Living in Medellín

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (DIAN RST tariffs + UGPP independent-worker contributions)

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme co-rst-professional at €60,000 = 229,069,800 COP (3,817.83 COP/EUR), ≈ 4,374 UVT → SIMPLE professional-services band 0–6,000 UVT = 5.9% of gross = 13,515,118; plus mandatory independent social security on IBC = 40% of income: health 12.5% of IBC = 5% of gross = 11,453,490 and pension 16% of IBC = 6.4% of gross = 14,660,467. Total = 39,629,075 COP → 17.3%. Consistent with the co-rst-professional worked examples. Note: at this income IBC ≈ 4.36 SMMLV ≥ 4, so the Fondo de Solidaridad Pensional adds ≈ 0.4% (all-in ≈ 17.7%); and the SIMPLE pension discount, if claimed, would lower it further — both unmodeled, so 17.3% is the modeled, conservative-of-those figure.

DANE — línea de pobreza y clasificación por ingreso 2025 (basket anchor), CPI-consistent

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2025

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Curated single-person non-rent basket (food, utilities, urban transport, mobile+internet, modest leisure and misc.) for a foreign remote worker in a major Colombian city, anchored on DANE 2025 income bands (national poverty line 482,041 COP/mo; middle-class per-capita spending 853,608–4,596,352 COP/mo) and typical published utility/transport/mobile tariffs. Estimated ≈ 2,360,000 COP/mo ÷ 3,349.7 COP/USD (ECB EUR/COP 3,817.83 ÷ EUR/USD 1.1399, fx-rates 2026-07-02) ≈ 705 USD. Curated estimate — DANE has not published a 2025/2026 one-person-household consumption line comparable to Poland's GUS figure; to be refined from ENPH microdata.

Servicios Postales Nacionales (4-72) + private carriers (Servientrega, Coordinadora, Interrapidísimo, TCC) official service pages (composite)

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jun 30, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Composite of the national operator (4-72 / Servicios Postales Nacionales) plus the dominant private networks (Servientrega, Coordinadora, Interrapidísimo, TCC, Envía) that provide dense nationwide door-to-door and office-pickup coverage with tracking; 1–3 day delivery between major cities is standard, longer to rural/remote municipalities. Parcel-locker networks are limited compared with Europe. Rated 'good' (reliable major-city coverage, not next-day-everywhere with dense lockers).

M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Colombia

Open data

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Mean of the daily country median download (download_MED) values in M-Lab's public statistics API for Colombia; the published file covers the first 16 days of 2023 (≈181,872 tests), mean ≈ 17.4 Mbps; the 2024 file (first 16 days) is consistent at ≈ 16.9 Mbps.

Notes

M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. M-Lab's public stats API exposes only a partial-year window for Colombia, so this is a limited-coverage figure to be refined via BigQuery. Urban fibre plans advertise 100–900 Mbps; the M-Lab median reflects the mixed national access base.

EF EPI 2025 — Colombia rank 76/123, score 480 (Low Proficiency band)

Research

Data as of

Nov 1, 2025

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Notes

Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First); score 480 sits in EF's 'Low Proficiency' band. Spanish is the working language for government, healthcare and most services; English is workable in tourist/expat pockets of Bogotá and Medellín and in tech/BPO circles but not broadly across daily life.

Accreditor registries — AEFE (French), ZfA/German Auslandsschulwesen, IB, Cambridge International, CIS — cross-checked per school

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jul 4, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Count of internationally-accredited schools in the Medellín metro (city + Envigado/Itagüí/El Retiro). Two verified directly against their accreditor's own registry: Lycée Français de Medellín (AEFE réseau, homologué — aefe.gouv.fr) and Deutsche Schule Medellín (German ZfA network / Itagüí — pasch-net.de). Six further internationally-accredited schools are well attested across sources as IB / Cambridge / CIS members: The Columbus School (Envigado, IB/US), Vermont School (IB), Colegio Colombo Británico (Envigado, IB), Colegio Montessori (IB PYP), The New School (Envigado, IB), and Marymount School (Cambridge curriculum + CIS/NEASC accreditation).

Notes

Only the AEFE and ZfA schools were confirmed one-by-one against the accreditor's public registry; the IB and Cambridge/CIS members' official directories (ibo.org, cambridgeinternational.org, cis.org) blocked automated access, so those six rest on strongly consistent secondary reporting pending direct registry reconciliation. The true accredited-international total for the Aburrá valley may be a little higher (several additional bilingual schools hold IB or Cambridge status). Count excludes purely bilingual schools with no external accreditation.

Colombian prepaid-medicine and voluntary health insurers (Sura, Colsanitas, Coomeva/medicina prepagada) — comprehensive plans; insurers quote on request

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jul 4, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Comprehensive private cover in Colombia layers on top of the mandatory contributory system (EPS): a 'medicina prepagada' or voluntary health plan (Sura, Colsanitas, Coomeva) with outpatient + inpatient access for a healthy 35-year-old runs roughly 250,000–450,000 COP/month; midpoint ≈ 350,000 COP/mo ≈ 4,200,000 COP/yr ≈ 1,254 USD at 3,349.7 COP/USD (range ≈ $895–$1,610). Curated market midpoint — Colombian prepaid-medicine premiums are age/plan-banded and quoted on request, not from a public engine.

Notes

Residents affiliated to an EPS already have universal contributory cover; prepaid medicine buys faster access, private hospitals and broader networks. Premiums exclude the mandatory 12.5% health contribution (counted in the tax burden), not an insurance premium. International (IPMI) plans cost several times more.

Alcaldía de Medellín — Sistema de Información para la Seguridad y la Convivencia (SISC), balance de seguridad 2024

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

319 homicides in Medellín in 2024 (SISC), 59 fewer than 2023 (−16%); the city's SISC/security-secretariat reported an official rate of 11.3 per 100,000, the lowest among Colombia's main cities and the lowest local rate since the mid-20th century. Victims: 290 men (91%), 28 women (9%).

Notes

Municipal SISC figure (city proper). Well below the Colombian national rate (~25/100k) and below Bogotá (~15/100k) in 2024 — a historic low after decades of cartel-era violence — but still several times rich-world capital levels. 2025 figures were trending slightly upward at time of writing; to be re-verified against the SISC year-end 2025 balance.

Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá (AMVA) — SIATA, Informe Anual de Calidad del Aire 2023

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

City annual mean PM2.5 for Medellín ≈ 15.5 µg/m³ (2023) from the official AMVA/SIATA Valle de Aburrá monitoring network annual report; the network reports a further fall to ≈14.8 µg/m³ in 2024. Figure attributed to the AMVA 2023 annual report; the exact per-station table should be reconciled against the report PDF.

Notes

≈3× the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³) and above the 2030 EU limit (10), within the current EU limit (25). The Aburrá valley traps pollution and suffers seasonal contingency episodes (Feb–Mar, Oct) when levels spike several-fold; neighbouring Bello and Envigado read higher than Medellín proper. Air quality is a genuine drawback of the location. To be re-verified against the AMVA 2024 annual report.

DIAN — Concepto Unificado 100202208-1621 de 2023 sobre criptoactivos (tratamiento tributario)

Official source

Data as of

Jan 8, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Notes

Crypto is legal to hold/trade but is not legal tender (Banco de la República); the DIAN treats it as an intangible asset. Gains taxed as ordinary income (up to 39%) if held <2 years, or as ganancia ocasional (15%) if held ≥2 years; holdings must be declared. From tax-year 2025 the DIAN (Resolución 000240) requires registered virtual-asset service providers to report Colombian users' operations; the SFC administers a PSAV registry. No consumer ban; banking access can be uneven.

Banco de la República — Regulación y operaciones cambiarias (régimen cambiario; Circular Reglamentaria DCIP-83 de 2026)

Official source

Data as of

Feb 26, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Composite: the COP is convertible and there are no hard capital controls, but Colombia keeps a foreign-exchange regime (régimen cambiario) in which certain operations (external credit, foreign investment, some import/export) must be channelled through the regulated exchange market (IMC or a Banco de la República compensation account) with a declaración de cambio; residents may hold foreign accounts and compensation accounts. Service-export income (freelancer earnings) is not subject to mandatory channelling but reporting/traceability rules apply. Standard AML/UIAF and tax-reporting scope. Rated 'moderate' (freer than capital-control regimes, more paperwork than fully open EU/OECD peers).

SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (DIAN RST tariffs + UGPP independent-worker contributions)

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Jan 1, 2026

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Best eligible scheme co-rst-professional at €60,000 = 229,069,800 COP (3,817.83 COP/EUR), ≈ 4,374 UVT → SIMPLE professional-services band 0–6,000 UVT = 5.9% of gross = 13,515,118; plus mandatory independent social security on IBC = 40% of income: health 12.5% of IBC = 5% of gross = 11,453,490 and pension 16% of IBC = 6.4% of gross = 14,660,467. Total = 39,629,075 COP → 17.3%. Consistent with the co-rst-professional worked examples. Note: at this income IBC ≈ 4.36 SMMLV ≥ 4, so the Fondo de Solidaridad Pensional adds ≈ 0.4% (all-in ≈ 17.7%); and the SIMPLE pension discount, if claimed, would lower it further — both unmodeled, so 17.3% is the modeled, conservative-of-those figure.

DANE — línea de pobreza y clasificación por ingreso 2025 (basket anchor), CPI-consistent

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2025

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Curated single-person non-rent basket (food, utilities, urban transport, mobile+internet, modest leisure and misc.) for a foreign remote worker in a major Colombian city, anchored on DANE 2025 income bands (national poverty line 482,041 COP/mo; middle-class per-capita spending 853,608–4,596,352 COP/mo) and typical published utility/transport/mobile tariffs. Estimated ≈ 2,360,000 COP/mo ÷ 3,349.7 COP/USD (ECB EUR/COP 3,817.83 ÷ EUR/USD 1.1399, fx-rates 2026-07-02) ≈ 705 USD. Curated estimate — DANE has not published a 2025/2026 one-person-household consumption line comparable to Poland's GUS figure; to be refined from ENPH microdata.

Alcaldía de Medellín — Sistema de Información para la Seguridad y la Convivencia (SISC), balance de seguridad 2024

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2024

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

319 homicides in Medellín in 2024 (SISC), 59 fewer than 2023 (−16%); the city's SISC/security-secretariat reported an official rate of 11.3 per 100,000, the lowest among Colombia's main cities and the lowest local rate since the mid-20th century. Victims: 290 men (91%), 28 women (9%).

Notes

Municipal SISC figure (city proper). Well below the Colombian national rate (~25/100k) and below Bogotá (~15/100k) in 2024 — a historic low after decades of cartel-era violence — but still several times rich-world capital levels. 2025 figures were trending slightly upward at time of writing; to be re-verified against the SISC year-end 2025 balance.

Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá (AMVA) — SIATA, Informe Anual de Calidad del Aire 2023

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2023

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

City annual mean PM2.5 for Medellín ≈ 15.5 µg/m³ (2023) from the official AMVA/SIATA Valle de Aburrá monitoring network annual report; the network reports a further fall to ≈14.8 µg/m³ in 2024. Figure attributed to the AMVA 2023 annual report; the exact per-station table should be reconciled against the report PDF.

Notes

≈3× the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³) and above the 2030 EU limit (10), within the current EU limit (25). The Aburrá valley traps pollution and suffers seasonal contingency episodes (Feb–Mar, Oct) when levels spike several-fold; neighbouring Bello and Envigado read higher than Medellín proper. Air quality is a genuine drawback of the location. To be re-verified against the AMVA 2024 annual report.

SettleMetric computation over climate-normals

Curated by SettleMetric

Data as of

Dec 31, 2020

Verified

Jul 4, 2026

Method

Months with mean daily max 15–28°C AND precipitation < 150mm: only Jan (27.9°C, 72mm) and Dec (27.3°C, 115mm) qualify = 2. Ten months miss the strict test — seven exceed the 28°C max ceiling by a fraction (28.1–28.7°C) and the rest carry >150mm rain (Mar–May, Sep–Nov are the two wet seasons). This understates real comfort: Medellín's temperature is famously stable and spring-like all year (its 'Eternal Spring' reputation); the criterion penalises it for a whisker over 28°C at the warm valley-floor station and for heavy tropical rainfall, not for genuine seasonality. Users should read the raw normals alongside this score.