Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Medellín vs Bucharest

One person needs about €968 a month in Medellín and €1,095 in Bucharest, rent included — Medellín is 13% cheaper overall.

🇨🇴
Medellín
Colombia · 2.5M pop
vs
🇷🇴
Bucharest
Romania · 1.8M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€600€650
8% pricier
Groceries / mo
€220€230
5% pricier
Eating out (meal)
€6€10
67% pricier
Internet (100mbps)
€20€10
50% cheaper
Avg salary (tech)
€1,300€2,600
100% higher
Coworking / mo
€120€110
8% cheaper
MedellínBucharest
Rent€600€650
Groceries€220€230
Transport€25€15
Utilities€55€110

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

€3,394/ month net

13% more than today (+€394)

Medellín today
Basket €968 · left over €2,032 (68%)
Bucharest at the matched salary
Basket €1,095 · left over €2,299 (68%)

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

🇨🇴 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

🇷🇴 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

Should you move to Medellín or Bucharest?

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

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

More Medellín comparisons

More Bucharest comparisons