Austin vs Cali - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Austin	Cali
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2416	$759
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5487	$1941
🏠 One person rent	$1511	$279
🏘️ Family rent	$2463	$476
🍽️ Food expenses	$601	$273
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$121
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4904	$395
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	19 km
🎓 Higher education	66	45
😀 Quality of life	92	57
🏙️ Population	962K	2.47M

The cost of living in Austin is 218% more expensive than in Cali. Cities ranked 1002nd and 6830th ($2416 vs $759) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 879th and 17th in the United States and Colombia, respectively. Check the United States vs Colombia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Austin compared to 0.5 months in Cali. Austin ranked 44th best city to live in the United States vs Cali ranked 6th in Colombia, while ranked 151st and 6175th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Austin vs Cali infographic

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Prices in Austin vs Cali

Prices for goods and services in Austin and Cali are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Austin	Cali
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.1	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$70	$24.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$8.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.73	$1.4
☕ Cappuccino	$5.77	$2.39
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.79	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1903	$260
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1193	$192
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3088	$481
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2013	$350
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$109	$51.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$168	$78.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.9	$21.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.54%	11.52%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4361	$1046
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3258	$838
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.41	$0.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.9	$27.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.3	$14.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.74	$1.05
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.98	$1.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.9	$1.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.21	$2.52
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$4.93
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$5.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$8.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.18	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.06
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.46	$0.99
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$1.28
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$0.84
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.14
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.42	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.9	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$12.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.86	$1.14
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.24	$2.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.78	$6.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$4.28
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.19	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.2	$1.69
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.2	$22.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.6	$4.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$129	$32.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.8	$7.26
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.5	$66.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.3	$93.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1317	$242
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21266	$6322

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Austin

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Pflugerville	$2196
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2148
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2221
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2241
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2222
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2188
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2215
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2233
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2210
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$2075
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$2022
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$2105
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2178
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2164
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2136
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2023
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1993
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$2169
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1900
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2279
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2220
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2209
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$2020
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2730
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2154
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1828
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2229
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2216
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2094
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2185
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2186
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2240
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2187
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2177
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2184
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2190
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2240
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$2095
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2155
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2302

Cities near Cali

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Palmira	$693
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$782
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$511
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$572
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$565
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$667
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$679
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$655
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$730
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$506
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$515
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$678
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$489
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$708
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$608
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$722
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$848
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$976
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$622
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$604
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$950
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1030
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$546
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$762
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$881
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$585
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$637
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$606
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$882
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$960
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$581
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1082
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$777
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$598
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$721
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$686
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$693
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$542
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$649
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$663