Houston vs Panama City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Panama City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$1590
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$3556
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$946
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$1545
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$439
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$100
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$973
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	42
😀 Quality of life	96	71
🏙️ Population	2.3M	1.54M

The cost of living in Houston is 42% more expensive than in Panama City. Cities ranked 1367th and 3634th ($2261 vs $1590) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th and 1st in the United States and Panama, respectively. Check the United States vs Panama comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Houston compared to 0.6 months in Panama City. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Panama City ranked 1st in Panama, while ranked 14th and 3213th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Houston vs Panama City

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

	Houston	Panama City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.7	$9.69
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$45.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$8.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$2.93
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$4.3
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$1.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1068
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$747
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$1913
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$1223
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$90.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$140
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$44.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	6.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$3111
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$1732
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$22.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$14.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$0.98
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$2.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$3.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$12.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$7.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$3.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.36
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$1.24
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.37
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$1.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$5.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$8.08
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$7.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$2.92
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$3.05
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$41.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$7.52
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$42.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$14.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$58.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$90.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$505
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$11486

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 Panama City

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Balboa	$1396
16 km or 9.9 mi	Tocumen	$1373
26 km or 16 mi	Pacora	$1361
34 km or 21 mi	La Chorrera	$982
59 km or 37 mi	Colon	$1185
108 km or 67 mi	Penonome	$1147
154 km or 96 mi	Chitre	$1144
190 km or 118 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
321 km or 199 mi	Turbo	$797
329 km or 204 mi	David	$909
398 km or 247 mi	Monteria	$733
403 km or 250 mi	Limon	$1228
406 km or 252 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$789
452 km or 281 mi	Sincelejo	$586
463 km or 288 mi	Cartagena	$1186
483 km or 300 mi	Quibdo	$802
494 km or 307 mi	Cartago	$1361
513 km or 319 mi	San Jose	$1574
518 km or 322 mi	Heredia	$1471
521 km or 324 mi	Magangue	$727
526 km or 327 mi	Bello	$1012
529 km or 329 mi	Alajuela	$1362
530 km or 329 mi	Medellin	$1162
534 km or 332 mi	Envigado	$1041
558 km or 347 mi	Soledad	$967
559 km or 348 mi	Barranquilla	$931
595 km or 370 mi	Puntarenas	$872
617 km or 383 mi	Cartago	$769
617 km or 383 mi	Cienaga	$882
623 km or 387 mi	Manizales	$737
627 km or 390 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
627 km or 390 mi	Pereira	$862
631 km or 392 mi	Santa Marta	$973
632 km or 393 mi	Buenaventura	$856
636 km or 395 mi	Minca	$891
651 km or 404 mi	Salento	$749
652 km or 405 mi	Armenia	$749
657 km or 408 mi	Tulua	$563
658 km or 409 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1001
675 km or 419 mi	Liberia	$1024