We recently looked at the best neighborhoods in Medellín in an update to a popular article on this site. We now look at survey results to see which are the most popular neighborhoods for expats living in the city.
A preliminary result of our Medellín Living reader survey that is currently running confirms that the same five neighborhoods from our recent best neighborhoods article are the most popular neighborhoods for expats living in the city.
Out of 144 survey responses received so far from Medellín Living expat readers that indicate they live in Medellín, 86 percent indicate they live in El Poblado, Envigado, Laureles-Estadio, Sabaneta or Belén.
El Poblado is clearly the most popular neighborhood in the city for visitors. It has more hotels than other neighborhoods in the city. It is also where about 80 percent of the furnished apartments in the city are located.
El Poblado is also the most popular neighborhood in the city for expats when they decide to live in the city. Preliminary results of our survey indicate that 28 percent of expats living in Medellín live in El Poblado.
Source: Medellín Living reader survey 2016, preliminary results, N=144
But 72 percent of expats living in the city have decided to live somewhere else besides El Poblado. This is not surprising to me. When I was taking Spanish classes at Universidad EAFIT over two-thirds of the expats I met living in the city did not live in El Poblado.
After El Poblado, the most popular neighborhoods for expats to live are Envigado (20 percent), Laureles-Estadio (16 percent), Sabaneta (13 percent) and Bélen (9 percent). 14 percent of expats live in other neighborhoods according to our preliminary survey results.
The other neighborhoods in our survey where expats live included 5 living in El Oriente (such as Rio Negro, La Ceja and Santa Elena), 4 in Bello, 3 in La América, 2 in La Candelaria (El Centro), 2 in Robledo, 1 in La Estrella, 1 in Giradota, 1 in Santa Cruz and 1 in the Southeast.
Expats living in Medellín live in many neighborhoods in the city. Our survey so far has found expats living in half of the 22 comunas and municipalities in the Medellín metro area.
Source: Medellín Living reader survey 2016, preliminary results, N=144
Do Expats Rent or Buy in Medellín?
Preliminary results of our survey indicate that 33 percent of expats living in Medellín own their apartment or home. Two-thirds of expats living in the city have decided to rent instead of buy.
Our survey is finding that 46 percent of expats living in the city rent an unfurnished apartment/home, while 12 percent rent a furnished apartment/home and 9 percent rent a room in a shared place..
This overall rent vs. buy finding is a similar finding of a survey done in Cuenca, Ecuador last year by CuencaHighLife, which found that an even higher 82 percent of expats living in Cuenca rent instead of buy.
Source: Medellín Living reader survey 2016, preliminary results, N=106
What do Expats Pay for Rent in Medellín?
Our reader survey also asked expats living in the city what they pay for rent, for those that are renting.The majority of expat respondents (58 percent) indicate that pay less than $500 per month for rent. 20 percent pay less than $300 and 38 percent pay only $300-$499 per month.
Over half of those that responded they pay less than $300 per month are paying for a room rental and not a full apartment.
There is a big range of rental prices being paid by expats in the city. 8 percent pay as high as $1,500 or higher per month (mainly for furnished apartments) and 6 percent pay $1,000 to $1,499 per month.
We previously looked at unfurnished rental prices in Medellín and furnished rental prices in Medellín. There is a wide range of rental prices in the city. And there are many types and qualities of apartments available. But in general the most expensive prices tend to be in El Poblado.
Our Medellín Living Reader Survey
Over 500 readers have taken our reader survey so far. However, there are still thousands of you who haven’t taken the 5 minutes to complete the survey. Your opinions will help us provide the content you want and shape Medellín Living for the future. The final day to take the survey will be December 9.
The above preliminary results graphics are examples of the interesting information our reader survey is also intended to provide.
To provide a little extra motivation to complete the Medellin Living Reader Survey, each qualified response with an email address is entered to win a COP 300,000 gift certificate to Carmen Restaurant. This is one of Medellín´s best restaurants.
Our reader survey isn’t scientific and it wasn’t intended to be. It is intended to survey the Medellín Living reader base. This is so we can improve the site to better meet the needs of readers.
But the Medellín Living website has a big readership so we are surveying many of the expats living in Medellín.
The Bottom Line
El Poblado remains the most popular neighborhood for expats living in Medellín. But our survey so far is finding that 72 percent of expats living in the city indicate they live in other neighborhoods. This is likely to avoid the higher costs typically found in El Poblado.
We expect that El Poblado, Envigado, Laureles-Estadio, Sabaneta and Belén will remain the five most popular neighborhoods in Medellín for expats to live for the foreseeable future.
We are also finding that two-thirds of the expats living in Medellín rent instead of buy. And for those that rent, nearly 60 percent pay less than $500 per month to rent. This demonstrates the low cost of living that is possible in the city.
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