Houston vs Malaga - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Houston	Malaga
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2240	$1617
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5311	$3763
🏠 One person rent	$1275	$929
🏘️ Family rent	$2042	$1604
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$467
🚐 Transport expenses	$199	$93.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4580	$1700
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	24
😀 Quality of life	93	80
🏙️ Population	2.3M	592K

The cost of living in Houston is 39% more expensive than in Malaga. Cities ranked 1375th and 3451st ($2240 vs $1617) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1186th and 27th 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 months in Houston compared to 1.1 months in Malaga. Houston ranked 15th best city to live in the United States vs Malaga ranked 21st in Spain, while ranked 77th and 736th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Houston vs Malaga infographic

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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	$18.5	$16.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$72	$59.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$4.01
☕ Cappuccino	$5.42	$2.96
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.76	$2.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1397	$1047
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$997	$767
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2394	$1891
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1614	$1344
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$78.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$123
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.4	$27.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.45%	3.82%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2608	$6192
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1961	$5381
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$1.61
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71	$26.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.5	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$1.24
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.1	$1.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.59
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.7	$2.91
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$8.27
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.1	$14.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.77	$2.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$1.79
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.01
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.42	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.3	$2.52
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$6.58
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.01	$1.13
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.68	$6.34
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$12.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.92	$2.86
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.88	$2.4
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.26
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.6	$50.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$141	$42.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.5	$20.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$46	$86.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.4	$93
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1504	$535
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23708	$10933

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	$2240
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2177
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2216
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2260
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2229
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2094
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2155
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2308
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2376
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2110
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2095
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2209
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2730
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2067
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1828
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1948
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2129
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2020
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1592
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1900
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1993
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1881
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1883
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2220
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2029
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1975
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1493
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2196
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2416
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2148
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2136
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2222
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2188
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2215
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2221
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2210
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2241
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2279
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2075
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2233

Cities near Malaga

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Benalmadena	$1584
24 km or 15 mi	Mijas	$1511
27 km or 17 mi	Fuengirola	$1489
36 km or 22 mi	Antequera	$1301
48 km or 30 mi	Marbella	$1924
55 km or 34 mi	Loja	$1461
65 km or 40 mi	Almunecar	$1101
67 km or 41 mi	Ronda	$980
71 km or 44 mi	Estepona	$1666
80 km or 50 mi	Motril	$997
89 km or 55 mi	Granada	$1334
94 km or 58 mi	Alcala la Real	$2260
104 km or 64 mi	La Linea de la Concepcion	$1268
105 km or 65 mi	Gibraltar City	$2429
109 km or 68 mi	Ecija	$1344
113 km or 70 mi	Los Barrios	$1157
114 km or 71 mi	Algeciras	$987
119 km or 74 mi	Martos	$1382
122 km or 76 mi	Ceuta	$1312
124 km or 77 mi	Arcos de la Frontera	$1274
125 km or 78 mi	Adra	$1187
130 km or 81 mi	Jaen	$1133
132 km or 82 mi	Tarifa	$1287
133 km or 83 mi	Cordoba	$1233
137 km or 85 mi	Carmona	$1344
143 km or 89 mi	El Ejido	$1123
148 km or 92 mi	Dos Hermanas	$1359
152 km or 94 mi	Jerez de la Frontera	$989
154 km or 96 mi	Tetouan	$565
158 km or 98 mi	Seville	$1393
158 km or 98 mi	Chiclana de la Frontera	$1166
162 km or 101 mi	Tangier	$863
169 km or 105 mi	Linares	$1369
169 km or 105 mi	Cadiz	$1501
171 km or 106 mi	Ubeda	$1490
174 km or 108 mi	Rota	$1500
176 km or 109 mi	Almeria	$1298
196 km or 122 mi	Almonte	$1316
207 km or 129 mi	Melilla	$931
218 km or 135 mi	Nador	$536