Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Chiayi and Medellin

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiayi: $1,041 a month against $1,639 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $7,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

50

Cost of Living Index in Chiayi
Learn more

Chiayi Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
Learn more

Medellin Living Index

Jump to prices

Chiayi

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,041

/mo nomad

Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,639

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Chiayi and in Medellin

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Chiayi and in Medellin actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,041 in Chiayi versus $1,639 in Medellin.

Chiayi $1,041
Medellin $1,639

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,471 in Chiayi versus $2,413 in Medellin.

Chiayi $1,471
Medellin $2,413

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,901 in Chiayi versus $3,186 in Medellin.

Chiayi $1,901
Medellin $3,186

Living in Chiayi costs roughly 37% less than in Medellin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

The two cities straddle the global median: Chiayi is 24% below, Medellin is 20% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.59 NT$149

$8.09 COP 25.4K

-43.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$46.34 NT$1,501

$47.05 COP 148.0K

-1.51%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.65 NT$183

$9.50 COP 29.9K

-40.53%

Cappuccino

$3.29 NT$107

$3.01 COP 9,485

9.30%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.85 NT$27.55

$1.80 COP 5,660

-52.78%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.67 NT$21.67

$1.41 COP 4,443

-52.48%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.98 NT$96.6

$3.18 COP 9,990

-6.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.58 NT$116

$5.75 COP 18.1K

-37.74%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.95 NT$95.6

$1.51 COP 4,751

95.36%

White Bread (500g)

$1.95 NT$63.1

$2.38 COP 7,480

-18.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.05 NT$98.9

$1.77 COP 5,573

72.32%

Eggs

$2.63 NT$85.3

$2.89 COP 9,093

-9.00%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$18.97 NT$615

$10.19 COP 32.1K

86.16%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.89 NT$320

$9.87 COP 31.1K

0.20%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.28 NT$690

$13.99 COP 44.0K

52.11%

Apples (1kg)

$4.72 NT$153

$3.97 COP 12.5K

18.89%

Banana (1kg)

$3.28 NT$106

$1.55 COP 4,883

111.61%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.87 NT$92.9

$2.18 COP 6,867

31.65%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.23 NT$137

$2.18 COP 6,870

94.04%

Potato (1kg)

$2.65 NT$85.7

$1.96 COP 6,174

35.20%

Onion (1kg)

$2.20 NT$71.2

$1.59 COP 5,000

38.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.72 NT$55.8

$1.15 COP 3,604

49.57%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.12 NT$36.25

$1.24 COP 3,911

-9.68%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.75 NT$122

$3.96 COP 12.5K

-5.30%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.48 NT$145

$13.68 COP 43.0K

-67.25%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 NT$51.0

$1.66 COP 5,221

-4.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.13 NT$69.1

$2.26 COP 7,103

-5.75%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.17 COP 3,674

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.12 NT$393

$77.4 COP 243.4K

-84.34%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.54 NT$82.3

$1.27 COP 3,989

100.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.45 NT$14.61

$2.05 COP 6,442

-78.05%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.97 NT$291

$8.55 COP 26.9K

4.91%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.00 NT$32.42

$1.35 COP 4,237

-25.93%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$34.1K NT$1.1M

$34.1K COP 107.2M

0.00%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$23.5K NT$761.0K

$34.7K COP 109.1M

-32.25%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$64.7 NT$2,095

$170 COP 533.7K

-61.89%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$17.55 NT$569

$13.55 COP 42.6K

29.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.76 NT$867

$28.07 COP 88.3K

-4.67%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.55 NT$990

$43.70 COP 137.5K

-30.09%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.19 COP 54.1K

Cinema Ticket

$9.62 NT$312

$6.91 COP 21.7K

39.22%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$712 NT$23.1K

$797 COP 2.5M

-10.57%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.1K NT$522.5K

$9,112 COP 28.7M

77.00%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$62.2 NT$2,015

$84.7 COP 266.5K

-26.61%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.01 NT$1,264

$58.0 COP 182.3K

-32.69%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 NT$2,681

$135 COP 424.6K

-38.69%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$102 NT$3,296

$97.9 COP 307.9K

3.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$374 NT$12.1K

$1,208 COP 3.8M

-69.01%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$244 NT$7,890

$642 COP 2.0M

-62.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,028 COP 6.4M

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,012 COP 3.2M

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,070 NT$99.5K

$4,170 COP 13.1M

-26.39%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,843 NT$59.7K

$1,910 COP 6.0M

-3.54%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,038 NT$66.0K

$657 COP 2.1M

210.12%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.4

10.94

-78.06%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Chiayi: October 25, 2026

Last update for Medellin: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Groceries & Markets

Chiayi

$372 35.7%

Medellin

$297 18.1% 20.1% $75

Accommodation & Living

Chiayi

$244 23.4%

Medellin

$642 39.1% 163% $398

Clothing & Footwear

Chiayi

$129 12.4%

Medellin

$169 10.3% 31.5% $40

Eating Out

Chiayi

$121 11.7%

Medellin

$170 10.4% 39.8% $48

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Chiayi

$109 10.5%

Medellin

$211 12.9% 93.9% $102

Sport & Entertainment

Chiayi

$50 4.8%

Medellin

$58 3.5% 15.5% $7.7

Getting Around

Chiayi

$17 * 1.6%

Medellin

$94 5.7% 453% $77

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $374 in Chiayi and $1,208 in Medellin. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Chiayi pays about 3.1 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $46 in Chiayi vs $47 in Medellin. Groceries flip the comparison at $372 vs $297, with Medellin cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Chiayi

🇨🇴 Medellin

🕒 Local time

04:33 4:33 AM

15:33 3:33 PM

13 h behind Chiayi

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

269,874

2,486,723

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Colombian Peso COP $

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.09 USD

100 TWD = 2.77 EUR

10,000 COP = 3.18 USD

10,000 COP = 2.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

COP, USD, EUR to TWD – New Taiwan Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇼 New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 32.4 TWD (100 TWD = 3.09 USD). 1 EUR = 36.07 TWD (100 TWD = 2.77 EUR).

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 3,146 COP (10,000 COP = 3.18 USD). 1 EUR = 3,502 COP (10,000 COP = 2.86 EUR).

USD to TWD in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Chiayi Medellin 16,280 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

Chiayi
Medellin

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Chiayi vs Medellin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Chiayi wins on cost – living expenses run 37% lower than in Medellin. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Chiayi the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Chiayi is about 3.1 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $374 in Chiayi versus $1,208 in Medellin. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $712 in Chiayi versus $797 in Medellin. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

A monthly transit pass in Chiayi runs roughly 84% less than in Medellin. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Chiayi is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.