Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Kurume and Medellin

For one person, living is cheaper in Kurume: $986 a month against $1,639 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $7,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

47

Cost of Living Index in Kurume
Learn more

Kurume Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
Learn more

Medellin Living Index

Jump to prices

Kurume

🇯🇵 Japan

$986

/mo nomad

Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,639

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $986 in Kurume versus $1,639 in Medellin.

Kurume $986
Medellin $1,639

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,555 in Kurume versus $2,413 in Medellin.

Kurume $1,555
Medellin $2,413

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,124 in Kurume versus $3,186 in Medellin.

Kurume $2,124
Medellin $3,186

Living in Kurume costs roughly 40% less than in Medellin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Kurume is 28% below, Medellin is 20% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.30 ¥679

$8.09 COP 25.4K

-46.85%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.56 ¥6,720

$47.05 COP 148.0K

-9.54%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.85 ¥607

$9.50 COP 29.9K

-59.47%

Cappuccino

$1.88 ¥298

$3.01 COP 9,485

-37.54%

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

$0.69 ¥108

$1.80 COP 5,660

-61.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.53 ¥84.3

$1.41 COP 4,443

-62.41%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.13 ¥494

$3.18 COP 9,990

-1.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.63 ¥257

$5.75 COP 18.1K

-71.65%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.30 ¥206

$1.51 COP 4,751

-13.91%

White Bread (500g)

$1.29 ¥203

$2.38 COP 7,480

-45.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$5.01 ¥791

$1.77 COP 5,573

183.05%

Eggs

$1.87 ¥296

$2.89 COP 9,093

-35.29%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.95 ¥2,834

$10.19 COP 32.1K

76.15%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.52 ¥872

$9.87 COP 31.1K

-44.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.22 ¥3,034

$13.99 COP 44.0K

37.38%

Apples (1kg)

$3.54 ¥559

$3.97 COP 12.5K

-10.83%

Banana (1kg)

$1.86 ¥294

$1.55 COP 4,883

20.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.92 ¥461

$2.18 COP 6,867

33.94%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.25 ¥514

$2.18 COP 6,870

49.08%

Potato (1kg)

$2.20 ¥348

$1.96 COP 6,174

12.24%

Onion (1kg)

$2.62 ¥413

$1.59 COP 5,000

64.78%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.04 ¥165

$1.15 COP 3,604

-9.57%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.96 ¥152

$1.24 COP 3,911

-22.58%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.57 ¥564

$3.96 COP 12.5K

-9.85%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.52 ¥1,030

$13.68 COP 43.0K

-52.34%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.68 ¥265

$1.66 COP 5,221

1.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.10 ¥174

$2.26 COP 7,103

-51.33%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.47 ¥233

$1.17 COP 3,674

25.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$58.0 ¥9,163

$77.4 COP 243.4K

-24.98%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.15 ¥655

$1.27 COP 3,989

226.77%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.31 ¥365

$2.05 COP 6,442

12.68%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$17.66 ¥2,788

$8.55 COP 26.9K

106.55%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.65 ¥103

$1.35 COP 4,237

-51.85%

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

$22.6K ¥3.6M

$34.1K COP 107.2M

-33.75%

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

$15.2K ¥2.4M

$34.7K COP 109.1M

-56.02%

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

$215 ¥34.0K

$170 COP 533.7K

26.91%

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

$24.93 ¥3,937

$13.55 COP 42.6K

83.99%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$22.65 ¥3,576

$28.07 COP 88.3K

-19.31%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$55.8 ¥8,806

$43.70 COP 137.5K

27.62%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.19 COP 54.1K

Cinema Ticket

$6.91 ¥1,091

$6.91 COP 21.7K

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

$695 ¥109.7K

$797 COP 2.5M

-12.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.5K ¥2.0M

$9,112 COP 28.7M

37.24%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$48.99 ¥7,735

$84.7 COP 266.5K

-42.17%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$12.62 ¥1,992

$58.0 COP 182.3K

-78.23%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$25.10 ¥3,962

$135 COP 424.6K

-81.40%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$31.59 ¥4,987

$97.9 COP 307.9K

-67.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$549 ¥86.7K

$1,208 COP 3.8M

-54.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$127 ¥20.1K

$642 COP 2.0M

-80.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$485 ¥76.6K

$2,028 COP 6.4M

-76.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$318 ¥50.2K

$1,012 COP 3.2M

-68.57%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,977 ¥627.8K

$4,170 COP 13.1M

-4.64%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,146 ¥338.9K

$1,910 COP 6.0M

12.35%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,510 ¥238.4K

$657 COP 2.1M

129.76%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

1.97

10.94

-81.99%

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

Last update for Kurume: October 24, 2026

Last update for Medellin: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Kurume

$301 30.5%

Medellin

$297 18.1% 1.2% $3.7

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Kurume

$263 26.7%

Medellin

$211 12.9% 19.6% $52

Accommodation & Living

Kurume

$127 12.9%

Medellin

$642 39.1% 404% $514

Eating Out

Kurume

$92 9.4%

Medellin

$170 10.4% 83.7% $77

Getting Around

Kurume

$80 8.1%

Medellin

$94 5.7% 17.4% $14

Sport & Entertainment

Kurume

$70 7.1%

Medellin

$58 3.5% 17.3% $12

Clothing & Footwear

Kurume

$53 5.4%

Medellin

$169 10.3% 218% $116

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $549 in Kurume and $1,208 in Medellin. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kurume pays about 2.3 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43 in Kurume vs $47 in Medellin. Groceries flip the comparison at $301 vs $297, with Medellin cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇯🇵 Kurume

🇨🇴 Medellin

🕒 Local time

23:28 11:28 PM

09:28 9:28 AM

14 h behind Kurume

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

303,316

2,486,723

💱 Currency

Japanese Yen JPY ¥

Colombian Peso COP $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD

1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR

10,000 COP = 3.18 USD

10,000 COP = 2.86 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 28, 2026: 1 USD = 158 JPY (1,000 JPY = 6.33 USD). 1 EUR = 176 JPY (1,000 JPY = 5.69 EUR).

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 3,146 COP (10,000 COP = 3.18 USD). 1 EUR = 3,501 COP (10,000 COP = 2.86 EUR).

USD to JPY in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Kurume Medellin 14,820 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Kurume
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

Kurume vs Medellin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Kurume and Medellin differ by about 66% in total monthly costs ($986 vs $1,639 including rent). Kurume is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Kurume is about 2.3 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: $549 in Kurume versus $1,208 in Medellin. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $695 in Kurume versus $797 in Medellin. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Kurume – a meal for two runs $43 versus $47 in Medellin. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $986 in Kurume versus $1,639 in Medellin, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Kurume but tight or insufficient in Medellin. The gap between the two cities makes Kurume the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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.