Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Medellin and Haikou

For one person, living is cheaper in Haikou: $813 a month against $1,639 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $9,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
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Medellin Living Index
39

Cost of Living Index in Haikou
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Haikou Living Index

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Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,639

/mo nomad

Haikou

🇨🇳 China

$813

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Medellin and in Haikou

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,639 in Medellin versus $813 in Haikou.

Medellin $1,639
Haikou $813

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,413 in Medellin versus $1,165 in Haikou.

Medellin $2,413
Haikou $1,165

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,186 in Medellin versus $1,516 in Haikou.

Medellin $3,186
Haikou $1,516

Living in Medellin is roughly 102% more expensive than in Haikou, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Medellin is 20% above, Haikou is 40% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.09 COP 26.1K

$4.49 ¥29.83

80.18%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$47.05 COP 151.9K

$14.88 ¥98.9

216.20%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.50 COP 30.7K

$5.93 ¥39.40

60.20%

Cappuccino

$3.01 COP 9,735

$2.50 ¥16.59

20.40%

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

$1.80 COP 5,809

$0.84 ¥5.58

114.29%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.41 COP 4,561

$0.37 ¥2.44

281.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.18 COP 10.3K

$1.52 ¥10.07

109.21%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.75 COP 18.6K

$2.77 ¥18.41

107.58%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.51 COP 4,876

$2.12 ¥14.10

-28.77%

White Bread (500g)

$2.38 COP 7,678

$1.41 ¥9.37

68.79%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.77 COP 5,720

$0.69 ¥4.59

156.52%

Eggs

$2.89 COP 9,333

$1.37 ¥9.11

110.95%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.19 COP 32.9K

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.87 COP 31.9K

$3.97 ¥26.39

148.61%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.99 COP 45.2K

$15.52 ¥103

-9.86%

Apples (1kg)

$3.97 COP 12.8K

$1.75 ¥11.62

126.86%

Banana (1kg)

$1.55 COP 5,012

$0.93 ¥6.20

66.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.18 COP 7,048

$1.09 ¥7.26

100.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.18 COP 7,051

$0.94 ¥6.23

131.91%

Potato (1kg)

$1.96 COP 6,337

$0.86 ¥5.72

127.91%

Onion (1kg)

$1.59 COP 5,132

$0.74 ¥4.89

114.86%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 COP 3,699

$0.43 ¥2.88

167.44%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 COP 4,014

$0.56 ¥3.72

121.43%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.96 COP 12.8K

$3.17 ¥21.08

24.92%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.68 COP 44.2K

$9.01 ¥59.9

51.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.66 COP 5,359

$0.62 ¥4.14

167.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.26 COP 7,291

$1.17 ¥7.76

93.16%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.17 COP 3,771

$0.86 ¥5.70

36.05%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$77.4 COP 249.8K

$54.9 ¥365

40.88%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.27 COP 4,094

$2.29 ¥15.23

-44.54%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.05 COP 6,612

$0.47 ¥3.13

336.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.55 COP 27.6K

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.35 COP 4,349

$1.27 ¥8.46

6.30%

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

$34.1K COP 110.0M

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

$34.7K COP 111.9M

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

$170 COP 547.8K

$36.44 ¥242

365.56%

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

$13.55 COP 43.8K

$13.45 ¥89.4

0.74%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.07 COP 90.6K

$13.72 ¥91.2

104.59%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.70 COP 141.1K

$46.34 ¥308

-5.70%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.19 COP 55.5K

$6.51 ¥43.24

164.06%

Cinema Ticket

$6.91 COP 22.3K

$4.62 ¥30.70

49.57%

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

$797 COP 2.6M

$871 ¥5,787

-8.52%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$9,112 COP 29.4M

$19.7K ¥131.1K

-53.83%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$84.7 COP 273.5K

$27.29 ¥181

210.44%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$58.0 COP 187.2K

$35.76 ¥238

62.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$135 COP 435.8K

$44.30 ¥294

204.65%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$97.9 COP 316.0K

$38.38 ¥255

155.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,208 COP 3.9M

$370 ¥2,460

226.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$642 COP 2.1M

$294 ¥1,954

118.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,028 COP 6.5M

$571 ¥3,796

254.91%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,012 COP 3.3M

$374 ¥2,485

170.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,170 COP 13.5M

$3,265 ¥21.7K

27.73%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,910 COP 6.2M

$2,136 ¥14.2K

-10.57%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$657 COP 2.1M

$715 ¥4,750

-8.08%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.94

3.85

184.16%

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

Last update for Medellin: October 25, 2026

Last update for Haikou: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Medellin

$642 39.1%

Haikou

$294 36.2% 54.2% $348

Groceries & Markets

Medellin

$297 18.1%

Haikou

$169 * 20.8% 43% $128

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Medellin

$211 12.9%

Haikou

$64 7.8% 69.9% $148

Eating Out

Medellin

$170 10.4%

Haikou

$102 12.5% 40.1% $68

Clothing & Footwear

Medellin

$169 10.3%

Haikou

$66 8.1% 61.2% $103

Getting Around

Medellin

$94 5.7%

Haikou

$63 7.8% 32.7% $31

Sport & Entertainment

Medellin

$58 3.5%

Haikou

$56 6.8% 3.4% $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 $1,208 in Medellin and $370 in Haikou. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Haikou pays 9% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $47 in Medellin vs $15 in Haikou for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $297 vs $169 per month, with Haikou cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇴 Medellin

🇨🇳 Haikou

🕒 Local time

23:43 11:43 PM

12:43 12:43 PM

13 h ahead of Medellin

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,486,723

2,873,358

💱 Currency

Colombian Peso COP $

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 COP = 3.1 USD

10,000 COP = 2.77 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to COP – Colombian Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇴 Colombian Peso ($)

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 3,229 COP (10,000 COP = 3.1 USD). 1 EUR = 3,605 COP (10,000 COP = 2.77 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.64 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.42 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 EUR).

USD to COP in detail →

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Between locations

Medellin Haikou 17,020 km ≈ 22 h nonstop flight

From you

Medellin
Haikou

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

Medellin vs Haikou: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,639 in Medellin and $813 in Haikou, so Haikou is about 50% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 8% lower in Medellin. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,208 in Medellin versus $370 in Haikou. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $1,639 per month in Medellin versus $813 in Haikou – Haikou is about 50% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Haikou runs roughly 29% less than in Medellin. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $813 in Haikou versus $1,639 in Medellin, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Haikou but tight or insufficient in Medellin. The gap between the two cities makes Haikou 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.

Expats usually find Haikou 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.