Houston vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Houston	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2261	$2003
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5455	$4295
🏠 One person rent	$1267	$1243
🏘️ Family rent	$2011	$1875
🍽️ Food expenses	$622	$532
🚐 Transport expenses	$191	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4659	$3056
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	18
😀 Quality of life	96	84
🏙️ Population	2.3M	216K

The cost of living in Houston is 13% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 1367th and 2013th ($2261 vs $2003) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1144th and 3rd in the United States and New Zealand, respectively. Check the United States vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Houston compared to 1.5 months in Wellington. Houston ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 14th and 485th 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 Wellington

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

	Houston	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.7	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.3	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.99	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$7.34
☕ Cappuccino	$5.49	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.69	$2.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1416	$1149
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$994	$1062
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2413	$1957
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1595	$1575
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.18%	5.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2519	$7032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1831	$3790
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.26	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.4	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.37	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.08	$1.91
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.25	$7.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$9.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.91	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.4	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$3.59
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10	$25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.05	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.87	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$37.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.5	$81.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1987	$1020
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22291	$13757

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 Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1869
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1803
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1751
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1709
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1248
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1440
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1395
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1469
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1400
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1503
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1261
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1653
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1705
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1475
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1259
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1424
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1647
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1660
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1800
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1530
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1553
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1752
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2100
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1745
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1567
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1507
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1239
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2232
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1282
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2354
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1995
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2481
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1911
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2040
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1709
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2364
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1844