Houston vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$2109
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$4833
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$1251
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$2104
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$517
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$191
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$2569
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	100	98
😀 Quality of life	96	91
🏙️ Population	2.3M	3.51M

The cost of living in Houston is 7% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 1367th and 1723rd ($2261 vs $2109) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th and 4th in the United States and Spain, respectively. Check the United States vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Houston compared to 1.2 months in Madrid. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 14th and 160th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Houston vs Madrid

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

	Houston	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.7	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$60.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$13.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$4.64
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$3.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$3.27
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1411
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$1035
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$2589
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$1735
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$108
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$33.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	3.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$9054
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$4487
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$1.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$42.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$18.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$1.34
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$1.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$3.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$17.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$8.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$17.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$3.06
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.39
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$2.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.22
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$0.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$8.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$1.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$7.01
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$4.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$2.43
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.55
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$53.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$68.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$17.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$99.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$729
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$16324

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1899
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1721
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1708
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1716
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1603
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1643
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1667
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1678
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1200
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1320
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1360
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1246
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1396
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1397
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1415
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1191
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$896
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1267
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1373
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1242
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1303
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1325
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1421
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1115
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1187
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1424
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1395
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1499
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1276
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1697
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1265
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1125
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1316
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1291
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1203
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$935
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1390
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1351
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1812