Casablancavs
MedellinCasablanca vs Medellin: cost, size & quality of life compared
Trying to decide between Casablanca and Medellin? Here's the honest bottom line first — then the full, sourced breakdown on cost of living, salary, safety and quality of life.
Casablanca and Medellin are almost dead even overall.
But the "winner" depends on what you care about. Here's who takes each dimension:
MedellinCasablancaMedellinMedellinComposite scores
Overall: Medellin wins by 0.1 points
Population & size
Is Casablanca bigger than Medellin?
Casablanca is the bigger city: about 3.4M people versus Medellin's 2.5M — roughly 1.4× larger.
City-proper / metro population estimates. Size is one input — scroll on for cost of living, salary equivalence and quality-of-life scoring.
National income
Is Casablanca richer than Medellin?
The two sit on different measures, so we are not ranking them: Morocco is reported as income per capita (GNI, PPP) ($10,260), Colombia as average annual wage ($28,838). A full-time wage and a whole-population income per head are not the same quantity.
Country-level figures — Casablanca is not Morocco and Medellin is not Colombia, and both cities typically pay above their national average. Gross, before tax: see take-home pay by country for what lands in the account.
Distance
How far is Casablanca from Medellin?
Casablanca is about 7,590 km (4,720 mi) from Medellin in a straight line — roughly 9 h 40 m of nonstop flight time.
Great-circle distance, not a routed itinerary; flight estimate assumes ~850 km/h cruise plus 45 minutes of taxi, climb and descent.
Climate
Is Casablanca warmer than Medellin?
Medellin is the warmer city: January highs average 28°C vs 17°C, and July 28°C vs 26°C. Casablanca gets noticeably more sun — about 770 more sunshine hours per year.
| Month | Casablanca | Medellin |
|---|---|---|
| January (high / low) | 17° / 9°C | 28° / 17°C |
| July (high / low) | 26° / 19°C | 28° / 16°C |
Atlantic-moderated Mediterranean — mild everything. Summers stay in the mid-20s thanks to the ocean; winters are soft with modest rain.
Famously the 'city of eternal spring' — at 1500m altitude, temperatures barely vary year-round (17-28°C daily). Rainy season Apr-May / Sep-Nov; no winter.
Medellin edges Casablanca by 0.1 points, a margin so narrow it reflects genuine parity rather than clear superiority between these mid-tier cities.
Both cities score around 5.5, placing them in the lower-middle range of global urban rankings where infrastructure gaps matter more than amenities.
If you're deciding between them, prioritize your specific sector needs—the negligible score difference means local factors like cost, language, or industry presence should drive your choice.
Data signals
What separates Casablanca and Medellin
How decisive
Medellin comes out ahead by 0.1 composite points — essentially a tie.
Biggest difference
The widest gap is remote-work friendliness, where Medellin leads by 0.9 points.
Where they match
They're most evenly matched on affordability — within 0.4 points of each other.
Overall cost gap
Total monthly costs in Medellin run about 23% higher than in Casablanca.
Where budgets split most
Utilities is the line item that diverges most: roughly 144% pricier in Medellin than Casablanca.
Size difference
Casablanca is the larger metro — about 1.4× the population of the other, which shapes commute times, housing supply and how "big-city" daily life feels.
Home internet
Medellin has the faster typical broadband (90 vs 50 Mbps median) — worth weighing if you work remotely or move large files.
Score-by-score, side-by-side
Each axis is scored independently with disclosed weights and a calculation string.
The exact scores and winners:
| Axis | Casablanca | Medellin | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affordability | 8.3 | 7.9 | Casablanca +0.4 |
| Quality of life | 4.9 | 5.4 | Medellin +0.5 |
| Remote-work friendliness | 5.4 | 6.3 | Medellin +0.9 |
| Healthcare | 4.8 | 4.2 | Casablanca +0.6 |
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)19
- Rent index (weight 40%)13
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For Casablanca: ((100 − 19)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 13)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 8.3.
Casablanca sits well below the New York baseline on both cost-of-living and rent. Budgets stretch further here than in benchmark Tier-1 cities.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)46
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)52
- Air quality index (weight 25%)48
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Casablanca: (46/100 × 0.4 + 52/100 × 0.35 + 48/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 4.9.
Casablanca has a mixed quality profile. Safety: fair; healthcare: fair; air: fair. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)50 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)12.0%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)19
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Casablanca: (min(50/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0.12) × 0.3 + (100 − 19)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.4.
Casablanca works for remote work but isn't optimized for it: internet 50 Mbps, income tax 12%, cost index 19.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)52
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)311
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For Casablanca: (52/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 311/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 4.8.
Casablanca has trade-offs in healthcare: quality is fair, typical out-of-pocket cost is ~311 MAD/month. Cross-border insurance closes the gap.
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)23
- Rent index (weight 40%)17
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For Medellin: ((100 − 23)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 17)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 7.9.
Medellin sits well below the New York baseline on both cost-of-living and rent. Budgets stretch further here than in benchmark Tier-1 cities.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)50
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)60
- Air quality index (weight 25%)50
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Medellin: (50/100 × 0.4 + 60/100 × 0.35 + 50/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.4.
Medellin has a mixed quality profile. Safety: fair; healthcare: good; air: fair. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)90 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)0.0%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)23
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Medellin: (min(90/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0) × 0.3 + (100 − 23)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 6.3.
Medellin works for remote work but isn't optimized for it: internet 90 Mbps, income tax 0%, cost index 23.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)60
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)217584
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For Medellin: (60/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 217584/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 4.2.
Medellin has trade-offs in healthcare: quality is good, typical out-of-pocket cost is ~217584 COP/month. Cross-border insurance closes the gap.
Monthly cost delta: Casablanca vs Medellin
Normalized to MAD at 1 COP = 0.0025 MAD.
| Category | Casablanca | Medellin | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| housing | MAD 5,856 | COP 2,989,823 | +25% |
| food | MAD 1,945 | COP 957,368 | +21% |
| transport | MAD 250 | COP 248,000 | +143% |
| utilities | MAD 484 | COP 481,250 | +144% |
| leisure | MAD 2,333 | COP 696,268 | -27% |
| healthcare | MAD 311 | COP 217,584 | +72% |
Where each city's money goes
Two cities can have the same monthly total but very different shapes — one might burn 50% on housing while the other splits more evenly. The composition matters as much as the headline.
The biggest shape difference is leisure: Casablanca spends 8.4 percentage points more of its budget on it (21% vs. 12%). If you're sensitive to that category, weight the per-axis scores accordingly.
Buying property
Apartment prices: Casablanca vs Medellin
Approximate asking prices in EUR per square meter (as of 2025-01), central vs mid-distance neighborhoods.
Buying in central Casablanca runs about 9% cheaper per square meter (€2,000/m² vs €2,200/m²).
Midpoints of public listing ranges — a scoping number for rent-vs-buy thinking, not a valuation. Renting comparisons live in the cost table above.
Getting around
Public transport: Casablanca vs Medellin
Monthly pass and casual-ride pricing in EUR (as of 2025-01) plus the modes each network runs.
Casatramway's four lines are the reliable spine (MAD 8 flat); the MAD 250 monthly covers tram-only. Grand taxis handle what the network doesn't.
Single ride: €0.74 · Modes: Tram, Bus
Cívica card; famously the only Colombian city with a metro, plus Metrocable gondolas integrating hillside neighborhoods into the network — a global poverty-relief urbanism case study.
Single ride: €0.8 · Modes: Metro, Cable car, Tram, Bus
Salary equivalence: Casablanca ↔ Medellin
What earning the same purchasing power costs in each city. Cost-adjusted using the local cost-of-living index (Casablanca = 19, Medellin = 23); currency-converted at 1 COP = 0.0025 MAD. Tax differences are not modeled.
| Casablanca gross | Medellin equivalent |
|---|---|
| MAD 40,000 | COP 19,727,096 |
| MAD 75,000 | COP 36,988,304 |
| MAD 120,000 | COP 59,181,287 |
| Medellin gross | Casablanca equivalent |
|---|---|
| COP 40,000 | MAD 81 |
| COP 75,000 | MAD 152 |
| COP 120,000 | MAD 243 |
Equivalence here means same cost-of-living purchasing power, not same net take-home. Effective tax rates differ between countries; a salary equivalent on cost can still net more or less depending on the destination's tax regime. Use the calculator for tax-adjusted figures at a specific lifestyle tier.
Pros and cons
Why pick Casablanca
- Wins on affordability (+0.4 points vs Medellin).
- Wins on healthcare (+0.6 points vs Medellin).
Why pick Medellin
- Wins on quality of life (+0.5 points vs Casablanca).
- Wins on remote-work friendliness (+0.9 points vs Casablanca).
Casablanca trade-offs
- Trails Medellin on quality of life by 0.5 points.
- Trails Medellin on remote-work friendliness by 0.9 points.
Medellin trade-offs
- Trails Casablanca on healthcare by 0.6 points.
Remote work logistics
Time zones and language: Casablanca vs Medellin
Casablanca (Africa/Casablanca) and Medellin (America/Bogota) sit 6 hours apart in standard time. A 9-to-5 in one overlaps the other's for 2 hours a day.
Official: Arabic, Amazigh · English: Limited · Local language: Recommended
Business runs in French; the street mixes Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and French. English is growing among younger professionals but French is the practical expat language.
Official: Spanish · English: Limited · Local language: Recommended
Spanish strongly recommended for daily life. Medellín has a sizeable expat community in El Poblado / Laureles where English is moderate, but the broader city expects Spanish for everyday needs.
Who should choose which
The composite winner doesn't always match what matters to you. These four reader profiles weigh the axes differently — find the closest fit.
Single, salaried remote worker, 25-40, optimizing for runway + bandwidth.
Axes scored: affordability, remoteWork
Couple with school-age children, prioritizing safety, healthcare, and air quality.
Axes scored: qualityOfLife, healthcare
Fixed income, healthcare-sensitive, prefers low cost and stable infrastructure.
Axes scored: healthcare, qualityOfLife, affordability
Salary stretch matters most. Cuts everything else if it lowers the burn rate.
Axes scored: affordability
Profiles use simple axis averaging — for a deeper read with your own weights, use the per-axis breakdown above.
Tools that work for either choice
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How this page is calculated
Data sources
- Mundevo per-city dataset. Cost basket, rent index, safety, healthcare, air quality and median internet for both cities. Reference date: 2026-06-10 (Casablanca) and 2026-05-29 (Medellin).
- FX rate. 1 COP = 0.0025 MAD, used to normalize cost baskets.
- CityScoreCalculator. Four axes (Affordability, Quality of life, Remote work, Healthcare) computed with explicit weights and explanations. See per-axis calculation strings rendered on this page.
- ComparisonService. Per-category cost deltas (housing, food, transport, utilities, leisure, healthcare) normalized to the origin currency.
Update cadence
Data as of . Last reviewed .
Calculation
For each of the four axes we compute an independent 0–10 score using the formulas printed beside each axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes. The overall winner is the city with the higher composite, unless the margin is under 0.05 points — in which case Casablanca is shown first as a tiebreaker to keep results stable.
Limitations
- Climate is not scored — we don't yet hold a maintained climate dataset, so weather-driven preferences are not modeled.
- Tax differences between cities in the same country are not modeled (Spain and Germany don't have material regional differences for this dataset).
- Indices are population-level. Personal cost varies with neighborhood, employer benefits and family status.
- Quality-of-life axis weights (safety 0.4 / healthcare 0.35 / air 0.25) are editorial defaults — readers with strong preferences should re-weight manually.
Frequently asked questions
Casablanca vs Medellin: which is cheaper?
Casablanca is roughly 23% cheaper than Medellin on the monthly cost basket (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare). Casablanca has cost index 19 vs Medellin at 23 (both with New York = 100).
Which city has better quality of life?
Casablanca scores 5.9/10 on the Mundevo composite versus Medellin at 6.0/10. The composite weights safety (40%), healthcare (35%) and air quality (25%). Medellin wins overall by 0.1 points.
Is Casablanca or Medellin better for remote work?
Casablanca has 50 Mbps median internet vs Medellin at 90 Mbps. The four-axis decision rubric on this page (affordability, quality of life, remote work, healthcare) gives a per-dimension breakdown rather than a single answer.
Is Casablanca bigger than Medellin?
Casablanca is larger — about 3.4M people versus Medellin's 2.5M, roughly 1.4× the size.
Is Casablanca safer than Medellin?
Casablanca and Medellin score similarly on safety (46 vs 50 / 100 on the Mundevo safety index).
Should I move to Casablanca or Medellin?
It depends on what you weight. Medellin wins the overall Mundevo composite by 0.1 points, but Casablanca is cheaper, and the two split differently across affordability, quality of life, remote work and healthcare. Use the per-axis table and the reader-profile section above to match the verdict to your own priorities.