Cartagena vs. New York City Cost of Living Summary

Cartagena is 59.5% cheaper than New York City.

Restaurants
pay 58.7% less in Cartagena
Groceries
pay 15.0% less in Cartagena
Transportation
pay 22.2% less in Cartagena
Housing
pay 77.8% less in Cartagena
Childcare
pay 86.9% less in Cartagena
Entertainment and Sports
pay 48.7% less in Cartagena

Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries are lower in Cartagena.

Cartagena vs. New York City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cartagena instead of New York City, you would:

pay 58.7% less for restaurants

 
New York City
Cartagena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $26.50
 
$5.71
COP18,489.52
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$14.50
 
$10.21
COP33,031.91
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.95
 
$2.51
COP8,138.85

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pay 15.0% less for groceries

 
New York City
Cartagena
Bread
1 loaf
$4.78
 
$2.78
COP8,994.90
Local cheese (8 oz) $9.47
 
$6.61
COP21,387.88
Milk (1 gallon) $5.13
 
$7.05
COP22,811.88

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pay 22.2% less for transportation

 
New York City
Cartagena
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.31
 
$4.91
COP15,878.35
Monthly public transit pass $140.00
 
$57.81
COP187K
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,458.00
 
$23,157.99
COP75M

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pay 77.8% less for housing

 
New York City
Cartagena
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$71.57
 
??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $4,447.32
 
$1,028.35
COP3M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $3,217.65
 
$574.35
COP2M

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pay 86.9% less for childcare

 
New York City
Cartagena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $3,379.10
 
$617.63
COP2M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $60,882.67
 
$5,713.07
COP18M

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pay 48.7% less for entertainment and sports

 
New York City
Cartagena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.50
 
$3.21
COP10,394.11
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.50
 
$4.32
COP13,992.07
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$19.00
 
??

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
New York City
Cartagena
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$75.86
 
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$54.45
 
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$120.38
 
??

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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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