3.72/5
880 reviews
Photo by Random Institute via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Bogota

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great

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worst

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medellin

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chapinero

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called

Bogotá is regarded by many as a hidden gem, particularly for digital nomads or expats looking for a less tourist-saturated city than Medellín. The city offers fast internet and full access to global apps and services, with many coworking spaces and coliving buildings. Areas like Chico, Rosales, and Usaquén are safe, have quality amenities, and offer a high standard of living for a reasonable cost. The restaurant and nightlife scenes are especially strong in more affluent neighborhoods, with both high-end and casual options available. Basic services, healthcare, and education are accessible and generally affordable for foreigners earning USD.

However, Bogotá is a highly stratified city, and where you live drastically affects your experience. The southern parts are widely noted as unsafe and experiencing poor infrastructure. Heavy traffic is a daily issue, and road conditions are poor, especially during rain. Pollution is a recurring complaint, although often cleared somewhat by the frequent rainfall. While the city has its cultural upsides—such as museums, music, and art—the overall cleanliness and amount of tourist attractions are limited. Some reviewers felt bored quickly and noted that long-term living may not suit everyone. Still, it remains a practical, affordable, and authentic option for certain types of residents.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Lived here for 6 months 2X over the last few years. This city is so under the radar. While medellin is overrun with gringos you will find very few here. International food is quite good and you will even find michelen starred restos here. Internet is great, and many cafes or coworking/weworks to work out of. Bogota is a tech capital in latam, so a decent place to farm out work, although dont expect mass english proficiency.
Women here are very good looking but more of the "classy" type versus the reggaeton video types you see in medellin. If you can find a solid gf/wife you will never leave trust me colombian women are one of a kind.
Traffic is some of the worst so make sure you can walk everywhere you gotta go or alternatively only travel outside of rush hour. Has all your favorite apps like uber and rappi as well. Rappi was actually invented here. Where you stay really matters as the class divide in Bogota is huge. Personally lived in Chico which I loved. Other people say rosales is good and if you like suburban life usaquen. South of the city is a no go, and probably a warzone. Night life is decent and has all types from classy to grungy. Chapinero and 85 are good for parties. Careful in chapinero at night, dont drink too much. Safety can be a problem mainly at night but if you live in chico,rosales, usaquen you dont really need to worry so much. Also Bogota is one of the most creative cities not just latam but worldwide. A true haven for artists of all types, big graffiti culture, and a ton of cool museums. Place is generally cheap if you earn dollars, but if you wanna spend big there are places. Also good for people on a budget as well. Weather wise it rains a lot and almost has a permanent "fall feeling". If you love fall its the place for you. Pollution can be bad so avoid high traffic areas in rush hour, but rain clears away pollution. For me personally Bogota is a true hidden gem, and an awesome place.

3 years ago

Lived in Bogota for 2 months, living with a local was great. The Bogota restaurant scene was amazing if you stay mostly in the tourist or rich parts of Bogota, outside of the tourist parts I only found a couple of good restaurants. I lived in the center and lived in the south of the city. Avoid the South like the plague, didn’t feel safe, low-quality infrastructure, and poor-quality restaurants. Only stay in the touristy areas as the traffic is some of the worst in the world. The weather was ok, not very cold and can have some hot days. Road quality is some of the worst in the world, I was constantly dodging potholes and if it rains the traffic becomes quite terrible. Pollution I found to be quite bad

Dating for me was pretty good, a lot better than Medellin that’s for sure.
The city itself after a few days you have seen it all and you will need to go on day trips for things to do. The city wasn’t very clean to be honest and I wouldn’t walk the streets alone at night.
Has great malls, cinemas, and medical care.
Not the worst city but not the best, I wouldn’t recommend it for long-term living. Happy to leave 5/10.

3 years ago

I've moved here permanently. Kids are in an elite school for $600pm, and I'm the only non-Colombian parent. I'm surprised there aren't more foreigners. Going to Gringo Tuesdays is a very touristy thing, I only ever went once everyone is 25 and trying to get laid basically, and its P$11,000 a beer, my local pub sells beer for $P2,000 by comparison. The longer you are here the more you discover. The "centre" of the city is really from 83rd-93rd-115th roughly, 83rd has loads of great clubs and restaurants and getting an uber at 2am is perfectly safe. Don't be hanging round calle 13 or something, visit and leave before dark! The further north you go the safer it is, above Parque 93 its probably safer than NY. There are a lot of WeWorks and the internet is super fast, I have 350MB broadband in my house, a six bedroom house with 1/4 acre garden for $400k. ScotiaBank/Colpatria gives you the best exchange rate.

4 years ago

Strongly agree that this is an underrated city! If you want to buckle down and get some work done, it's a great place to be. Folks here are a bit more serious and business minded, and it comes with generally good internet and functioning services around the city. There are a number of cool coliving buildings that make life really fun. I stayed in one called Plura Coliving for about $700/month. You get a private room/bathroom + gym, spa, bar, restaurant, laundry, coworking, rec rooms, etc. all built into the same building. Awesome place to stay!! Knowing Spanish will be more helpful, since the nomad community is much smaller than Medellín, but if you want a more authentic experience it's a great place to meet locals. Go to "Gringo Tuesday" nights at a local bar called Vintrash while you are there, great vibes and lots of fun people to meet!

4 years ago

Wildly underrated city. Lots of great restaurants, bars, nice people and wonderful museums and parks

5 years ago

I was at Bogota for two weeks last month and did not felt like doing much tourism. Its a packed city, traffic jam at its worse and a wierd vibe. Im not a city guy, though internet its great and services run 24/7. I stayed at a comercial barrio, Muequeta, in front of a uni, which felt safer.

5 years ago

I was told I was staying in an insecure part of the city by a local, but I really, truly didn't notice anything too sketchy. Walked down some bad roads, but no one tended much to be on them.

5 years ago

Nice city. Need cash in many places still hence long lines for ATMs. Safe. Pretty. Goes from cloudy to sunny to cloudy to sunny. Take a bike tour to see the city. I stay in Chapinero which was nice. There a gym called Body Tech and they'll let you work out there for free your first time. No water fountains though so bring your own.

7 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good restaurants

✅ Affordable cost of living

✅ Underrated city

✅ Functioning infrastructure in good areas

✅ Good expat/work amenities (e.g., coworking spaces, coliving)

✅ Safe in wealthier neighborhoods

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Democratic

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Heavy traffic

❌ Pollution

❌ Unsafe in southern/less affluent areas

❌ Poor road quality

❌ Not very clean

❌ Limited tourist attractions

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not safe at all

❌ Not much to do

❌ Gets cold in the summer

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Feels crowded

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

1661°
cool

1559°
cool

1661°
cool

1559°
cool

1661°
cool

1559°
cool

1661°
cool

1763°
cool

1661°
cool

1763°
cool

Real (median)

1661°
cool

1660°
cool

1559°
cool

1660°
cool

1559°
cool

1661°
cool

1762°
cool

1661°
cool

1762°
cool

Humidity

damp
78%

damp
82%

damp
85%

damp
86%

damp
87%

damp
86%

damp
84%

damp
83%

damp
80%

damp
85%

damp
88%

damp
84%

Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
80mm

rainy
51mm

rainy
143mm

rainy
151mm

rainy
51mm

dry
28mm

dry
25mm

dry
16mm

dry
21mm

rainy
55mm

rainy
68mm

dry
47mm

Cloud

cloudy
71%

cloudy
88%

cloudy
89%

cloudy
88%

cloudy
85%

cloudy
81%

cloudy
83%

cloudy
79%

cloudy
84%

cloudy
85%

cloudy
76%

Air quality

okay
71 US AQI

okay
58 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

okay
58 US AQI

okay
82 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

6,120 people

4,575 people

4,920 people

4,457 people

4,125 people

3,943 people

3,680 people

4,850 people

4,000 people

5,815 people

4,431 people

4,129 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

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Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

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26 Mbps

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 28° 82° 26° 79° Some AC AQI 20

✈️20min

$2,485 / mo

🌇 Also went here522 people

Cartagena

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 39° 102° 31° 87° Has AC 🥵

✈️53min

$2,909 / mo

🌇 Also went here289 people

Lima

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 34° 93° 28° 82° Has AC AQI 60 😷

✈️24h

$1,672 / mo

🌇 Also went here332 people

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.72/5 (Rank #97) 880 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍9 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,054 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 11 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 A bit cold: 18°C64°F (feels 18°C64°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 69%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 19 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 58 US AQI
👌 Safety	Bad
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very poor: $484 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
😤 People density	😤 Dense: 17k ppl/km² (1 per 8x8m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Colombia
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	11 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 18°C 64°F + 😊 Comfy (69%) = feels 18°C 64°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 19 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 58 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Engativá
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Santa Fé
🚕 Best taxi app*	Tappsi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10,000 COP in USD	USD 3.22
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	COP 1,000,000 = USD 322
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best coworking space	Atom House
💻 Best alt. coworking space	HubBOG
☕️ Best coffee place	Juan Valdez Café
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍16% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	1,260,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	24,148 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	11,000,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,806 / year
😤 Population density	😤 crowded: 8x8m (64m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 45% 👱‍♀️ 55%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Falabella
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Copa Airlines
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Avianca

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,054 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,551 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$3,273 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$935 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$613 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,992 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$734 / month
🏠 Median home price	$128,957
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$29 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$65 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$153 / month
🍛 Dinner	$8
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
👩‍🏫 International school	$6,626 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$8 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$8 / trip

Cost of Living in Bogota

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