Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cochrane and Medellin

For one person, living is cheaper in Cochrane: $1,074 a month against $1,614 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $6,500 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Medellin outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

52

Cost of Living Index in Cochrane
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Cochrane Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
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Medellin Living Index

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Cochrane

🇨🇦 Canada

$1,074

/mo nomad

Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,614

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cochrane 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 Cochrane and in Medellin actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,074 in Cochrane versus $1,614 in Medellin.

Cochrane $1,074
Medellin $1,614

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,385 in Cochrane versus $2,402 in Medellin.

Cochrane $2,385
Medellin $2,402

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,696 in Cochrane versus $3,190 in Medellin.

Cochrane $3,696
Medellin $3,190

Living in Cochrane costs roughly 33% less than in Medellin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

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

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.47 CA$24.70

$7.93 COP 25.2K

120.30%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$70.2 CA$99.3

$46.13 COP 146.3K

52.24%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.90 CA$14.00

$9.50 COP 30.1K

4.21%

Cappuccino

$3.82 CA$5.40

$3.11 COP 9,866

22.83%

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

$2.33 CA$3.29

$1.83 COP 5,800

27.32%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.62 CA$2.29

$1.38 COP 4,360

17.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.69 CA$8.04

$3.05 COP 9,672

86.56%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.72 CA$8.08

$5.50 COP 17.4K

4.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.56 CA$2.20

$1.45 COP 4,600

7.59%

White Bread (500g)

$2.07 CA$2.93

$2.36 COP 7,496

-12.29%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.98 CA$4.21

$1.68 COP 5,328

77.38%

Eggs

$3.22 CA$4.55

$2.86 COP 9,077

12.59%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.58 CA$12.13

$10.19 COP 32.3K

-15.80%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.42 CA$11.90

$9.53 COP 30.2K

-11.65%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.57 CA$12.12

$14.04 COP 44.5K

-38.96%

Apples (1kg)

$4.29 CA$6.07

$4.07 COP 12.9K

5.41%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 CA$1.94

$1.50 COP 4,742

-8.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$4.38 CA$6.19

$2.17 COP 6,891

101.84%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.43 CA$2.03

$2.31 COP 7,310

-38.10%

Potato (1kg)

$1.37 CA$1.94

$1.93 COP 6,113

-29.02%

Onion (1kg)

$1.77 CA$2.50

$1.64 COP 5,196

7.93%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.43 CA$3.44

$1.13 COP 3,571

115.04%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.75 CA$2.48

$1.25 COP 3,954

40.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$13.80 CA$19.51

$3.99 COP 12.6K

245.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.16 CA$11.54

$13.35 COP 42.3K

-38.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.08 CA$4.36

$1.70 COP 5,384

81.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.96 CA$4.18

$2.37 COP 7,525

24.89%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.46 CA$4.89

$1.21 COP 3,827

185.95%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$76.5 COP 242.5K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.92 CA$4.13

$1.32 COP 4,179

121.21%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.38 CA$1.95

$2.14 COP 6,774

-35.51%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$21.32 CA$30.15

$8.47 COP 26.8K

151.71%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 CA$1.50

$1.30 COP 4,114

-18.46%

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

$27.6K CA$39.0K

$28.0K COP 88.7M

-1.33%

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

$19.5K CA$27.6K

$35.4K COP 112.3M

-44.80%

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

$207 CA$292

$172 COP 545.6K

20.17%

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

$42.87 CA$60.6

$13.37 COP 42.4K

220.64%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$54.4 CA$76.9

$28.73 COP 91.1K

89.28%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.82 CA$63.4

$45.24 COP 143.5K

-0.93%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.04 COP 54.0K

Cinema Ticket

$12.90 CA$18.24

$6.28 COP 19.9K

105.41%

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

$752 CA$1,063

$770 COP 2.4M

-2.38%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$9,571 CA$13.5K

$9,011 COP 28.6M

6.21%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$42.60 CA$60.2

$86.4 COP 274.0K

-50.70%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.15 CA$63.8

$57.1 COP 181.1K

-20.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.3 CA$118

$137 COP 432.9K

-38.96%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$94.7 CA$134

$97.9 COP 310.4K

-3.24%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,182 CA$1,671

$1,055 COP 3.3M

12.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$616 COP 2.0M

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,725 CA$2,438

$1,892 COP 6.0M

-8.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,344 CA$1,900

$1,023 COP 3.2M

31.39%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$22.6K CA$31.9K

$4,059 COP 12.9M

455.93%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,678 COP 5.3M

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,061 CA$5,740

$652 COP 2.1M

522.44%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.32

10.94

-60.51%

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

Last update for Cochrane: October 11, 2026

Last update for Medellin: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cochrane

$304 28.3%

Medellin

$214 13.3% 29.6% $90

Groceries & Markets

Cochrane

$285 26.5%

Medellin

$295 18.3% 3.4% $9.6

Eating Out

Cochrane

$271 25.2%

Medellin

$168 10.4% 37.9% $103

Clothing & Footwear

Cochrane

$120 11.1%

Medellin

$170 10.5% 42.2% $50

Sport & Entertainment

Cochrane

$71 6.6%

Medellin

$58 3.6% 18.2% $13

Getting Around

Cochrane

$24 * 2.2%

Medellin

$93 5.8% 294% $70

Accommodation & Living

Cochrane

- * 0%

Medellin

$616 38.2%

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 $1,182 in Cochrane and $1,055 in Medellin. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Cochrane pays 522% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $70.0 in Cochrane vs $46.00 in Medellin. Groceries flip the comparison at $285 vs $295, with Cochrane cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇨🇦 Cochrane

🇨🇴 Medellin

🕒 Local time

02:42 2:42 AM

03:42 3:42 AM

1 h ahead of Cochrane

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

26,000

2,486,723

💱 Currency

Canadian Dollar CAD $

Colombian Peso COP $

📈 Exchange rate

1 CAD = 0.707 USD

1 CAD = 0.629 EUR

10,000 COP = 3.15 USD

10,000 COP = 2.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

COP, USD, EUR to CAD – Canadian Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇦 Canadian Dollar ($)

Canadian Dollar exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 1.41 CAD (1 CAD = 0.707 USD). 1 EUR = 1.59 CAD (1 CAD = 0.629 EUR).

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 3,171 COP (10,000 COP = 3.15 USD). 1 EUR = 3,565 COP (10,000 COP = 2.81 EUR).

USD to CAD in detail →

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Between locations

Cochrane Medellin 6,140 km ≈ 8 h nonstop flight

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Cochrane
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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

Cochrane vs Medellin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cochrane wins on cost – living expenses run 50% lower than in Medellin. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Cochrane the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 522% higher in Cochrane, 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: $1,182 in Cochrane versus $1,055 in Medellin. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 3% higher in Medellin. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,074 per month in Cochrane versus $1,614 in Medellin – a 50% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,074 in Cochrane versus $1,614 in Medellin, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Cochrane but tight or insufficient in Medellin. The gap between the two cities makes Cochrane the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Cochrane delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,074 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Cochrane hard to pass up.

Expats usually find Cochrane gentler on the wallet – expenses run 50% less than in Medellin. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.