Houston vs Rome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Houston	Rome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$2082
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5394	$4816
🏠 One person rent	$1281	$1184
🏘️ Family rent	$2031	$2040
🍽️ Food expenses	$603	$543
🚐 Transport expenses	$201	$186
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4606	$2197
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	91
😀 Quality of life	95	91
🏙️ Population	2.3M	2.75M

The cost of living in Houston is 9% more expensive than in Rome. Cities ranked 1354th and 1819th ($2265 vs $2082) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1137th and 2nd in the United States and Italy, respectively. Check the United States vs Italy comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Houston compared to 1.1 months in Rome. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Rome ranked 1st in Italy, while ranked 16th and 179th 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 Rome

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

	Houston	Rome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.7	$16.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.6	$69.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.8	$12.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$6.22
☕ Cappuccino	$5.52	$2.28
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.74	$2.75
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1411	$1430
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1003	$899
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2380	$2479
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1609	$1607
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$147
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$204	$227
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.9	$31.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.39%	3.26%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2542	$9165
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1944	$3801
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$1.76
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.3	$41
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.8	$18.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.72	$2.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.9	$2.01
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.19	$1.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.06	$5.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$18.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$11.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$21
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$3.02
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$2.42
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$2.59
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$2.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$2.02
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.5	$7.59
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.31	$1.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.24	$7.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.34	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8	$4.6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.92	$3.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$2.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.9	$65.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$11.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$149	$117
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.3	$88.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$91.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1729	$569
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22380	$12431

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 Rome

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.7 km or 1.7 mi	Vatican City	$1200
19 km or 12 mi	Frascati	$1814
34 km or 21 mi	Ladispoli	$1702
44 km or 27 mi	Cisterna di Latina	$1500
47 km or 29 mi	Colleferro	$1435
51 km or 32 mi	Anzio	$1419
59 km or 37 mi	Latina	$1405
61 km or 38 mi	Civitavecchia	$1675
65 km or 40 mi	Rieti	$1441
66 km or 41 mi	Viterbo	$1385
76 km or 47 mi	Terni	$1128
78 km or 48 mi	Frosinone	$1180
80 km or 49 mi	Avezzano	$1165
91 km or 56 mi	L'Aquila	$1353
93 km or 58 mi	Terracina	$1502
120 km or 74 mi	Foligno	$1376
132 km or 82 mi	Teramo	$1322
136 km or 84 mi	Perugia	$1240
140 km or 87 mi	Ascoli Piceno	$1404
148 km or 92 mi	Chieti	$1495
156 km or 97 mi	Pescara	$1187
170 km or 106 mi	Aversa	$1227
173 km or 107 mi	Santa Maria Capua Vetere	$1203
174 km or 108 mi	Fermo	$1437
175 km or 109 mi	Macerata	$1275
178 km or 111 mi	Giugliano in Campania	$1431
179 km or 112 mi	Caserta	$1332
181 km or 113 mi	Arezzo	$1432
183 km or 114 mi	Frattamaggiore	$1426
184 km or 115 mi	Siena	$1686
185 km or 115 mi	Campobasso	$1083
187 km or 116 mi	Civitanova Marche	$1456
189 km or 117 mi	Naples	$1615
209 km or 130 mi	Ancona	$1450
210 km or 130 mi	Benevento	$1312
213 km or 133 mi	Castellammare di Stabia	$1505
221 km or 137 mi	Avellino	$1233
221 km or 137 mi	Fano	$1391
226 km or 140 mi	Amalfi	$1718
227 km or 141 mi	San Marino City	$1358