Houston vs Tijuana - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Houston	Tijuana
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$1295
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5394	$3053
🏠 One person rent	$1281	$616
🏘️ Family rent	$2031	$1076
🍽️ Food expenses	$603	$416
🚐 Transport expenses	$201	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4606	$1025
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	22
😀 Quality of life	95	62
🏙️ Population	2.3M	1.96M

The cost of living in Houston is 75% more expensive than in Tijuana. Cities ranked 1354th and 4578th ($2265 vs $1295) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1137th and 9th in the United States and Mexico, respectively. Check the United States vs Mexico comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Houston compared to 0.8 months in Tijuana. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Tijuana ranked 6th in Mexico, while ranked 16th and 5712th 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 Tijuana

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

	Houston	Tijuana
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.7	$12
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.6	$34.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.8	$9.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.31	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.52	$4.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.74	$1.33
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1411	$768
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1003	$500
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2380	$1368
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1609	$905
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$30.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$204	$46.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.9	$31.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.39%	12.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2542	$3269
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1944	$2686
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$1.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.3	$37.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.8	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.72	$1.46
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.9	$2.1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.19	$2.84
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$1.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.06	$3.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$7.47
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$9.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$12.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$2.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$1.83
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$1.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.5	$8.74
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.31	$2.37
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.24	$4.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.34	$8.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8	$4.27
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.92	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$2.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.9	$42.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$6.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$149	$48.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$12.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.3	$56.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1729	$220
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22380	$4857

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 Tijuana

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.5 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
11 km or 6.9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
15 km or 9.5 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
18 km or 11 mi	National	$3053
21 km or 13 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
22 km or 14 mi	Coronado	$3220
23 km or 15 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
24 km or 15 mi	San Diego	$3507
27 km or 17 mi	La Mesa	$2963
30 km or 19 mi	El Cajon	$3040
38 km or 24 mi	Santee	$2948
42 km or 26 mi	La Jolla	$3033
48 km or 30 mi	Poway	$2995
62 km or 38 mi	Encinitas	$3243
66 km or 41 mi	Escondido	$3261
69 km or 43 mi	San Marcos	$2995
76 km or 47 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
77 km or 48 mi	Vista	$2976
81 km or 50 mi	Oceanside	$3251
84 km or 52 mi	Ensenada	$968
96 km or 59 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
109 km or 67 mi	Temecula	$2676
115 km or 72 mi	San Clemente	$2963
117 km or 73 mi	Murrieta	$3070
119 km or 74 mi	French Valley	$2758
121 km or 75 mi	Wildomar	$2815
122 km or 76 mi	Dana Point	$3030
123 km or 77 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
128 km or 80 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
128 km or 80 mi	Menifee	$2621
131 km or 82 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
131 km or 82 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
134 km or 83 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
135 km or 84 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
135 km or 84 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
135 km or 84 mi	Hemet	$2767
138 km or 86 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
138 km or 86 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
139 km or 87 mi	El Centro	$2752
140 km or 87 mi	San Jacinto	$2667