Houston vs Malaga - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Malaga
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$1705
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$3968
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$1002
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$1727
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$483
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$94.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$1960
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	24
😀 Quality of life	96	80
🏙️ Population	2.3M	599K

The cost of living in Houston is 33% more expensive than in Malaga. Cities ranked 1367th and 3191st ($2261 vs $1705) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th and 19th 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 1.1 months in Malaga. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Malaga ranked 25th in Spain, while ranked 14th and 690th 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 Houston vs Malaga

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

	Houston	Malaga
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.7	$16.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$55.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$3.99
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$3.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$2.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1178
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$815
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$2058
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$1443
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$88.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$136
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$25
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	3.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$5104
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$3819
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$28.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.27
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$1.47
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$1.73
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$3.8
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$16.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$8.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$2.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$2.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.72
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.54
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$6.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$1.2
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$6.44
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$14
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$3.28
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$2.23
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$1.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$50.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$9.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$45.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$16.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$99.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$709
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$10558

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 Malaga

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Benalmadena	$1608
24 km or 15 mi	Mijas	$1556
27 km or 17 mi	Fuengirola	$1574
36 km or 22 mi	Antequera	$1317
48 km or 30 mi	Marbella	$2004
55 km or 34 mi	Loja	$1495
65 km or 40 mi	Almunecar	$1098
67 km or 41 mi	Ronda	$1022
71 km or 44 mi	Estepona	$1670
80 km or 50 mi	Motril	$988
89 km or 55 mi	Granada	$1350
94 km or 58 mi	Alcala la Real	$2272
104 km or 64 mi	La Linea de la Concepcion	$1304
105 km or 65 mi	Gibraltar City	$2594
109 km or 68 mi	Ecija	$1368
113 km or 70 mi	Los Barrios	$1193
114 km or 71 mi	Algeciras	$1014
119 km or 74 mi	Martos	$1390
122 km or 76 mi	Ceuta	$1306
124 km or 77 mi	Arcos de la Frontera	$1287
125 km or 78 mi	Adra	$1223
130 km or 81 mi	Jaen	$1125
132 km or 82 mi	Tarifa	$1369
133 km or 83 mi	Cordoba	$1291
137 km or 85 mi	Carmona	$1337
143 km or 89 mi	El Ejido	$1158
148 km or 92 mi	Dos Hermanas	$1279
152 km or 94 mi	Jerez de la Frontera	$983
154 km or 96 mi	Tetouan	$591
158 km or 98 mi	Seville	$1343
158 km or 98 mi	Chiclana de la Frontera	$1166
162 km or 101 mi	Tangier	$879
169 km or 105 mi	Linares	$1395
169 km or 105 mi	Cadiz	$1436
171 km or 106 mi	Ubeda	$1499
174 km or 108 mi	Rota	$1453
176 km or 109 mi	Almeria	$1343
196 km or 122 mi	Almonte	$1315
207 km or 129 mi	Melilla	$929
218 km or 135 mi	Nador	$499