Houston vs. Tennessee Cost of Living Summary

Houston is 11.4% more expensive than Tennessee.

Restaurants
pay 1.9% less in Houston
Groceries
pay 11.3% less in Houston
Transportation
pay 29.1% more in Houston
Housing
pay 5.8% more in Houston
Childcare
pay 37.3% more in Houston
Entertainment and Sports
pay 13.0% more in Houston
Clothing
pay 7.5% more in Houston

The cost of childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, clothing, and housing in Houston are more expensive than in Tennessee. Expenses including groceries and restaurants are lower in Houston.

Houston vs. Tennessee Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Houston instead of Tennessee, you would:

pay 1.9% less for restaurants

 
Tennessee
Houston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.86
 
$18.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.51
 
$9.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.54
 
$2.53
 

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pay 11.3% less for groceries

 
Tennessee
Houston
Bread
1 loaf
$2.90
 
$2.97
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.63
 
$6.39
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.62
 
$3.43
 

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pay 29.1% more for transportation

 
Tennessee
Houston
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.06
 
$2.88
 
Monthly public transit pass $41.50
 
$75.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,466.25
 
$36,278.39
 

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pay 5.8% more for housing

 
Tennessee
Houston
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$66.90
 
$66.71
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,303.80
 
$1,582.84
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,173.17
 
$1,189.12
 

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pay 37.3% more for childcare

 
Tennessee
Houston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,030.34
 
$1,457.58
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $17,284.00
 
$23,000.00
 

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pay 13.0% more for entertainment and sports

 
Tennessee
Houston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.95
 
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.12
 
$5.27
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.10
 
$9.97
 

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pay 7.5% more for clothing

 
Tennessee
Houston
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$53.07
 
$47.14
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$43.48
 
$43.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$85.12
 
$103.28
 

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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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