Houston vs Rome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Rome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$1972
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$4629
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$1099
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$1926
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$525
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$185
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$2041
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	91
😀 Quality of life	96	91
🏙️ Population	2.3M	2.75M

The cost of living in Houston is 15% more expensive than in Rome. Cities ranked 1367th and 2104th ($2261 vs $1972) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th 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 2.1 months in Houston compared to 1 months in Rome. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Rome ranked 1st in Italy, while ranked 14th and 134th 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	$20.7	$15.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$63.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$12.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$6.2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$2.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$2.88
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1246
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$861
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$2194
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$1571
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$129
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$31.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	3.51%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$8628
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$3484
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$1.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$40.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$19.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$2.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$2.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$5.19
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$17
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$19.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$2.81
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.45
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$2.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.42
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$6.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$1.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$7.52
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$10.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$4.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$3.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$11.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$107
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$22.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$83.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$91.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$499
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$14156

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 Rome

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.7 km or 1.7 mi	Vatican City	$1179
19 km or 12 mi	Frascati	$1779
34 km or 21 mi	Ladispoli	$1707
44 km or 27 mi	Cisterna di Latina	$1512
47 km or 29 mi	Colleferro	$1425
51 km or 32 mi	Anzio	$1417
59 km or 37 mi	Latina	$1400
61 km or 38 mi	Civitavecchia	$1683
65 km or 40 mi	Rieti	$1436
66 km or 41 mi	Viterbo	$1367
76 km or 47 mi	Terni	$1128
78 km or 48 mi	Frosinone	$1166
80 km or 49 mi	Avezzano	$1173
91 km or 56 mi	L'Aquila	$1322
93 km or 58 mi	Terracina	$1474
120 km or 74 mi	Foligno	$1421
132 km or 82 mi	Teramo	$1316
136 km or 84 mi	Perugia	$1212
140 km or 87 mi	Ascoli Piceno	$1383
148 km or 92 mi	Chieti	$1473
156 km or 97 mi	Pescara	$1296
170 km or 106 mi	Aversa	$1217
173 km or 107 mi	Santa Maria Capua Vetere	$1215
174 km or 108 mi	Fermo	$1395
175 km or 109 mi	Macerata	$1240
178 km or 111 mi	Giugliano in Campania	$1407
179 km or 112 mi	Caserta	$1346
181 km or 113 mi	Arezzo	$1429
183 km or 114 mi	Frattamaggiore	$1385
184 km or 115 mi	Siena	$1645
185 km or 115 mi	Campobasso	$1048
187 km or 116 mi	Civitanova Marche	$1480
189 km or 117 mi	Naples	$1570
209 km or 130 mi	Ancona	$1413
210 km or 130 mi	Benevento	$1305
213 km or 133 mi	Castellammare di Stabia	$1476
221 km or 137 mi	Avellino	$1201
221 km or 137 mi	Fano	$1431
226 km or 140 mi	Amalfi	$1685
227 km or 141 mi	San Marino City	$1330