Cali vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cali	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$748	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1926	$5664
🏠 One person rent	$287	$1305
🏘️ Family rent	$513	$2467
🍽️ Food expenses	$269	$581
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$212
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$394	$4390
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	45	100
😀 Quality of life	50	91
🏙️ Population	2.47M	2.3M

The cost of living in Cali is 67% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 6679th and 1229th ($748 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 1115th in Colombia and the United States, respectively. Check Colombia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Cali compared to 1.9 months in Houston. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Houston ranked 14th in the United States, while ranked 6204th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cali vs Houston infographic

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Prices in Cali vs Houston

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

	Cali	Houston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.3	$17.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.1	$76
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.18	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.33	$5.88
☕ Cappuccino	$2.24	$5.4
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.9	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$264	$1390
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$203	$1037
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$536	$2766
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$384	$2058
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50	$132
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$76.8	$202
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$21.6	$65.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.11%	6.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$992	$2714
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$798	$1949
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.65	$1.25
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$71.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13	$23.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.96	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.61	$3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.3	$3.4
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.74	$4.07
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.14	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.55	$11.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.38	$16.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$3.95
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$3.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$2.73
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$1.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$3.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$14.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.06	$2.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.39	$9.62
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.8	$9.29
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.13	$5.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$3.64
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.1	$2.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$22.6	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.78	$14.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$29	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.36	$21.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.7	$50.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.7	$98.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$263	$1470
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6351	$18964

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cali

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Palmira	$666
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$742
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$513
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$477
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$557
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$598
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$649
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$605
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$680
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$529
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$493
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$653
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$410
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$705
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$514
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$674
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$794
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$887
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$571
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$531
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$897
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$906
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$497
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$709
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$839
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$519
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$563
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$610
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$884
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$882
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$534
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1031
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$722
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$532
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$664
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$648
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$657
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$573
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$651
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$645

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2108
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2087
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2196
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2093
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2097
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2232
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2311
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2065
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2056
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2014
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1799
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1855
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2089
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2089
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1673
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1853
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1907
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1878
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2215
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2037
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1986
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2455
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2163
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2134
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2223
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2192
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2224
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2182
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2260
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2230
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2182