Houston vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$4489
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	96	100
🏙️ Population	2.3M	5.35M

The cost of living in Houston is 11% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 1367th and 829th ($2261 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th and 4th in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Houston compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 14th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/houston/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Houston vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/houston/melbourne" target="_blank">Houston vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Houston vs Melbourne

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

	Houston	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.7	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$22313

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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1834
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1813
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1913
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1933
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1896
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1915
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1936
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2179
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1606
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$2000
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1816
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1868
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1825
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1728
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2258
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1905
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1795
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2364
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1460
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1701
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2355
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1709
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1855
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2481
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2040
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2354
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1995
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1273
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132