Cost of living comparison
compared to
Dallas vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary
Dallas is 8.7% more expensive than Houston.
- Restaurants
-
pay 6.9% more in Dallas
- Groceries
-
pay 16.3% more in Dallas
- Transportation
-
pay 13.2% more in Dallas
- Housing
-
pay 9.6% more in Dallas
- Childcare
-
pay 7.6% less in Dallas
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 8.1% more in Dallas
- Clothing
-
pay 14.4% more in Dallas
The cost of groceries, clothing, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Dallas are more expensive than in Houston.
Dallas vs. Houston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Dallas instead of Houston, you would:
pay 6.9% more for restaurants
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.76
|
$2.75
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
|
$2.25
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of restaurants
pay 16.3% more for groceries
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.23
|
$3.71
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.32
|
$6.58
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.44
|
$3.63
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.35
|
$4.85
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.20
|
$5.88
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.88
|
$2.31
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.67
|
$0.69
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$2.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.12
|
$1.77
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$1.05
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.05
|
$1.42
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of groceries
pay 13.2% more for transportation
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.81
|
$3.05
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$94.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,278.39
|
$36,755.39
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.39
|
$16.92
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of transportation
pay 9.6% more for housing
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.76
|
$71.96
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,660.33
|
$1,669.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,287.77
|
$1,536.04
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$145.65
|
$170.25
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of housing
pay 7.6% less for childcare
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,258.33
|
$1,151.88
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$26,120.00
|
$24,380.00
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of childcare
pay 8.1% more for entertainment and sports
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.41
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.95
|
$10.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$37.29
|
$45.12
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$14.75
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 14.4% more for clothing
|
Houston
|
Dallas
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$45.57
|
$55.69
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.00
|
$48.92
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$98.95
|
$110.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$116.43
|
$130.88
|
|
Houston vs. Dallas - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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