Cali vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cali	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$850	$2261
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2137	$5455
🏠 One person rent	$330	$1267
🏘️ Family rent	$553	$2011
🍽️ Food expenses	$294	$622
🚐 Transport expenses	$132	$191
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$505	$4659
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	47	100
😀 Quality of life	62	96
🏙️ Population	2.47M	2.3M

The cost of living in Cali is 62% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 6549th and 1367th ($850 vs $2261) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1144th 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 0.6 months in Cali compared to 2.1 months in Houston. Cali ranked 4th best city to live in Colombia vs Houston ranked 1st in the United States, while ranked 5632nd and 14th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$5.09	$20.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$75.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.81	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$6.03
☕ Cappuccino	$2.67	$5.49
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$2.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$346	$1416
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$227	$994
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$639	$2413
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$396	$1595
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.4	$117
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$83.8	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$24.5	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.49%	6.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1128	$2519
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$904	$1831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.88	$1.26
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.2	$74.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$0.86
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$3.37
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$4.08
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.83	$4.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.08	$17.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$3.99
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$3.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$2.5
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$2.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.13	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.6	$13.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.29	$2.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.65	$9.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.27	$8.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.31	$3.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.83	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.8	$38.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.15	$14.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.1	$148
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.54	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.7	$51.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$259	$1987
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6818	$22291

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	$788
74 km or 46 mi	Buenaventura	$856
80 km or 50 mi	Tulua	$563
111 km or 69 mi	Popayan	$631
148 km or 92 mi	Neiva	$606
154 km or 96 mi	Armenia	$749
160 km or 100 mi	Cartago	$769
170 km or 105 mi	Salento	$749
178 km or 111 mi	Pereira	$862
184 km or 114 mi	Ibague	$537
213 km or 132 mi	Girardot	$559
214 km or 133 mi	Manizales	$737
227 km or 141 mi	Florencia	$524
251 km or 156 mi	Quibdo	$802
262 km or 163 mi	Pasto	$675
285 km or 177 mi	Facatativa	$816
285 km or 177 mi	Soacha	$958
301 km or 187 mi	Bogota	$1106
308 km or 192 mi	Tumaco	$694
316 km or 196 mi	Ipiales	$672
321 km or 200 mi	Envigado	$1041
329 km or 204 mi	Medellin	$1162
330 km or 205 mi	Villavicencio	$593
330 km or 205 mi	Zipaquira	$858
339 km or 210 mi	Bello	$1012
386 km or 240 mi	Ibarra	$557
421 km or 261 mi	Tunja	$680
446 km or 277 mi	Esmeraldas	$613
463 km or 288 mi	Quito	$864
469 km or 291 mi	Duitama	$1045
471 km or 293 mi	Sogamoso	$630
500 km or 311 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1001
504 km or 313 mi	Yopal	$740
506 km or 314 mi	Santo Domingo	$592
518 km or 322 mi	Turbo	$797
554 km or 344 mi	Floridablanca	$795
556 km or 346 mi	Bucaramanga	$816
571 km or 354 mi	Ambato	$516
595 km or 369 mi	Quevedo	$653
596 km or 370 mi	Monteria	$733

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2142
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2064
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2093
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2126
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2011
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2107
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2025
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2124
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2190
41 km or 25 mi	League	$1990
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$1916
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2096
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2754
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2011
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1860
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1893
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2033
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$1900
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1621
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1843
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1950
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1895
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1872
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2003
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$1977
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1917
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1516
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2141
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2475
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2058
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2070
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2168
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2110
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2125
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2151
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2120
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2149
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2066
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$1937
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2123