Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monterrey and Duitama

For one person, living is cheaper in Duitama: $1,282 a month against $1,608 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $3,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

79

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index
63

Cost of Living Index in Duitama
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Duitama Living Index

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Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Duitama

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,282

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monterrey and in Duitama

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Monterrey versus $1,282 in Duitama.

Monterrey $1,608
Duitama $1,282

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,521 in Monterrey versus $2,026 in Duitama.

Monterrey $2,521
Duitama $2,026

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,433 in Monterrey versus $2,770 in Duitama.

Monterrey $3,433
Duitama $2,770

Living in Monterrey is roughly 25% more expensive than in Duitama, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Monterrey is 19% above, Duitama is 5% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.85 MX$256

$7.92 COP 25.1K

74.87%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$49.70 MX$918

$42.97 COP 136.3K

15.66%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.05 MX$204

$10.28 COP 32.6K

7.49%

Cappuccino

$4.09 MX$75.6

$2.60 COP 8,254

57.31%

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

$1.68 MX$30.97

$1.35 COP 4,280

24.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$18.98

$0.85 COP 2,681

21.18%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.40 MX$44.28

$2.02 COP 6,401

18.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.35 MX$80.3

$3.96 COP 12.6K

9.85%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 MX$35.55

$1.66 COP 5,251

15.66%

White Bread (500g)

$2.94 MX$54.2

$2.53 COP 8,007

16.21%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.88 MX$34.66

$1.63 COP 5,175

15.34%

Eggs

$2.55 MX$47.06

$3.51 COP 11.1K

-27.35%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.84 MX$219

$7.77 COP 24.6K

52.38%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.36 MX$173

$7.37 COP 23.4K

27.00%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.10 MX$242

$10.00 COP 31.7K

31.00%

Apples (1kg)

$3.38 MX$62.5

$3.56 COP 11.3K

-5.06%

Banana (1kg)

$1.52 MX$28.13

$1.75 COP 5,553

-13.14%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.19 MX$40.51

$1.90 COP 6,040

15.26%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.36 MX$43.63

$1.78 COP 5,635

32.58%

Potato (1kg)

$2.26 MX$41.76

$1.42 COP 4,516

59.15%

Onion (1kg)

$2.73 MX$50.5

$1.38 COP 4,367

97.83%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.52 MX$28.17

$1.34 COP 4,238

13.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.24 MX$22.90

$1.18 COP 3,745

5.08%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.75 MX$87.8

$4.42 COP 14.0K

7.47%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.66 MX$252

$12.62 COP 40.0K

8.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.89 MX$34.95

$1.39 COP 4,397

35.97%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.99 MX$55.2

$2.86 COP 9,080

4.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.85 MX$15.78

$1.14 COP 3,612

-25.44%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$30.95 MX$572

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.68 MX$30.98

$2.41 COP 7,641

-30.29%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.13 MX$20.87

$2.31 COP 7,336

-51.08%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.15 MX$206

$9.41 COP 29.8K

18.49%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.56 MX$28.91

$1.34 COP 4,263

16.42%

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

$21.4K MX$395.8K

$23.3K COP 74.0M

-8.18%

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

$25.1K MX$463.2K

$34.8K COP 110.4M

-28.02%

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

$119 MX$2,206

$126 COP 399.4K

-5.23%

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

$26.21 MX$484

$16.01 COP 50.8K

63.71%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.78 MX$495

$29.98 COP 95.1K

-10.67%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.03 MX$573

$42.07 COP 133.4K

-26.24%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.43 MX$396

Cinema Ticket

$5.29 MX$97.7

$8.02 COP 25.4K

-34.04%

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

$691 MX$12.8K

$500 COP 1.6M

38.10%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.5K MX$212.1K

$7,438 COP 23.6M

54.30%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$72.3 MX$1,335

$83.2 COP 263.7K

-13.14%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.72 MX$789

$48.43 COP 153.6K

-11.79%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 MX$2,024

$142 COP 448.9K

-22.63%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,158

$105 COP 333.2K

11.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$970 MX$17.9K

$591 COP 1.9M

64.09%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$664 MX$12.3K

$449 COP 1.4M

47.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,857 MX$34.3K

$1,053 COP 3.3M

76.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,287 MX$23.8K

$931 COP 3.0M

38.31%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,162 MX$76.9K

$2,232 COP 7.1M

86.47%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,349 MX$43.4K

$1,787 COP 5.7M

31.48%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,146 MX$21.2K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.79

12.81

-7.96%

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

Last update for Monterrey: October 10, 2026

Last update for Duitama: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monterrey

$664 41.3%

Duitama

$449 35% 32.3% $214

Groceries & Markets

Monterrey

$310 19.3%

Duitama

$262 20.4% 15.7% $49

Eating Out

Monterrey

$225 14%

Duitama

$152 11.9% 32.2% $72

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monterrey

$172 10.7%

Duitama

$172 13.4% 0.2% $0.4

Clothing & Footwear

Monterrey

$154 9.6%

Duitama

$170 13.3% 10.8% $17

Getting Around

Monterrey

$42 2.6%

Duitama

$19 * 1.5% 55.5% $23

Sport & Entertainment

Monterrey

$42 2.6%

Duitama

$58 4.5% 39.6% $16

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 $970 in Monterrey and $591 in Duitama. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $50.0 in Monterrey vs $43.00 in Duitama for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $310 vs $262 per month, with Duitama cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🇨🇴 Duitama

🕒 Local time

23:37 11:37 PM

00:37 12:37 AM

1 h ahead of Monterrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,142,994

126,670

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Colombian Peso COP $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

10,000 COP = 3.15 USD

10,000 COP = 2.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

COP, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Colombian Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 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 MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Monterrey Duitama 3,640 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight

From you

Monterrey
Duitama

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

Monterrey vs Duitama: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Duitama wins on cost – living expenses run 25% lower than in Monterrey. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Duitama the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You'd need roughly $2,412 in Monterrey and $1,923 in Duitama to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $970 in Monterrey versus $591 in Duitama. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 19% higher in Monterrey. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,608 per month in Monterrey versus $1,282 in Duitama – a 25% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,282 in Duitama versus $1,608 in Monterrey, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Duitama but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes Duitama the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Duitama delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,282 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Duitama hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Monterrey and Duitama are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Duitama gentler on the wallet – expenses run 25% less than in Monterrey. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.