Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Antonio vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary
San Antonio is 3.9% cheaper than Houston.
San Antonio vs. Houston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Antonio instead of Houston, you would:
pay 9.0% less for restaurants
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
|
$2.35
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
|
$1.74
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of restaurants
pay 3.3% more for groceries
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.23
|
$3.02
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.32
|
$5.74
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.44
|
$3.78
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.35
|
$3.89
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.20
|
$4.64
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.88
|
$1.98
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.67
|
$0.71
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.95
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.12
|
$1.50
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$0.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.05
|
$1.27
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of groceries
pay 5.2% less for transportation
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.81
|
$2.98
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$39.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,278.39
|
$34,796.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.39
|
$17.92
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of transportation
pay 0.7% more for housing
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.76
|
$80.64
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,660.33
|
$1,581.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,287.77
|
$1,112.85
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$145.65
|
$155.64
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of housing
pay 26.0% less for childcare
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,258.33
|
$1,140.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$26,120.00
|
$15,000.00
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of childcare
pay 0.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.41
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.95
|
$9.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$37.29
|
$44.18
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$14.50
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 8.4% more for clothing
|
Houston
|
San Antonio
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$45.57
|
$43.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.00
|
$50.17
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$98.95
|
$106.73
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$116.43
|
$134.38
|
|
Houston vs. San Antonio - 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: October 2026
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