What percentage of the salary goes for rent? The cities where you eat more than half
Machine-assisted English version of the Spanish original by Aptología. All figures are locked to the original (numbers are copied, not re-translated); if in doubt, the Spanish original prevails.
In 6 of the 9 measured cities, rent an apartment of 2 alcobas costs more than half of the income of a two-person home with the average income of its city. In Bogotá it is 54.4%: average order rental of $2,500,000 (Aptology, 5 October of 2026) compared to an income of $4,594,160 per month (2 × $2,297,080, per capita income of DANE, GEIH 2025),
Abstract: in none of the 9 cities the typical rental of a 2 low 30% of the income, the threshold used by insurers and real estate. The most extreme case is Cartagena, where it is equivalent to 149%.
Updated: 9 October of 2026.
Prices ordered, not closing. The Aptology figures are medium of the price requested in the announcements published on 5 October of 2026, not what is finally paid or signed.
The ranking
| City | Medium-term rental ordered, 2 alkobas (Aptology) | Monthly per capita income (DANE 2025) | % of household income of 2 with average income | % of household with 2 minimum wages | Rental of 1 alcoba as% of 1 minimum wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartagena | $3,300,000 | $1,107,779 | 148.9% | 94.2% | 171.3% |
| Medellin | $3,850,000 | $1,929,483 | 99.8% | 109.9% | 182.8% |
| Pereira | $2,750,000 | $1,485,948 | 92.5% | 78.5% | 114.2% |
| Barranquilla | $2,200,000 | $1,390,697 | 79.1% | 62.8% | 121.1% |
| Bogotá | $2,500,000 | $2,297,080 | 54.4% | 71.4% | 125.6% |
| Cucutta | $1,050,000 | $990,871 | 53.0% | 30.0% | 51.4% |
| Bucaramanga | $1,566,150 | $1,632,502 | 48.0% | 44.7% | 74.2% |
| Manizales | $1,600,000 | $1,708,281 | 46.8% | 45.7% | 74.2% |
| Cali | $1,400,000 | $1,584,398 | 44.2% | 40.0% | 85.7% |
Complete data in datos.csv. The figures by neighborhood are in datos_barrios.csv y datos_barrios_resumen.csv,
What the data say
- The hypothesis is short. We were hoping that in some cities the rent would exceed 30% of the income. It goes from 30% in the 9 and from half in 6.
- Bogotá is not the worst. It has the highest income of the measured cities, and that leaves it at 54%. Cartagena, Medellín, Pereira and Barranquilla are worse.
- With minimum wage, the typical rent is not enough. For a single person who earns the minimum ($1,750,905), the average rental order of 1 bedroom exceeds 100% of the salary in 5 of 9 cities. Only Cucutta is about half (51.4%).
- Quarter by Quarter: in Bogotá, in 124 of 274 neighborhoods with sufficient data, a 2 alcobas exceeds half of the reference income. In Medellín it passes in 296 of 361 neighborhoods.
Methodology
- Aptology data: medium of the rent ordered in live apartment ads by city and number of rooms (API / today, 5 October of 2026,
costo_alcoba_ciudad.csv) and median of 2 alkobas per neighborhood (precios_arriendo_barrios_detalle_api.csv). Only cities with at least 300 ads of 2 alcobs and neighborhoods with at least 10 enter. - Public data: per capita income of the unit of expenditure 2025 by capital city (DANE, GEIH, monetary poverty annex, published on 12 June 2026). Minimum wage of 2026: $1,750,905 (Decree 1469 of 2025),
- Reference households, chosen by us and not measured by the DANE:
- (A) two persons, each with the average income for their city: rental of 2 alcobas ¬ (2 × per capita income);
- (B) home with two minimum wages;
- (C) single person with a minimum wage compared to 1 alcoba.
- Update:
updatere-read the Aptology dataset and the DANE annex and regenerate CSV and graphics.
Limitations
- They are prices ordered in live adsnot what the homes they already rent pay. Current contracts are often cheaper because they only go up with the IPC.
- The offer in oversized portals represents the medium and high segments. In Cartagena and Medellín they weigh the furnished apartments and for tourist or short rent. This is likely to raise the medium-sized of those two cities, but we have not measured it.
- DANE's income is a average (not the median) of 2025, while the rentals are 2026. In addition, DANE measures the capital city without its metropolitan area.
- The home of two people is an illustrative assumption, not the real size of the home in each city.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of the salary should I go to rent? The practical rule of the market is that the rent plus the HOA fee should not exceed 30% of the income shown (example of requirements of a real estate). In the 9 measured cities, the typical rental of a 2 bedroom exceeds that 30% for an average income household.
How much is the rent in Bogotá? The median requested is $2,200,000 for 1 alcoba and $2,500,000 for 2 alcobas (Aptology, October of 2026).
How much does it cost to live in Medellín for rent? The median requested for a 2 bedroom is $3,850,000, about 100% of the income of a two-person household with the average income of the city.
In which city is it cheaper to rent in proportion to salary? Of the 9 measures, in Cali (44.2%) and Manizales (46.8%).
Can I get the minimum wage to rent alone? In 5 of 9 cities, the average rental order of 1 alcoba is higher than the full minimum wage. In the other 4 it is carried between 51% and 86% of the salary; the lowest value is that of Cúcuta, where it is equivalent to 51% of the minimum.
Search demand
Trends (2026 - 10 - 09): 'rental' (45 average in 5 years) dominates; 'bogota rental' (6) and 'Medellin rental' (3) are far away and 'rental price' da 0. There are more 'cheap' searches (cheap Medellin rentals + 300%, separate study in bogota + 150%), consistent with the finding that the rent does not fit in. The main query does not change because no measure is clearly better and at the same time specific. These searches are added as secondary. Pico in January. Comparison: Google Trends. They're relative values, no absolute volumes. Google's self-completed, consulted on the same day, is on meta.json.
How to quote
Pinzón Pineda, D. M. (2026). What percentage of the salary goes for rent? The cities where you eat more than half. Aptology. With data from Aptology and DANE (GEIH 2025) rental ads. https://www.aptologia.com/estudios/alquiler-vs-ingreso-por-ciudad. Data: datos.csv, CC BY license 4. 0.
Sources and data
- Original study (Spanish): ¿Qué porcentaje del sueldo se va en arriendo? Las ciudades donde se come más de la mitad
- GitHub (CSV, PDF): https://github.com/elbroker/aptologia-datos/tree/main/estudios/arriendo-vs-ingreso-por-ciudad
- Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/datasets/aptologia/arriendo-vs-ingreso-por-ciudad-colombia-2026
More questions
- What percentage of the salary should I go to rent?
- How much is the rent in Bogotá?
- How much does it cost to live in Medellín for rent?
- In which city is it cheaper to rent in proportion to salary?
- Can I get the minimum wage to rent alone?
- What does the study “What percentage of the salary goes for rent? The cities where you eat more than half” show?