Houston vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Houston	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2240	$466
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5311	$1207
🏠 One person rent	$1275	$186
🏘️ Family rent	$2042	$296
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$170
🚐 Transport expenses	$199	$35.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4580	$223
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	55
😀 Quality of life	93	62
🏙️ Population	2.3M	2.11M

The cost of living in Houston is 381% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 1375th and 8825th ($2240 vs $466) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1186th and 48th in the United States and Indonesia, respectively. Check the United States vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Houston compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Houston ranked 15th best city to live in the United States vs Medan ranked 7th in Indonesia, while ranked 77th and 5663rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Houston vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Houston vs Medan

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

	Houston	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.5	$1.81
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$72	$10.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$3.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$1.51
☕ Cappuccino	$5.42	$1.73
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.76	$0.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1397	$172
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$997	$86.9
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2394	$312
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1614	$156
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$48.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$75.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.4	$32.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.45%	9.2%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2608	$1333
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1961	$604
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71	$9.61
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.5	$2.24
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.1	$1.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$0.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.7	$1.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$9.38
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$3.74
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.1	$6.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.77	$2.23
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$0.89
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$0.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$1.25
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.42	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.3	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$6.66
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.01	$1.34
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.68	$2.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$1.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.92	$2.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.88	$0.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$0.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.6	$22.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$3.44
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$141	$14
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.5	$2.72
👖 Brand Jeans	$46	$64.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.4	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1504	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23708	$10637

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 Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$460
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$449
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$552
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$563
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$754
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$701
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$657
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$554
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$704
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$592
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$681
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$509
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$789
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$609
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$584
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$570
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$643
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$519
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$592
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$689
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$503
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$771
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1014
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$773
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$854
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$788
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$552
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534