Houston vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Houston	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2240	$940
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5311	$2347
🏠 One person rent	$1275	$458
🏘️ Family rent	$2042	$770
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$258
🚐 Transport expenses	$199	$137
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4580	$442
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	100	95
😀 Quality of life	93	67
🏙️ Population	2.3M	6.21M

The cost of living in Houston is 138% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 1375th and 6006th ($2240 vs $940) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1186th and 2nd in the United States and Brazil, respectively. Check the United States vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Houston compared to 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro. Houston ranked 15th best city to live in the United States vs Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd in Brazil, while ranked 77th and 4818th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Houston vs Rio de Janeiro infographic

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Prices in Houston vs Rio de Janeiro

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

	Houston	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.5	$6.45
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$72	$31.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$6.48
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$1.85
☕ Cappuccino	$5.42	$2.36
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.76	$1.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1397	$501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$997	$324
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2394	$881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1614	$563
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$79.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.4	$18.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.45%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2608	$1966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1961	$1150
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$1.25
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71	$41.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.5	$7.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.09
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.1	$1.48
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.7	$2.09
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$8.65
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$3.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.1	$8.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.77	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.58	$1.56
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$1.47
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$1.22
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$1.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.42	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.3	$1.69
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$7.11
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.01	$1.17
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.68	$1.99
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$3.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.92	$3.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.88	$1.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$0.98
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.6	$25.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$6.37
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$141	$51.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.5	$8.04
👖 Brand Jeans	$46	$45.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.4	$74.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1504	$531
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23708	$12076

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 Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$739
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$653
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$648
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$810
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$590
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$706
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$498
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$564
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$445
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$539
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$557
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$530
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$683
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$525
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$550
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$506
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$603
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$625
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$631
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$540
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$673
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$632
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$643
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$613
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$541
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$518
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$620
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$536
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$625
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$611
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$618
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$633
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$559
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$644
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$657
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$530
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$492
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$819
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$586