Ithaca vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary

Ithaca is 1.3% cheaper than Houston.

Restaurants
pay 0.4% less in Ithaca
Groceries
pay 21.7% more in Ithaca
Transportation
pay 2.2% less in Ithaca
Housing
pay 9.5% less in Ithaca
Childcare
pay 0.6% more in Ithaca
Entertainment and Sports
pay 9.3% less in Ithaca
Clothing
pay 10.2% less in Ithaca

The cost of groceries and childcare in Ithaca are more expensive than in Houston. Expenses including clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants are lower in Ithaca.

Ithaca vs. Houston Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ithaca instead of Houston, you would:

pay 0.4% less for restaurants

 
Houston
Ithaca
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $20.00
 
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$11.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.76
 
$2.71
 

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pay 21.7% more for groceries

 
Houston
Ithaca
Bread
1 loaf
$3.23
 
$3.93
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.32
 
$7.27
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.44
 
$3.81
 

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pay 2.2% less for transportation

 
Houston
Ithaca
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.81
 
$3.30
 
Monthly public transit pass $75.00
 
$45.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,278.39
 
$36,787.68
 

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pay 9.5% less for housing

 
Houston
Ithaca
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$70.76
 
$64.97
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,660.33
 
$1,783.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,287.77
 
$1,166.67
 

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pay 0.6% more for childcare

 
Houston
Ithaca
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,258.33
 
$1,712.50
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $26,120.00
 
$17,000.00
 

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pay 9.3% less for entertainment and sports

 
Houston
Ithaca
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.41
 
$5.00
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.95
 
$8.99
 

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pay 10.2% less for clothing

 
Houston
Ithaca
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$45.57
 
$43.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$44.00
 
$39.77
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$98.95
 
$80.00
 

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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: June 2026
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