Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cartagena vs. Colombia Cost of Living Summary

Cartagena is 17.5% more expensive than Colombia overall.

Restaurants: pay 12.1% more in Cartagena
Groceries: pay 28.5% more in Cartagena
Transportation: pay 0.4% less in Cartagena
Housing: pay 67.4% more in Cartagena
Childcare: pay 34.6% less in Cartagena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.0% more in Cartagena
Clothing: pay 27.7% more in Cartagena

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

Cartagena vs. Colombia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 12.1% more for restaurants

	Colombia	Cartagena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.20 COP17,293.49	$5.43 COP22,332.32	+29.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.62 COP27,248.78	$8.08 COP33,260.90	+22.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 COP3,228.84	$0.73 COP2,998.82	-7.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 COP2,450.69	$0.62 COP2,553.24	+4.2%
Average			+12.1%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.5% more for groceries

	Colombia	Cartagena
Bread 1 loaf	$1.27 COP5,233.58	$1.46 COP6,015.11	+14.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.16 COP8,907.89	$3.15 COP12,947.99	+45.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.88 COP15,972.20	$3.60 COP14,808.97	-7.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.02 COP8,317.03	$1.98 COP8,161.27	-1.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.19 COP9,008.27	$2.39 COP9,838.82	+9.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 COP4,409.85	$1.63 COP6,711.52	+52.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 COP1,871.83	$0.73 COP3,017.38	+61.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.55 COP2,271.17	$0.73 COP3,017.38	+32.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 COP1,882.61	$0.59 COP2,413.91	+28.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 COP2,059.74	$0.79 COP3,232.91	+57.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 COP1,864.04	$0.55 COP2,263.04	+21.4%
Average			+28.5%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.4% less for transportation

	Colombia	Cartagena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.05 COP12,569.07	$2.81 COP11,547.65	-8.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.31 COP141,198.61	$21.08 COP86,767.57	-38.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,642.99 COP72,608,845.37	$17,318.49 COP71,273,360.77	-1.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.10 COP58,020.04	$20.67 COP85,052.88	+46.6%
Average			-0.4%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.4% more for housing

	Colombia	Cartagena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.88 COP94,147.45	$29.98 COP123,382.11	+31.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$272.41 COP1,121,101.42	$692.74 COP2,850,934.43	+154.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$235.87 COP970,713.55	$315.58 COP1,298,759.02	+33.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$66.40 COP273,277.37	$99.71 COP410,330.92	+50.2%
Average			+67.4%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of housing

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pay 34.6% less for childcare

	Colombia	Cartagena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$190.65 COP784,628.63	$124.69 COP513,168.20	-34.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,364.51 COP17,961,939.46	??
Average			-34.6%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombia	Cartagena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.15 COP4,748.76	$1.73 COP7,127.34	+50.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.40 COP5,779.12	$1.54 COP6,335.41	+9.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.09 COP8,612.20	$2.31 COP9,503.11	+10.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.45 COP92,410.84	$29.10 COP119,739.25	+29.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.65 COP15,037.28	$4.04 COP16,630.45	+10.6%
Average			+22.0%

Colombia vs. Cartagena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.7% more for clothing

	Colombia	Cartagena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.02 COP214,086.97	$58.11 COP239,161.72	+11.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.22 COP157,312.40	$36.95 COP152,049.84	-3.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.60 COP335,840.60	$119.31 COP490,994.26	+46.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.09 COP284,320.26	$107.76 COP443,478.69	+56.0%
Average			+27.7%

Colombia 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: March 2025

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