Canberra vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$2261
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$5455
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$1267
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$2011
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$622
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$191
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$4659
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	30	100
😀 Quality of life	85	96
🏙️ Population	381K	2.3M

The cost of living in Canberra is 0.1% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 1373rd and 1367th ($2258 vs $2261) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 1144th in Australia and the United States, respectively. Check Australia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 2.1 months in Houston. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Houston ranked 1st in the United States, while ranked 438th and 14th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Canberra vs Houston

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

	Canberra	Houston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$20.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$75.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$6.03
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$5.49
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$2.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$1416
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$994
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$2413
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$1595
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$117
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	6.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$2519
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$1831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$1.26
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$74.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$0.86
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$3.37
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$4.08
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$4.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$17.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$3.99
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$3.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.5
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$2.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$1.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$13.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$2.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$9.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$8.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$3.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$38.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$14.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$148
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$51.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$1987
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$22291

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

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