Cartagena vs Medellín for couples
Cartagena and Medellín are both in Colombia, about 462 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Close on cost: we estimate about €2,140 a month for a couple living centrally in Cartagena and €2,195 in Medellín.
Taxes
Same country, same tax: Colombia is in our low to medium tax tier.
Climate
Cartagena is 8°C warmer on average over the year: 28°C against 20°C in Medellín. Cartagena is drier, with about 951 mm of rain a year against 2,481 mm in Medellín (62% less).
Safety
Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 45 out of 100.
Healthcare
Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 65 out of 100.
Internet
Our broadband figure is country-level: about 130 Mbps median fixed download in both.
Language
Main languages in both: Spanish. English proficiency is rated the same in both: limited English.
Residency and visas
Same country, same rules: long-term residency in Colombia is rated comparatively open, with a self-funded route from about $4,932 a month in income.
Which one fits a couple
As two cities in Colombia, Cartagena and Medellín share every country-level figure, and no factor we score puts either clearly ahead. What sets them apart: Cartagena is 8°C warmer on average (28°C against 20°C); Medellín is wetter, with 2,481 mm of rain a year against 951 mm; Medellín is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Cartagena a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people); Cartagena is coastal and Medellín inland. They are 462 km apart.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Cartagena, Medellín and 913 other cities for both of you at once.