Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tulum and Medellin

For one person, living is cheaper in Tulum: $1,241 a month against $1,614 in Medellin, rent and utilities included – about $4,500 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

61

Cost of Living Index in Tulum
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Tulum Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Medellin
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Medellin Living Index

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Tulum

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,241

/mo nomad

Medellin

🇨🇴 Colombia

$1,614

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

A single person spends $1,241 per month in Tulum vs $1,614 in Medellin, rent included.

Tulum $1,241
Medellin $1,614

A couple spends around $2,085 per month in Tulum vs $2,402 in Medellin, rent included.

Tulum $2,085
Medellin $2,402

A family of three spends $2,929 per month in Tulum vs $3,190 in Medellin, rent included.

Tulum $2,929
Medellin $3,190

Tulum is about 23% cheaper than Medellin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Tulum sits 8% below the global median, while Medellin is 20% above – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.20 MX$152

$7.93 COP 25.2K

3.40%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$55.1 MX$1,018

$46.13 COP 146.3K

19.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.25 MX$152

$9.50 COP 30.1K

-13.16%

Cappuccino

$3.82 MX$70.5

$3.11 COP 9,866

22.83%

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

$1.12 MX$20.74

$1.83 COP 5,800

-38.80%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.17 MX$21.59

$1.38 COP 4,360

-15.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.94 MX$54.4

$3.05 COP 9,672

-3.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.87 MX$71.5

$5.50 COP 17.4K

-29.64%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.54 MX$28.54

$1.45 COP 4,600

6.21%

White Bread (500g)

$2.05 MX$37.87

$2.36 COP 7,496

-13.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.71 MX$31.69

$1.68 COP 5,328

1.79%

Eggs

$1.92 MX$35.49

$2.86 COP 9,077

-32.87%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$5.37 MX$99.2

$10.19 COP 32.3K

-47.30%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.53 MX$139

$9.53 COP 30.2K

-20.99%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.09 MX$168

$14.04 COP 44.5K

-35.26%

Apples (1kg)

$2.63 MX$48.60

$4.07 COP 12.9K

-35.38%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.35

$1.50 COP 4,742

-8.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.51 MX$27.83

$2.17 COP 6,891

-30.41%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.48 MX$27.32

$2.31 COP 7,310

-35.93%

Potato (1kg)

$2.23 MX$41.12

$1.93 COP 6,113

15.54%

Onion (1kg)

$1.76 MX$32.43

$1.64 COP 5,196

7.32%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.49 MX$27.58

$1.13 COP 3,571

31.86%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.85 MX$15.77

$1.25 COP 3,954

-32.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.49 MX$83.0

$3.99 COP 12.6K

12.53%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.24 MX$152

$13.35 COP 42.3K

-38.28%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.32 MX$24.39

$1.70 COP 5,384

-22.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.29 MX$23.76

$2.37 COP 7,525

-45.57%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.40 MX$25.80

$1.21 COP 3,827

15.70%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$76.5 COP 242.5K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.79 MX$51.6

$1.32 COP 4,179

111.36%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.48 MX$45.88

$2.14 COP 6,774

15.89%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.57 MX$103

$8.47 COP 26.8K

-34.24%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.84

$1.30 COP 4,114

11.54%

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

$21.1K MX$389.5K

$28.0K COP 88.7M

-24.69%

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

$23.5K MX$434.7K

$35.4K COP 112.3M

-33.57%

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

$106 MX$1,967

$172 COP 545.6K

-38.13%

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

$16.36 MX$302

$13.37 COP 42.4K

22.36%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$34.32 MX$634

$28.73 COP 91.1K

19.46%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.91 MX$645

$45.24 COP 143.5K

-22.83%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.04 COP 54.0K

Cinema Ticket

$6.71 MX$124

$6.28 COP 19.9K

6.85%

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

$265 MX$4,900

$770 COP 2.4M

-65.57%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,902 MX$53.6K

$9,011 COP 28.6M

-67.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$41.88 MX$774

$86.4 COP 274.0K

-51.53%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$32.57 MX$602

$57.1 COP 181.1K

-42.99%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$97.1 MX$1,794

$137 COP 432.9K

-28.90%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$58.0 MX$1,072

$97.9 COP 310.4K

-40.75%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$607 MX$11.2K

$1,055 COP 3.3M

-42.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$526 MX$9,714

$616 COP 2.0M

-14.64%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,498 MX$27.7K

$1,892 COP 6.0M

-20.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,273 MX$23.5K

$1,023 COP 3.2M

24.42%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,139 MX$58.0K

$4,059 COP 12.9M

-22.67%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,808 MX$33.4K

$1,678 COP 5.3M

7.70%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$790 MX$14.6K

$652 COP 2.1M

21.04%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.8

10.94

-1.28%

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

Last update for Tulum: October 11, 2026

Last update for Medellin: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tulum

$526 42.4%

Medellin

$616 38.2% 17.1% $90

Groceries & Markets

Tulum

$218 17.6%

Medellin

$295 18.3% 34.9% $76

Eating Out

Tulum

$168 13.5%

Medellin

$168 10.4% 0.4% $0.6

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tulum

$157 12.7%

Medellin

$214 13.3% 36.3% $57

Clothing & Footwear

Tulum

$103 8.3%

Medellin

$170 10.5% 64.7% $67

Sport & Entertainment

Tulum

$48 3.9%

Medellin

$58 3.6% 19.6% $9.5

Getting Around

Tulum

$21 * 1.7%

Medellin

$93 5.8% 349% $73

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $607 in Tulum versus $1,055 in Medellin. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 21% higher in Tulum, which reinforces the cost advantage – you earn more and spend less. Purchasing power leans clearly in its favor.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $55.0 in Tulum versus $46.00 in Medellin. Groceries tell a different story – $218 in Tulum vs $295 in Medellin – so Tulum wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Tulum

🇨🇴 Medellin

🕒 Local time

20:26 8:26 PM

Same time as Tulum

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

46,721

2,486,723

💱 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

Tulum Medellin 2,040 km ≈ 3 h nonstop flight

From you

Tulum
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

Tulum vs Medellin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Medellin is pricier by about 30%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in groceries.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,862 per month in Tulum and $2,421 in Medellin. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Tulum, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $55.0 in Tulum and $46.00 in Medellin. That's a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 35% more in Medellin, though it depends on what you buy. Local produce may be comparable; imported and premium items show the biggest price gap.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Tulum, where all-in costs run around $1,241, than in Medellin at $1,614. In Tulum it covers expenses comfortably, while in Medellin it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Tulum – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

If budget matters most, go with Tulum. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Medellin makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.