Medellín vs Rosario
In short
Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.
Rent
✓in Rosario cheaper — −69%
Family budget
✓in Medellín cheaper — −25%
Private school
✓in Rosario cheaper — −92%
In numbers
Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.
House or apartment rent
per monthMedellín≈ $939–2,090COP 3.1–6.9M✓Rosario≈ $401–550ARS 620–850kcheaper by 69%Piped gas
Medellín≈ $1.08 per m³COP 3,559.88 per m³✓Rosario≈ $0.21 per m³ARS 324.5 per m³cheaper by 81%Family budget
per month✓Medellín≈ $728COP 2,403,888cheaper by 25%Rosario≈ $974ARS 1,505,487Private school
per monthMedellín≈ $1,300COP 4,298,719✓Rosario≈ $40–180ARS 61,752–277,883cheaper by 92%Winter
averageMedellín17–27 °C17–27 °CRosario11 °C11 °CPrecipitation
per yearMedellín1,673 mm1,673 mmRosario1,055 mm1,055 mmReady-made house
purchase✓Medellín≈ $164–279kCOP 540–920Mcheaper by 14%Rosario$147,250 – 370k$147,250 – 370k
By topic
A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.
Daily life
Medellín
A housing stratum from 1 to 6 appears in the listing and in the tariffs. In 5–6 electricity is 20% more expensive than in 4, water 1.5–1.6 times. A three-bedroom in stratum 4 is about 3.3 million pesos, in 6 - 8 million.
OfficialEPM: electricity rates, regulated market, September 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
Nothing yet
Housing
Medellín
Three-bedroom apartment: Belén and Sabaneta 3.1–3.3 million pesos a month, Laureles and Envigado 4.5 million, El Poblado 6.9 million. Listing medians.
SpecialistFincaraíz: three-bedroom apartments for rent in El Poblado · checked 29 Sep 2026
Three-bedroom resale: Sabaneta about 540 million pesos, Laureles 725 million, El Poblado 873 million, Envigado 920 million. These are listing prices, not transaction prices.
SpecialistFincaraíz: three-bedroom apartments for sale in El Poblado · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
A two-bedroom apartment is most often 620–850k pesos a month, median 750k (about 490 dollars). In Puerto Norte asking prices reach 1.8 million. Building fees on top.
SpecialistMercado Libre: two-bedroom apartments for rent, Rosario · checked 6 Oct 2026
A three-bedroom house by listings is most often 147–370k dollars, median about 260k. Sellers quote prices in dollars.
SpecialistMercado Libre: three-bedroom houses for sale, Rosario · checked 6 Oct 2026
Money and prices
Medellín
The DANE minimum food basket for Medellín is 240,728 pesos per person per month, about 963k for a family of four. Figures for 2025.
OfficialDANE: monetary poverty 2025, presentation of results with poverty lines by city · checked 29 Sep 2026
A family of four in Medellín is considered poor with an income below 2.4 million pesos a month, about $730 (2025). The average income is 1.93 million per person.
OfficialDANE: monetary poverty 2025, presentation of results with poverty lines by city · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
The minimum food basket for a family of four in the Pampas region (INDEC) is about 678k pesos a month, June 2026. There is no separate figure for Rosario.
OfficialIPEC Santa Fe, INDEC series: basic food basket (extreme poverty line) per adult equivalent, Pampas region, 2017 to June 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
The poverty line for a family of four in the Pampas region is 1.51 million pesos a month (June 2026), without rent. With a rented two-bedroom: 2.1–2.4 million.
OfficialIPEC Santa Fe, INDEC series: total basic basket (poverty line) per adult equivalent, Pampas region, 2017 to June 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Family and kids
Medellín
The international The Columbus School in Envigado for 2026–27: 4.3 million pesos a month from August to May plus a 4.8 million fee in June. This is the upper bound.
SpecialistThe Columbus School: fees for the 2026-27 school year · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
Fee caps at state-subsidised private schools as of October 2025: 62–278k pesos a month. Only 6% of schools have no cap, mostly in Rosario.
SpecialistLa Capital: in Santa Fe only a handful of private schools have no fee cap · checked 6 Oct 2026
Healthcare
Medellín
In the Newsweek 2026 ranking for Colombia, Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe is 3rd, San Vicente Fundación 8th, and six more clinics of the metropolitan area are in the top 45. The ranking is commercial.
SpecialistNewsweek and Statista: World’s Best Hospitals 2026, Colombia · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
Foreigners without residence must pay in national hospitals. In July 2026 a bill was filed in Santa Fe to charge them in provincial ones too; emergency care stays free.
SpecialistLa Voz de San Justo: national hospitals charge foreigners without residence · checked 6 Oct 2026
Transport
Medellín
A ride on the metro, tram, cable car or Metroplús with a personalized Cívica card costs 3,820 pesos, 4,400 with an anonymous card, 1,600 for students.
OfficialMetro de Medellín: fares by Cívica card profile · checked 29 Sep 2026
The main airport, José María Córdova, is in Rionegro, about 35 km from the city. In 2025 it handled 14.6 million passengers, 4.2 million of them international.
SpecialistLadevi: José María Córdova airport, passenger record in 2025 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
In 2025 Rosario had flights to Panama, Rio, Lima and Florianópolis, and at home to Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Iguazú, Mendoza and Salta. Buenos Aires is 300 km away.
OfficialArgentina's Ministry of Tourism, “Conectividad Aérea”: main air routes by year (flights and passengers) · checked 6 Oct 2026
Climate
Medellín
No winter: the average monthly temperature is 21–22.5 degrees all year round. Coolest in October: on average from 16.6 at night to 26.8 during the day.
OfficialIDEAM: climate table, Olaya Herrera airport (Medellín) · checked 29 Sep 2026
About 1,670 mm a year and 224 days with rain. Two wet seasons, April–May and September–November; driest in December–February.
OfficialIDEAM: climate table, Olaya Herrera airport (Medellín) · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
January averages 24.8 degrees, about 31 by day and 19 at night. From September to February there are heat waves up to 38–40, the record is 40.5 in January 2006.
SpecialistClimates to Travel: climate of Rosario, normals 1991–2020 · checked 6 Oct 2026
About 1,055 mm a year. Rainy from October to April (108–138 mm a month), often in thunderstorms; driest in June–August (23–35 mm).
SpecialistClimates to Travel: climate of Rosario, normals 1991–2020 · checked 6 Oct 2026
The average July temperature is 10.7 degrees: 16.5 by day and about 5 at night. On cold nights down to -3.5, snow almost never falls. Winter is humid, about 75–79%.
SpecialistClimates to Travel: climate of Rosario, normals 1991–2020 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Safety
Medellín
In 2025 there were 326 murders, about 13 per 100k residents; for the country in 2024 it was 25.4. In El Poblado and Laureles there are few murders, the most are in the center.
SpecialistQue Pasa Medallo: homicides in Medellín in 2025 according to SISC · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
Rosario department, January–June 2026: 47 homicide victims, the fewest since 2014 and 32% fewer than a year earlier. Province-wide in 2025: 5.6 per 100k.
OfficialSanta Fe Public Security Observatory: homicides in the province, January–June 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Internet and phone
Medellín
Tigo gives 500 Mbit/s for 75,900 pesos a month in strata 1–3 and for 90,321 in strata 4–6, VAT included. On the cable network the upload is only 15 Mbit/s.
SpecialistTigo: terms of the Full Tigo package for Medellín and the metropolitan area, January 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
Nothing yet
Services
Medellín
EPM network gas in strata 3–4: 3,560 pesos per m³ plus a fixed charge of 4,390 a month. For 30 m³ it comes to about 111k pesos ($34). In stratum 6 the price is 4,272 per m³.
OfficialEPM: piped gas tariffs, Valle de Aburrá, September 2026 consumption (October bills) · checked 29 Sep 2026
Electricity for 200 kWh and water for 15 m³ at EPM tariffs: stratum 4 about 342k pesos a month, strata 5–6 - 455–470k, stratum 3 - 306k. Gas and garbage are extra.
OfficialEPM: electricity rates, regulated market, September 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
EPM electricity for 300 kWh a month: stratum 4 about 288k pesos ($87), stratum 6 about 345k, stratum 3 about 269k. September 2026 tariff, excluding fees.
OfficialEPM: electricity tariffs, regulated market, September 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Rosario
EPE electricity without subsidy from 1 September 2026: 245 to 431 pesos per kWh by step plus 3.8k a month. 300 kWh is about 96k pesos before taxes (63 dollars).
OfficialEPE Santa Fe: full residential tariff schedule, consumption from 1 September 2026 (PDF “Cuadro Tarifario Septiembre 2026” in the “Usuarios” section) · checked 6 Oct 2026
Litoral Gas in Rosario without subsidy: 324.5 pesos per m³ plus a fixed charge from 3.6k (R1), before taxes. 100 m³ in winter is about 36k pesos (24 dollars).
OfficialENReGE (formerly ENARGAS): natural gas tariffs of all distributors from 1 September 2026 (Excel), Litoral Gas, Santa Fe province · checked 6 Oct 2026

