Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Bucharest vs Medellín

One person needs about €1,095 a month in Bucharest and €968 in Medellín, rent included — Medellín is 12% cheaper overall.

🇷🇴
Bucharest
Romania · 1.8M pop
vs
🇨🇴
Medellín
Colombia · 2.5M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€650€600
8% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€230€220
4% cheaper
Eating out (meal)
€10€6
40% cheaper
Internet (100mbps)
€10€20
100% pricier
Avg salary (tech)
€2,600€1,300
50% lower
Coworking / mo
€110€120
9% pricier
BucharestMedellín
Rent€650€600
Groceries€230€220
Transport€15€25
Utilities€110€55

Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle

Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.

To live in Medellín the way you live in Bucharest on €3,000, you need

€2,652/ month net

12% less than today (-€348)

Bucharest today
Basket €1,095 · left over €1,905 (64%)
Medellín at the matched salary
Basket €968 · left over €1,684 (63%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 134% over in Medellín (adequate) vs 237% in Bucharest. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇷🇴 Bucharest

Europe's fastest internet and lowest utility bills, with a booming IT sector.

Monthly budget: €1,095

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

🇨🇴 Medellín

Spring weather year-round and the cheapest nomad hub in the Americas.

Monthly budget: €968

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

Should you move to Bucharest or Medellín?

On salary, Bucharest pays more for tech roles (€2,600 versus €1,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,505 in Bucharest at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €650 in Bucharest against €600 in Medellín. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Bucharest at 77 and Medellín at 76 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Bucharest comparisons

More Medellín comparisons