716.72	$17.61	+14.0%
Average			+39.5%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Cartagena	United States
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.66 COP99,562.09	$68.97	+158.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$776.41 COP2,899,866.72	$1,664.59	+114.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.77 COP1,687,354.70	$1,416.15	+213.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$115.21 COP430,309.35	$150.19	+30.4%
Average			+129.3%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of housing

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pay 5.9 times more for childcare

	Cartagena	United States
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$151.40 COP565,474.01	$1,387.27	+816.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,058.12 COP33,831,778.45	$23,196.46	+156.1%
Average			+486.2%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Cartagena	United States
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.91 COP3,383.18	$5.84	+544.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.68 COP6,283.04	$5.15	+206.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.46 COP9,182.91	$9.90	+302.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.46 COP139,918.57	$51.45	+37.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.11 COP11,599.47	$13.64	+339.1%
Average			+285.9%

Cartagena vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.5% less for clothing

	Cartagena	United States
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.76 COP193,324.45	$51.08	-1.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.41 COP154,659.56	$41.81	+1.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$133.72 COP499,421.49	$87.56	-34.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.77 COP451,090.38	$112.04	-7.2%
Average			-10.5%

Cartagena vs. United States - 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: November 2025

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