Colombia estratos are six socioeconomic strata assigned to residential properties based on the physical characteristics of the home and its immediate surroundings, not the personal income of the people living inside. Confirming the exact estrato before signing a lease or purchase contract helps avoid billing surprises.
Properties in estratos 1 to 3 receive government subsidies on basic utilities, estrato 4 pays the standard cost of service, and estratos 5 and 6 pay a surcharge that helps finance those subsidies. The stratum also influences municipal property tax rates in Medellín, while Bogotá bases its property tax on the avalúo catastral (cadastral valuation), not the estrato.
What the Six Colombia Estratos Mean
Estratos are six socioeconomic strata, from 1 (bajo-bajo) to 6 (alto), that each city assigns to residential properties. Each alcaldía sets them by decree under Ley 142 de 1994, arts. 101 to 104 (DANE).
Classification depends on the physical features of the dwelling and its surroundings, not on who lives there.
| Estrato | Label | Public Utility Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Estrato 1 | Bajo-bajo | Subsidized tariff (commonly cited up to 50%) |
| Estrato 2 | Between bajo-bajo and alto | Subsidized tariff (commonly cited up to 40%) |
| Estrato 3 | Between bajo-bajo and alto | Subsidized tariff (commonly cited up to 15%) |
| Estrato 4 | Between bajo-bajo and alto | Baseline cost of service (no subsidy, no surcharge) |
| Estrato 5 | Between bajo-bajo and alto | Surcharge (commonly cited 20% contribución) |
| Estrato 6 | Alto | Surcharge (commonly cited 20% contribución) |
The surcharges paid by estratos 5 and 6 and commercial users fund the subsidies for estratos 1 to 3 (Valora Analitik).
How Colombia Estratos Change Your Utility Bills
Your monthly public utility invoices in Colombia depend directly on your property’s assigned stratum. Under the utility structure, residents in estratos 1, 2, and 3 receive utility subsidies. Estrato 4 functions as the neutral baseline. Customers in estratos 5 and 6, alongside commercial enterprises, pay a contribución surcharge on their monthly bills. Our guide to utilities in Colombia covers who supplies each service and how to pay the bills.
According to figures published by Valora Analitik and local analysis from El Universal, the commonly cited surcharge for estratos 5 and 6 is 20% above the tariff. For subsidized tiers, commonly cited maximum subsidy caps reach up to 50% for estrato 1, up to 40% for estrato 2, and up to 15% for estrato 3.
Estrato 4 properties pay the cost of service, with no subsidy and no surcharge. In mid-2026, national retail electricity rates for estrato 4 customers ranged between COP 840 and COP 1,046 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), depending on the regional energy retailer.
Crowd-sourced data gathered by Numbeo in Medellín in October 2026 placed the average monthly bill for basic utilities (covering electricity, heating, cooling, water, and garbage collection) for an 85-square-meter apartment at COP 539,375. Over the same period, Numbeo in Bogotá recorded an average of COP 395,335 per month for an 85-square-meter home, across a typical reported range of COP 300,000 to COP 600,000.
Numbeo’s figures are crowd-sourced and do not reflect the estrato. You can track broader monthly budgeting patterns in our breakdown of the cost of living in Medellín and our overview for the cost of living in Bogotá.
Estratos in Medellín and Bogotá Neighborhoods
Cuantomecuesta’s rental guide for Medellín (April 2026) lists El Poblado as estrato 6, while Laureles is listed as estrato 5.
In the capital, rental guides from Cuantomecuesta for Bogotá show Chapinero spanning estratos 4 to 6, while Usaquén, Chicó, and La Cabrera are listed across estratos 5 and 6.
These are rental-guide labels, not the official map. The official estrato is set per property or block rather than by neighborhood.
When exploring long-term rentals in Medellín or browsing sales listings online, do not assume an entire neighborhood shares identical billing rates. Mismatches between advertised listings and official municipal estratos do occur. How much the estrato moves rent or purchase prices is not published here.
How Estrato Affects Property Tax in Bogotá and Medellín
The municipal property tax (impuesto predial unificado) handles estratos differently depending on the city where you purchase real estate.
In Bogotá, the municipal tax authority does not use the estrato to set residential predial tax rates. Under Resolución 000194 of 12 December 2025, issued by the Secretaría Distrital de Hacienda (SDH), Bogotá calculates residential property tax from the property’s cadastral appraisal (avalúo catastral), not from the estrato. For 2026, Bogotá’s progressive tax scale begins at 5.5 per mil for properties with an avalúo catastral up to COP 194,307,000. The rate steps upward across progressive valuation brackets, reaching 12.3 per mil for properties valued above COP 2,505,139,000.
In Medellín, the local tax system explicitly incorporates the property stratum into its calculation. Article 21 of Medellín’s municipal tax statute, Acuerdo 066 de 2017, structures residential predial through a matrix combining the avalúo catastral bracket with the property’s assigned estrato, all held within Colombia’s statutory municipal band of 5 to 16 per mil.
The peso bands may have been amended since Acuerdo 066 de 2017, so consult a qualified real estate lawyer in Colombia or the Alcaldía de Medellín to confirm the active rate table for a prospective purchase. The tax base is the avalúo catastral, which is usually below the market price. Closing costs are covered in our guide to closing costs in Colombia and test your budget with our closing cost calculator.
How to Check an Estrato Before Signing a Lease or Purchase
Before you sign, ask your Colombian real estate lawyer to confirm the property’s estrato with the alcaldía, and compare it with the estrato in the listing. The official estrato is set per property or block, and listing labels can differ from it.
How to request a re-stratification is not published here.
Planning Your Move
At Colombia Desk, we help foreigners moving to Medellín or Bogotá plan their move. If you would like help planning your move, see our relocation concierge page and get in touch.