Given the persistence of differences in labor income across regions in Colombia , this article proposes to quantify the magnitude of the differential that is attributed to the difference in labor market structures , understanding the latter as the difference in returns to characteristics of the workforce. To this end, it proposes the use of an Oaxaca- Blinder type decomposition method and it compares Bogota -the city with higher labor income levels- with other major cities. The results obtained by conducting the decomposition exercise show that differences in structure are in favor of Bogotá and that these account for more than half of the overall difference, indicating that if they want to reduce labor income disparities between cities is not enough to qualify the workforce and, also, that it is needed to investigate the causes leading returns to characteristics differ across cities.
