Cost of living comparison

compared to

Medellin vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Medellin is 28.6% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% more in Medellin
Groceries: pay 17.4% more in Medellin
Transportation: pay 1.6% more in Medellin
Housing: pay 49.2% more in Medellin
Childcare: pay 25.2% more in Medellin
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.6% less in Medellin
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Medellin

The cost of clothing, housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, and transportation in Medellin are more expensive than in Nairobi. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Medellin.

Medellin vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Medellin instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Medellin
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES750.88	$6.40 COP24,314.59	+10.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES901.06	$7.68 COP29,177.51	+10.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.79	$1.16 COP4,418.62	+65.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES71.04	$0.81 COP3,061.70	+46.7%
Average			+33.2%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.4% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Medellin
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.69	$1.42 COP5,405.22	+160.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES720.08	$2.26 COP8,588.71	-59.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES434.10	$4.18 COP15,869.58	+24.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES212.73	$2.36 COP8,956.02	+43.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES377.51	$2.61 COP9,900.20	-10.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.96	$1.13 COP4,297.52	-19.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.40	$0.48 COP1,840.64	+2.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES115.07	$0.79 COP3,018.77	-10.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES59.01	$0.65 COP2,450.87	+41.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.50	$0.58 COP2,218.04	+18.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.52	$0.51 COP1,946.61	+1.2%
Average			+17.4%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.6% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Medellin
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.38	$3.94 COP14,969.53	-27.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES4,004.71	$43.52 COP165,339.21	+40.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	$18,943.94 COP71,971,186.19	-12.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,202.59	$17.92 COP68,080.85	+5.2%
Average			+1.6%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of transportation

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pay 49.2% more for housing

	Nairobi	Medellin
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,156.50	$25.49 COP96,826.10	-36.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,695.24	$532.59 COP2,023,393.98	+11.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,686.56	$400.83 COP1,522,836.11	+94.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,793.22	$66.50 COP252,654.43	+126.8%
Average			+49.2%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of housing

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pay 25.2% more for childcare

	Nairobi	Medellin
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,992.44	$400.53 COP1,521,689.25	+78.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	$6,297.58 COP23,925,556.49	-28.2%
Average			+25.2%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Medellin
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES300.35	$1.79 COP6,808.09	-22.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES306.55	$1.76 COP6,684.50	-25.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES400.47	$2.30 COP8,753.25	-25.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,859.39	$26.71 COP101,472.89	-41.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES951.12	$3.84 COP14,588.75	-47.8%
Average			-32.6%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Nairobi	Medellin
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,538.28	$66.24 COP251,656.01	+237.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,218.07	$37.24 COP141,466.71	+49.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,785.33	$108.25 COP411,263.92	+59.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,055.48	$110.81 COP420,989.76	+77.9%
Average			+106.2%

Nairobi vs. Medellin - 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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