San Francisco vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary

San Francisco is 48.4% more expensive than Houston.

Restaurants
pay 23.5% more in San Francisco
Groceries
pay 79.8% more in San Francisco
Transportation
pay 30.7% more in San Francisco
Housing
pay 64.1% more in San Francisco
Childcare
pay 79.7% more in San Francisco
Entertainment and Sports
pay 51.8% more in San Francisco
Clothing
pay 9.0% more in San Francisco

The cost of groceries, childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants in San Francisco are more expensive than in Houston. Notably, groceries and childcare are significantly more expensive in San Francisco.

San Francisco vs. Houston Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Francisco instead of Houston, you would:

pay 23.5% more for restaurants

 
Houston
San Francisco
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.00
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.00
 
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.53
 
$2.83
 

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pay 79.8% more for groceries

 
Houston
San Francisco
Bread
1 loaf
$2.97
 
$4.86
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.39
 
$11.38
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.43
 
$5.98
 

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pay 30.7% more for transportation

 
Houston
San Francisco
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.88
 
$5.27
 
Monthly public transit pass $75.00
 
$98.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,278.39
 
$36,753.89
 

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pay 64.1% more for housing

 
Houston
San Francisco
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$66.71
 
$65.19
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,582.84
 
$3,110.17
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,189.12
 
$2,750.00
 

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pay 79.7% more for childcare

 
Houston
San Francisco
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,457.58
 
$2,829.63
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $23,000.00
 
$38,000.00
 

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pay 51.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
Houston
San Francisco
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.00
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.27
 
$5.64
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.97
 
$14.00
 

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pay 9.0% more for clothing

 
Houston
San Francisco
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$47.14
 
$61.43
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$43.00
 
$45.08
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$103.28
 
$104.32
 

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: January 2025
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