Houston vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Houston	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$461
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5394	$1179
🏠 One person rent	$1281	$185
🏘️ Family rent	$2031	$299
🍽️ Food expenses	$603	$174
🚐 Transport expenses	$201	$34
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4606	$230
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	55
😀 Quality of life	95	48
🏙️ Population	2.3M	2.11M

The cost of living in Houston is 391% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 1354th and 8850th ($2265 vs $461) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1137th 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 1st best city to live in the United States vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 16th and 6907th 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 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	$18.7	$1.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.6	$11.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.8	$3.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$1.74
☕ Cappuccino	$5.52	$1.8
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.74	$0.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1411	$169
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1003	$101
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2380	$308
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1609	$179
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$43.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$204	$66.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.9	$28.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.39%	9.23%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2542	$1205
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1944	$591
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.3	$8.11
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.8	$2.58
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.72	$0.75
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.9	$1.24
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.19	$1.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.06	$1.42
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$7.93
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$6.63
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$1.53
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$0.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$1.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.5	$7.62
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.31	$1.56
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.24	$2.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.34	$1.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8	$2.34
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.92	$0.8
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$0.75
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.9	$19.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$3.37
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$149	$14.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$2.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.3	$55.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$102
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1729	$122
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22380	$9091

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	$2228
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2150
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2094
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2260
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2071
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2112
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2136
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2297
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2386
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2102
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2072
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2114
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2738
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2048
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1836
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1897
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2112
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2022
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1605
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1913
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$2000
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1900
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1887
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2226
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$1971
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1904
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2115
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2444
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2027
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2153
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2237
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2125
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2229
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2171
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2200
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2187
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2285
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2059
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2221

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$458
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$470
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$451
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$485
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$438
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$701
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$572
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$558
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$792
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$740
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$696
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$663
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$551
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$762
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$790
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$634
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$750
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$564
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$831
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$813
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$981
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$664
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$627
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$628
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$678
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$513
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$622
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$736
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$846
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$495
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$788
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1059
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$551
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$808
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$891
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$780
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$588
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$572