Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kawagoe and Medellin

For one person, living is cheaper in Kawagoe: $1,075 a month against $1,639 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $6,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

52

Cost of Living Index in Kawagoe
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Kawagoe Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
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Medellin Living Index

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Kawagoe

🇯🇵 Japan

$1,075

/mo nomad

Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,639

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,075 in Kawagoe versus $1,639 in Medellin.

Kawagoe $1,075
Medellin $1,639

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,744 in Kawagoe versus $2,413 in Medellin.

Kawagoe $1,744
Medellin $2,413

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,413 in Kawagoe versus $3,186 in Medellin.

Kawagoe $2,413
Medellin $3,186

Living in Kawagoe costs roughly 34% less than in Medellin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Kawagoe is 21% below, Medellin is 20% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.33 ¥1,000

$8.09 COP 25.6K

-21.76%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$41.23 ¥6,507

$47.05 COP 148.9K

-12.37%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.95 ¥782

$9.50 COP 30.1K

-47.89%

Cappuccino

$3.50 ¥552

$3.01 COP 9,540

16.28%

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

$0.92 ¥145

$1.80 COP 5,693

-48.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.52 ¥82.6

$1.41 COP 4,469

-63.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.91 ¥301

$3.18 COP 10.0K

-39.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.74 ¥432

$5.75 COP 18.2K

-52.35%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.15 ¥182

$1.51 COP 4,778

-23.84%

White Bread (500g)

$1.28 ¥202

$2.38 COP 7,524

-46.22%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.67 ¥579

$1.77 COP 5,606

107.34%

Eggs

$2.08 ¥328

$2.89 COP 9,146

-28.03%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.34 ¥1,001

$10.19 COP 32.2K

-37.78%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.90 ¥932

$9.87 COP 31.2K

-40.22%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.16 ¥2,236

$13.99 COP 44.3K

1.22%

Apples (1kg)

$5.82 ¥918

$3.97 COP 12.6K

46.60%

Banana (1kg)

$2.34 ¥369

$1.55 COP 4,911

50.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.88 ¥455

$2.18 COP 6,907

32.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.12 ¥492

$2.18 COP 6,910

43.12%

Potato (1kg)

$2.54 ¥401

$1.96 COP 6,210

29.59%

Onion (1kg)

$1.85 ¥292

$1.59 COP 5,029

16.35%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.27 ¥201

$1.15 COP 3,625

10.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.76 ¥120

$1.24 COP 3,934

-38.71%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.83 ¥604

$3.96 COP 12.5K

-3.28%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.65 ¥734

$13.68 COP 43.3K

-66.01%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.81 ¥286

$1.66 COP 5,252

9.04%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 ¥320

$2.26 COP 7,145

-10.18%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.97 ¥469

$1.17 COP 3,696

153.85%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$52.8 ¥8,338

$77.4 COP 244.8K

-31.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.11 ¥491

$1.27 COP 4,013

144.88%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.63 ¥415

$2.05 COP 6,480

28.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$20.31 ¥3,205

$8.55 COP 27.1K

137.54%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.06 ¥168

$1.35 COP 4,262

-21.48%

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

$15.6K ¥2.5M

$34.1K COP 107.8M

-54.16%

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

$12.8K ¥2.0M

$34.7K COP 109.7M

-62.97%

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

$133 ¥21.0K

$170 COP 536.8K

-21.64%

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

$22.18 ¥3,500

$13.55 COP 42.9K

63.69%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.10 ¥4,909

$28.07 COP 88.8K

10.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.19 ¥6,817

$43.70 COP 138.3K

-1.17%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$30.97 ¥4,888

$17.19 COP 54.4K

80.16%

Cinema Ticket

$10.95 ¥1,729

$6.91 COP 21.9K

58.47%

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

$320 ¥50.6K

$797 COP 2.5M

-59.77%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$6,292 ¥993.1K

$9,112 COP 28.8M

-30.95%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$31.66 ¥4,997

$84.7 COP 268.1K

-62.63%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.72 ¥5,323

$58.0 COP 183.4K

-41.82%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$43.55 ¥6,874

$135 COP 427.1K

-67.73%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$93.2 ¥14.7K

$97.9 COP 309.7K

-4.75%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$407 ¥64.2K

$1,208 COP 3.8M

-66.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$267 ¥42.1K

$642 COP 2.0M

-58.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$862 ¥136.1K

$2,028 COP 6.4M

-57.48%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$605 ¥95.5K

$1,012 COP 3.2M

-40.22%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,474 ¥390.5K

$4,170 COP 13.2M

-40.67%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,772 ¥279.6K

$1,910 COP 6.0M

-7.26%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,597 ¥252.0K

$657 COP 2.1M

142.98%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

1.6

10.94

-85.37%

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

Last update for Kawagoe: October 26, 2026

Last update for Medellin: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Kawagoe

$267 24.8%

Medellin

$642 39.1% 141% $375

Groceries & Markets

Kawagoe

$257 23.9%

Medellin

$297 18.1% 15.8% $40

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kawagoe

$186 17.3%

Medellin

$211 12.9% 13.5% $25

Eating Out

Kawagoe

$128 11.9%

Medellin

$170 10.4% 32.2% $41

Clothing & Footwear

Kawagoe

$91 8.5%

Medellin

$169 10.3% 85.8% $78

Getting Around

Kawagoe

$81 7.5%

Medellin

$94 5.7% 15.6% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Kawagoe

$65 6.1%

Medellin

$58 3.5% 11.6% $7.6

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $407 in Kawagoe and $1,208 in Medellin. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kawagoe pays about 2.4 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $41 in Kawagoe vs $47 in Medellin for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $257 vs $297 per month, with Kawagoe cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Kawagoe

🇨🇴 Medellin

🕒 Local time

16:32 4:32 PM

02:32 2:32 AM

14 h behind Kawagoe

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

350,745

2,486,723

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Colombian Peso COP $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.34 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.68 EUR

10,000 COP = 3.16 USD

10,000 COP = 2.83 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

COP, USD, EUR to JPY – Japanese Yen Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇯🇵 Japanese Yen (¥)

Japanese Yen exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.34 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.68 EUR).

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 3,164 COP (10,000 COP = 3.16 USD). 1 EUR = 3,531 COP (10,000 COP = 2.83 EUR).

USD to JPY in detail →

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Kawagoe Medellin 14,060 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Kawagoe
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

Kawagoe vs Medellin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,075 in Kawagoe and $1,639 in Medellin, so Kawagoe is about 34% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Kawagoe is about 2.4 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: $407 in Kawagoe versus $1,208 in Medellin. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Kawagoe – a meal for two runs $41 versus $47 in Medellin. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,075 per month in Kawagoe versus $1,639 in Medellin – Kawagoe is about 34% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Kawagoe gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.

Expats usually find Kawagoe gentler on the wallet – expenses run 34% less than in Medellin. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.