Asunción vs Cartagena
In short
Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.
Rent
✓in Asunción cheaper — −44%
Family budget
≈ about equal≈ $633₲3,732,432 and ≈ $639COP 2,099,220 per month
Ready-made house
✓in Asunción cheaper — −10%
In numbers
Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.
House or apartment rent
per month✓Asunción≈ $763–1,020₲4.5–6Mcheaper by 44%Cartagena≈ $1,070–2,140COP 3.5–7.04MFamily groceries
per monthalmost equalAsunción≈ $280₲1,650,472Cartagena≈ $290COP 953,232Family budget
per monthalmost equalAsunción≈ $633₲3,732,432Cartagena≈ $639COP 2,099,220Winter
averageAsunción18 °C18 °CCartagena24–31 °C24–31 °CPrecipitation
per yearAsunción1,433 mm1,433 mmCartagena1,017 mm1,017 mmReady-made house
purchase✓Asunción$195–420k$195–420kcheaper by 10%Cartagena≈ $228–453kCOP 750–1,487.5M
By topic
A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.
Housing
Asunción
A 2–3 bedroom apartment in Villa Morra, Carmelitas or Recoleta is PYG 4.5–6 million a month, that is $770–1,020. Utilities on top.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
A house in Asunción is most often $195–420k, with the middle around $300k. In guaraní, in cheaper areas the same houses go for PYG 400–900 million, that is $68–153k.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora are half the price of the city: a two-room apartment is PYG 2.5–4.5 million, that is $425–770. The price for this is the rush-hour drive.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
A three-bedroom apartment by listings: median 5.5 million pesos a month (about 1,640 dollars), half within 3.5-7 million. In stratum 6 the median is 6.8 million.
SpecialistFincaraíz: three-bedroom apartments for rent in Cartagena · checked 6 Oct 2026
A resale three-bedroom by listings: median 975 million pesos (about 290 thousand dollars), half within 750 million - 1.49 billion. Mostly Bocagrande and Castillogrande.
SpecialistFincaraíz: three-bedroom apartments for sale in Cartagena · checked 6 Oct 2026
Money and prices
Asunción
The minimum food basket in the city is PYG 412,618 per person a month, for a family of four about 1.65 million, that is about $280.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 28 Sep 2026
The poverty line is PYG 933,108 per person, for a family of four 3.73 million without housing. With rent in a decent area, from 8–10 million.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
The DANE minimum food basket for Cartagena is 238,308 pesos per person a month, about 953 thousand (285 dollars) for a family of four. Figures for 2025.
OfficialDANE: monetary poverty 2025, presentation of results with poverty lines by city · checked 6 Oct 2026
A family of four in Cartagena counts as poor with income below 2.1 million pesos a month, about 630 dollars (2025). 34.6% of residents are poor, more than in Medellín and Cali.
OfficialDANE: monetary poverty 2025, presentation of results with poverty lines by city · checked 6 Oct 2026
Family and kids
Asunción
Monthly fees at the well-known schools average PYG 3 million, above the minimum wage. For specific schools, from 2.19 to 4.26 million.
SpecialistEl Nacional: monthly fees at private schools in Asunción for the 2026 school year · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
Nothing yet
Healthcare
Asunción
Asunción has private sanatoriums with paediatric cardiology, paediatric haematology, intensive care and their own diagnostics. Nationally beds are few: 1.04 per thousand people.
SpecialistSanatorio Migone Battilana: list of specialties · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
Hospital Serena del Mar of the Santa Fe de Bogotá foundation: in Colombia's top 20 in the Newsweek 2026 ranking and first in Cartagena and the Caribbean region. Over 60 specialties.
SpecialistEl Universal: Hospital Serena del Mar, first in Cartagena in the Newsweek 2026 ranking · checked 6 Oct 2026
Transport
Asunción
A bus fare is PYG 2,300, with air conditioning 3,400 - about 40 and 58 cents. It is cheap because of the subsidy, but the quality is such that almost everyone in Asunción gets a car.
SpecialistABC Color: public transport fares in Greater Asunción and the size of the subsidy · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
In 2025 about 7.2 million passengers passed through Cartagena airport, 1.7 million of them international. The most popular destinations are Lima, New York, Mexico City, Madrid and Miami.
OfficialAerocivil, open data: commercial air traffic by origin-destination, 2020-2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Climate
Asunción
The average July temperature is 18.3 degrees, with an average daytime high of 24.2. There is no winter in the usual sense, but the station’s absolute minimum went down to minus 1.2.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
The average January maximum is 33.8 degrees, December and February about 33. The station’s absolute maximum is 43 degrees, and it fell in October, not at the height of summer.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
About 1,433 mm a year: a wet summer and a dry winter. The wettest month is November (203 mm), the driest August (25 mm), and 222 mm has fallen in a day.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
There is no winter: even in the coolest month, January, it averages 23.6 degrees at night and 30.5 during the day. In June-July, 25.7 at night and 31.6 during the day.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals of Cartagena 1971-2000 · checked 6 Oct 2026
About 1,020 mm a year. From December to April it is almost dry (1-35 mm a month), rains from May to November, most of all in October: 235 mm and 16 rainy days.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals of Cartagena 1971-2000 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Safety
Asunción
Nationally in 2025 there were 6.1 homicides per 100k people - the third-best figure in Latin America. No separate statistics by district of Asunción could be found.
SpecialistLa Nación: Paraguay among the three countries in the region with the lowest homicide rate in 2025 · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
According to Ministry of Defense open data, Cartagena had 360 homicides in 2025 and 381 in 2024. In January-August 2026 there were 191, against 244 in the same period of 2025.
OfficialColombian Ministry of Defense, open data: homicides by municipality (HOMICIDIO) · checked 6 Oct 2026
Internet and phone
Asunción
Fibre to the home: Personal Hogar plans start from 400 Mbit/s for PYG 150k a month, about $26. For remote work the conditions are good.
SpecialistPersonal Hogar: home fiber rates · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cartagena
Nothing yet
Services
Asunción
Since December 2024 the ANDE tariff depends on the hour: at peak, 12 to 16 and 18 to 22, a kilowatt-hour costs PYG 669 instead of the previous 404; off-peak, 264.
SpecialistABC Color: new ANDE tariff scheme, peak-hour rates 65% higher · checked 28 Sep 2026
Cooking is done on cylinder gas: a 10 kg cylinder costs PYG 110–125k ($19–21). About half of homes cook on gas, a third on electricity.
SpecialistLa Nación: gas price to rise by an average of 500 guaraníes per kg, the 10 kg cylinder to go up to 110,000 · checked 29 Sep 2026
ESSAP water: a fixed charge of PYG 8,236 and 1,767 per m³ up to 15 m³. A bill for 15 m³ is about 35k ($6), and sewerage adds the same again. The tariff dates from 2018.
SpecialistDiario HOY: ESSAP tariff rises from September, table of old and new prices by category · checked 29 Sep 2026
Cartagena
Water with sewerage for 15 m³ at the Aguas de Cartagena tariff: stratum 4 about 136 thousand pesos a month (41 dollars), stratum 5 about 241 thousand, stratum 6 about 289 thousand.
OfficialAguas de Cartagena: water and sewerage tariffs, second half of 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Surtigas piped gas for homes: 2,539 pesos per m³ plus 3,942 pesos a month per bill. 30 m³ comes to about 80 thousand pesos (24 dollars). Strata 5-6 pay 20% more.
OfficialSurtigas: piped gas tariffs for regulated users, September 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Since September 2026 a kWh from Afinia costs 1,033 pesos, the price for stratum 4. 300 kWh a month is about 310 thousand pesos (93 dollars), a typical amount for a family with air conditioning.
SpecialistEl Universal: Afinia's price per kWh rose from 950 to 1,033 pesos from September 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026

