Average Salary in Colombia (2026): DANE Wages, Roles and Costs
Salaried workers in Colombia earned an average of COP 2,158,174 a month (about $690) in 2025 according to DANE household survey data, the 2026 minimum wage is COP 1,750,905 plus a COP 249,095 transport allowance, and call center agents earn COP 1.6 to 2.5 million before employer costs that add 50 percent or more.
Salaried employees in Colombia earned an average of COP 2,158,174 a month, about $690, between January and October 2025, according to the national statistics agency DANE's household survey (the Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares, GEIH). In the thirteen largest cities the salaried average was COP 2,575,541, about $824. Self-employed workers, who make up close to half the workforce, averaged far less: COP 1,384,199 nationally.
For a US or UK company the more relevant numbers are the 2026 minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 plus a COP 249,095 transport allowance, which together set a floor of exactly COP 2,000,000 a month for most entry-level jobs, and the employer contributions and mandated benefits that add 50 to 65 percent on top of salary. Colombia's on-costs are among the highest in Latin America, so a call center agent whose salary looks cheap in USD costs considerably more once prima, cesantías, pension, and the transport allowance are added. This guide sets out the official figures, the legal status of the 2026 minimum wage, market pay for nearshore roles, and the full monthly cost.
Exchange rate
USD figures use COP 3,127.64 per dollar, the rate published by the Open Exchange Rates API on September 19, 2026. The peso has ranged from about 3,800 to 4,900 per dollar over the past four years before strengthening in 2025 and 2026, so USD budgets for Colombian staff have moved by 20 percent or more without any change in local pay. Budget in pesos.
The Official Numbers
DANE does not publish a single national average salary. Its household survey reports average labor income by type of worker, by sex, and for the thirteen main cities, and the figures below come from the wage-negotiation briefing DANE prepared for the 2026 minimum wage talks (PDF), covering January to October of each year in current pesos.
| Worker type | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salaried, national | COP 1,860,365 | COP 2,005,417 | COP 2,158,174 | $690 |
| Self-employed, national | COP 1,128,127 | COP 1,265,068 | COP 1,384,199 | $443 |
| Salaried, 13 cities and metro areas | COP 2,253,627 | COP 2,438,669 | COP 2,575,541 | $824 |
| Self-employed, 13 cities | COP 1,629,882 | COP 1,821,352 | COP 1,911,991 | $611 |
Source: DANE, GEIH, average monthly labor income from the main activity, January to October. Salaried men averaged COP 2,209,324 and salaried women COP 2,093,408 in 2025.
These are means, and they sit only modestly above the minimum wage because Colombia's income distribution is compressed at the bottom. DANE's income-range tables in the same briefing show that a large share of employed people, close to half when the self-employed are included, report earnings below one minimum wage, most of them in informal work. Among salaried employees the picture is better, but roughly a third still earn at or under the minimum.
That compression explains the wide spread of "average salary" figures online. Wage.is reports an average of COP 2.2 million and a median of 1.4 million, which is consistent with DANE. Outsource Accelerator and Remoti report averages of COP 4.7 million, and WorkStaff360 reports 3.35 million; those are drawn from job-site postings for professional roles and describe the formal white-collar market rather than all salaried workers. For hiring a bilingual agent or an accountant, the job-site figures are the better guide. For understanding why turnover is high at minimum-wage jobs, the DANE figures are.
Minimum Wage in Colombia
The 2026 minimum monthly wage (SMMLV) is COP 1,750,905, a 23 percent increase over the 2025 figure of COP 1,423,500, and the transport allowance (auxilio de transporte) is COP 249,095, up 24.5 percent. Together they come to COP 2,000,000, about $639, for any employee earning up to two minimum wages, according to Holland and Knight's summary of Decrees 1469 and 1470 of 2025.
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum monthly wage | COP 1,423,500 | COP 1,750,905 | 23 percent |
| Transport allowance (for earners up to 2 SMMLV) | COP 200,000 | COP 249,095 | 24.5 percent |
| Total for a minimum-wage employee | COP 1,623,500 | COP 2,000,000 | 23.2 percent |
The legal status of that figure is unusual and worth understanding. The government set the 23 percent increase by decree after the tripartite wage commission failed to agree. On February 12, 2026, the Council of State provisionally suspended Decree 1469 on the grounds that the increase may not have followed the statutory criteria (inflation, productivity, and GDP growth), and ordered a transitional decree. The government issued Decree 159 of 2026 on February 19, setting the same COP 1,750,905 on a transitional basis until a final ruling, and the Council of State ratified the suspension of the original decree on April 13 while leaving the transitional decree in force, as Vanguardia reported. A final judgment is not expected before 2027. In practice, employers must pay COP 1,750,905; the litigation affects the legal basis, not the amount.
The transport allowance is a cash payment, not a reimbursement, and it is included in the base for prima and cesantías (though not for social security contributions). It is due to remote employees as well, which surprises many foreign employers.
Salaries by Employment Type and City
The DANE briefing gives the clearest official picture of how pay varies: by whether a worker is salaried or self-employed, and by whether they work in one of the thirteen main cities. Salaried workers in the main cities earn about 19 percent more than the national salaried average, and about 86 percent more than self-employed workers nationally.
For a foreign employer, the cities that matter are Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, and Bucaramanga. Bogotá has the largest bilingual pool and the highest pay; Medellín has become the second hub for nearshore contact centers and software teams, with pay roughly 5 to 10 percent below Bogotá; Barranquilla and Cali are 10 to 20 percent cheaper and have grown as BPO locations because of lower turnover. DANE does not publish city-level salaried averages in the briefing, so those spreads are drawn from job-site data and industry experience rather than official statistics.
What Remote and BPO Roles Pay
The ranges below are market data from Indeed Colombia, which reports averages from job postings over the previous 36 months, accessed September 19, 2026. They are monthly gross figures excluding the transport allowance and are not official statistics.
| Role | Typical monthly range (COP) | Average (COP) | Average (USD) | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call center agent | 848,751 to 3,051,004 | 1,609,206 | $514 | 553 salaries |
| Administrative assistant | 1,040,432 to 2,523,433 | 1,620,328 | $518 | 578 salaries |
| Call center supervisor | 1,479,113 to 3,769,938 | 2,361,390 | $755 | 56 salaries |
| Accountant | 1,349,938 to 5,281,530 | 2,670,157 | $854 | 1,200 salaries |
| Software developer | 1,189,404 to 7,418,217 | 2,970,397 | $950 | 427 salaries |
Two corrections are needed before using that table. The call center and administrative averages are below the 2026 minimum wage, because Indeed's 36-month window includes 2024 and 2025 postings at the old minimums; any agent hired in 2026 earns at least COP 1,750,905 plus the transport allowance. And the averages are Spanish-only. Bilingual agents are a different market: Glassdoor reports a base range of COP 1.9 to 2.3 million a month for bilingual call center agents in Bogotá, and Magneto puts the overall agent range at COP 1.3 to 5 million with English proficiency adding up to 30 percent. A realistic 2026 base for a bilingual agent supporting US customers is COP 2.3 to 3.2 million ($735 to $1,025) plus transport allowance, with sales and technical support roles above that. Computrabajo's developer average of COP 3.8 million is higher than Indeed's and closer to what nearshore teams pay; senior engineers working for US clients earn COP 8 to 15 million.
What It Costs to Employ Someone in Colombia
Colombia's employer obligations fall into three groups: social security contributions, parafiscal contributions, and mandated benefits (prestaciones sociales). The HiveDesk employer of record guide for Colombia lists the full rates; the table below summarizes them.
| Cost | Employer rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pension | 12 percent of salary | Employee pays a further 4 percent |
| Health (EPS) | 8.5 percent | Many private employers are exempt for employees earning under ten minimum wages under Article 114-1 of the Tax Statute; confirm with your payroll provider |
| Occupational risk (ARL) | 0.522 to 6.96 percent | Class I (office work) is 0.522 percent |
| Family compensation fund (Caja) | 4 percent | |
| ICBF and SENA (parafiscals) | 3 percent and 2 percent | Subject to the same exemption as health |
| Prima de servicios | One month's salary a year, paid in June and December, about 8.33 percent | Calculated on salary plus transport allowance |
| Cesantías (severance fund) | One month's salary a year, about 8.33 percent, plus 12 percent annual interest on the balance | Calculated on salary plus transport allowance |
| Vacation | 15 working days a year, about 4.17 percent | |
| Transport allowance | COP 249,095 a month | For employees earning up to two minimum wages |
Worked example for a call center agent in Bogotá at COP 2,000,000 base salary, slightly above the minimum wage and therefore still entitled to the transport allowance.
| Component | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Base salary | COP 2,000,000 |
| Transport allowance | COP 249,095 |
| Pension (12 percent of salary) | COP 240,000 |
| ARL class I (0.522 percent) | COP 10,440 |
| Family compensation fund (4 percent) | COP 80,000 |
| Prima accrual (one twelfth of salary plus transport) | COP 187,425 |
| Cesantías accrual (one twelfth of salary plus transport) | COP 187,425 |
| Interest on cesantías (1 percent of salary a month) | COP 22,491 |
| Vacation accrual (4.17 percent of salary) | COP 83,333 |
| Total with the health, ICBF and SENA exemption | COP 3,060,209 (about $978) |
| Health, ICBF and SENA if not exempt (13.5 percent) | COP 270,000 |
| Total without the exemption | COP 3,330,209 (about $1,065) |
The employer cost is 53 percent above base salary with the exemption and 67 percent without it, which is why an agent at a $639 headline salary costs about $1,000 a month. Employers of record generally quote the non-exempt figure. On top of that, most employers provide a supplementary health plan (medicina prepagada) for professional staff and an end-of-year bonus in some sectors, neither of which is required.
Salary Trends
Salaried earnings rose 7.6 percent between 2024 and 2025 in the DANE data (7.8 percent in the thirteen cities), following an 7.8 percent rise the year before. Inflation is running ahead of that: the consumer price index rose 6.24 percent in the year to August 2026, up from 5.10 percent a year earlier, according to DANE figures reported by INCP. The 23 percent minimum wage increase for 2026 is the largest in decades and will lift pay for the roughly third of salaried workers who earn at or near the floor, and it has pushed up the transport allowance and the prima and cesantías that are calculated on it. For 2027 expect a smaller but still above-inflation increase and a legal ruling on the 2026 decree.
How US and UK Companies Pay Workers in Colombia
Employer of record. A provider registers the employee in the PILA social security system, runs payroll, and handles prima, cesantías, and terminations, for a fee of about $400 to $600 a month. The Colombia EOR guide covers providers, and the EOR cost comparison puts Colombia beside other countries.
Independent contractor. Common for developers and designers under a contrato de prestación de servicios. The contractor must pay their own social security on 40 percent of income, and the arrangement is legal only for genuinely independent work; Colombian labor courts apply a presumption of employment when the worker is subordinate to a schedule and supervision, and the employer then owes prima, cesantías, and contributions retroactively.
Local entity. A simplified stock company (SAS) can be set up in a few weeks and is the usual vehicle above about thirty employees or when the company wants to sign leases and local contracts.
The Colombia labor law guide covers hours, overtime, and termination, and the guide to outsourcing to Colombia covers site selection and vendor management.
Tracking Time and Attendance for a Team in Colombia
Colombia is reducing its maximum work week in stages, from 48 hours to 42 by July 2026, and overtime and night surcharges (35 percent for night work) depend on accurate time records. HiveDesk tracks time automatically from a desktop app, captures periodic screenshots, and generates timesheets for approval, and it handles scheduling, attendance, and leave for the same team. It costs $5 per user per month on a single plan and has served distributed teams since 2011.
Automatic time tracking, screenshots, scheduling and timesheets for nearshore teams, $5 per user per month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is $1,000 a month a lot in Colombia?
$1,000 is about COP 3.13 million, which is 1.45 times the national salaried average and 1.2 times the thirteen-city average. It is a good professional salary: above what most accountants earn and about what a bilingual call center supervisor or a mid-level developer makes. For an individual in Bogotá it is comfortable; for a family it is tight.
Is $2,000 a month a lot in Colombia?
Yes. COP 6.26 million a month is nearly three times the salaried average and above the pay of most senior professionals outside finance, law, and software. It supports a family in a good Bogotá neighborhood.
What is a good salary in Colombia?
For a single professional in Bogotá or Medellín, COP 4 to 6 million a month ($1,280 to $1,920) is a good salary, covering a one-bedroom apartment, transport, health insurance, and savings. Outside the main cities COP 3 million buys a similar standard of living.
What is the minimum wage in Colombia in USD?
COP 1,750,905 is about $560 a month at September 2026 rates, and the transport allowance adds about $80, for a total of about $639. The employer's cost for a minimum-wage worker is roughly $950 to $1,050 once contributions and benefits are included.
How far does $100 go in Colombia?
COP 312,764 covers a week's groceries for one person in Bogotá, about 60 rides on the TransMilenio bus system, or a month of mobile data and a streaming subscription. It is about 18 percent of a minimum-wage salary.
Sources
- DANE, GEIH briefing for the 2026 wage negotiation (PDF, text extracted September 19, 2026), average labor income January to October 2023 to 2025.
- Holland and Knight, Colombia decrees 2026 minimum wage, December 2025.
- Decree 159 of 2026, Bogotá legal compilation.
- Vanguardia, Council of State ratifies suspension, April 14, 2026.
- Indeed Colombia salary pages, accessed September 19, 2026.
- Magneto, call center agent salaries in Colombia.
- INCP, DANE August 2026 CPI, September 2026.
- Open Exchange Rates API, September 19, 2026.
This page is part of HiveDesk's salary guides by country for companies hiring in BPO and remote-work destinations.