2.19/5
117 reviews
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Cali

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salsa

learn

major

great

kind

pacific

weather

beautiful

country

Cali offers a warm and consistent climate year-round and is known for its friendly and welcoming locals. It’s a great destination for learning salsa, with many affordable classes and an active nightlife scene shaped around this iconic dance style. Living costs are generally low, though imported goods can be relatively pricey. The city is also a good base for trips to Colombia’s Pacific coast and Coffee region, offering budget-friendly travel options and weekend escapes within easy reach.

However, safety is a notable concern. Petty crime is common enough that many recommend caution with valuables and using ride-hailing apps like Uber at night. Women, in particular, report frequent catcalling. The city also struggles with poor road and sidewalk infrastructure, contributing to heavy traffic and making transportation a hassle in some areas.

Despite the downsides, for those willing to adapt and stay aware of their surroundings, Cali provides an affordable, culturally rich experience with warm weather and welcoming people.

AI-generated summary of reviews

The salsa capital of the world. If you want to learn how to dance, go here. There are so many great places to learn and practice and at a fraction of learning anywhere else. The people are some of the most loving and kind people I've ever encountered. It's a bit of a party scene. You can also access the pacific very easily from Cali. The weather is always beautiful. As is the case with any Latin American country, you need to develop a 6th sense for your belongings and surroundings. Don't pull out your phone in the streets, and take Ubers after dark, as there is a risk of getting robbed.

2 years ago

Cali has beautiful weather and kind, friendly people. You will need to use Spanish here so it is a great place to learn. Locals are very patient with novice speakers. The city has many green spaces and weekend travel to the Pacific region and Coffee country is possible as well as inexpensive flights to other major cities in Colombia. Salsa is king here so it is worth taking lessons, as this is a major part of the city's nightlife. You can live quite cheaply here but expect foreign or imported foods, liquor, and goods to be similar or more expensive than prices back home. The terrible traffic and poor road and sidewalk infrastructure is a major downside. Also expect frequent and sometimes gross catcalling as a woman living here.

6 years ago

Dangerous and the salsa wears out after a while...

7 years ago

✅ Warm all year

✅ Friendly people

✅ Very affordable

✅ Great for learning salsa

✅ Good access to nearby travel spots

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Warm now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ 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)

❌ Can be dangerous

❌ Bad traffic and infrastructure

❌ Frequent catcalling

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not safe at all

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Not much to do

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ 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)

28°C / 82°F warm

24°C / 75°F warm

28°C / 82°F warm

29°C / 84°F warm

28°C / 82°F warm

25°C / 77°F warm

24°C / 75°F warm

Real (median)

26°C / 78°F
warm

24°C / 75°F
warm

26°C / 78°F
warm

26°C / 79°F
warm

26°C / 78°F
warm

25°C / 77°F
warm

24°C / 75°F
warm

Humidity

nice
82%

nice
80%

nice
82%

nice
81%

nice
76%

nice
78%

nice
79%

nice
82%

nice
83%

Most common

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
344mm

rainy
276mm

rainy
312mm

rainy
305mm

rainy
220mm

rainy
133mm

rainy
123mm

rainy
150mm

rainy
217mm

rainy
379mm

rainy
302mm

rainy
363mm

Cloud

cloudy
51%

cloudy
54%

cloudy
57%

cloudy
61%

cloudy
58%

cloudy
57%

pockets
49%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
50%

cloudy
57%

cloudy
58%

cloudy
56%

Air quality

clean
44 US AQI

clean
43 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
33 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
27 US AQI

clean
32 US AQI

clean
36 US AQI

clean
42 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

500 people

425 people

333 people

240 people

350 people

500 people

286 people

400 people

286 people

433 people

422 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.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Cali's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Project Coordinator @ Lead Bank
	Associate Program Manager @ Lead Bank
	Manager Maintenance @ Commonwealth Fusion Systems
	Software Engineer Infrastructure @ Gauntlet
	Software Engineer Data @ Gauntlet
	Software Engineer III Frontend @ Shippo
	HQ Senior Frontend Engineer @ Job&Talent
	Brand Designer @ Contra
	Motion Designer @ Contra
	Lead Product Designer @ Stealth
	DeFi Researcher @ Gauntlet

Help pick the best photos for Cali and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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78pts

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36pts

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72pts

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Salento

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°

✈️14min

$1,557 / mo

7 Mbps

Pasto

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59°

✈️21min

$1,043 / mo

8 Mbps

Bogota

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58° AQI 107 😷

✈️24min

$1,102 / mo

8 Mbps

Medellín

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 14° 57° 14° 56° AQI 70 😷

✈️26min

$1,416 / mo

9 Mbps

Quito

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 59° AQI 64 😷

✈️36min

$2,088 / mo

9 Mbps

Bucaramanga

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 24° 75° 24° 75°

✈️45min

$1,007 / mo

7 Mbps

Intag Valley

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 10° 50° 10° 51°

✈️48min

$2,073 / mo

26 Mbps

Panama City

Panama

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 36° 97° 30° 86° 🥵

✈️56min

$2,500 / mo

10 Mbps

Guayaquil

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 35° 95° 29° 84° 🥵

✈️58min

$1,339 / mo

7 Mbps

Montanita

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 25° 77° 25° 77°

✈️60min

$2,945 / mo

16 Mbps

Cuenca

Ecuador

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 16° 61° 16° 62° AQI 41

✈️1h

$1,312 / mo

7 Mbps

Cartagena

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° 🥵

✈️1h

$1,557 / mo

8 Mbps

Bogota

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58° AQI 107 😷

✈️24min

$1,102 / mo

🌇 Also went here71 people

Medellín

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 14° 57° 14° 56° AQI 70 😷

✈️26min

$1,416 / mo

🌇 Also went here92 people

Cartagena

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 34° 93° 29° 84° 🥵

✈️1h

$1,557 / mo

🌇 Also went here61 people

Lima

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 89 😷

✈️2h

$1,335 / mo

🌇 Also went here47 people

Cusco

Peru

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 14° 57° 14° 57°

✈️3h

$1,396 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Mexico City

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 24° 75° 24° 76° AQI 117 😷

✈️4h

$1,894 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

New York City, NY

United States

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64°

✈️6h

$7,708 / mo

🌇 Also went here44 people

Buenos Aires

Argentina

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 17° 63° 17° 63°

✈️6h

$1,623 / mo

🌇 Also went here57 people

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 25° 77° 25° 76°

✈️6h

$2,115 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 24° 75° 24° 74° AQI 33

✈️10h

$3,954 / mo

🌇 Also went here47 people

Madrid

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 29

✈️11h

$4,503 / mo

🌇 Also went here44 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 20° 68° 19° 65° AQI 85 😷

✈️12h

$5,977 / mo

🌇 Also went here45 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 18° 64° 17° 63° AQI 55 😷

✈️12h

$5,201 / mo

🌇 Also went here49 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 28

✈️12h

$5,381 / mo

🌇 Also went here45 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 44° 111° 35° 95° 🥵 AQI 52 😷

✈️24h

$1,512 / mo

🌇 Also went here40 people

Members here right now

No members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!

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.

⭐️ Total score	2.19/5 (Rank #727) 117 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍2 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,157 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 9Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 24°C75°F (feels 24°C75°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 87%
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 27 US AQI
👌 Safety	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Very bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $484 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Okay
🏥 Hospitals	Good
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Colombia
🗓️ Average trip length	8 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	9 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 24°C 75°F + 😊 Comfy (87%) = feels 24°C 75°F
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 27 US AQI
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Tappsi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10,000 COP in USD	USD 2.35
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	COP 1,000,000 = USD 235
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best coworking space	Cowork Cali
☕️ Best coffee place	Juan Valdez Café
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	10% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	2,000,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,806 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 44% 👱‍♀️ 56%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 79% 👱‍♀️ 21%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Falabella
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Copa Airlines
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Avianca

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,157 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$569 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,080 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$309 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$783 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$808 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$188 / month
🏠 Median home price	$65,681
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$37 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$26 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$200 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$1
👩‍🏫 International school	$4,892 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$4 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$6 / trip