Cost of living comparison
compared to
Santa Cruz vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary
Santa Cruz is 40.3% more expensive than Houston.
Santa Cruz vs. Houston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Santa Cruz instead of Houston, you would:
pay 25.2% more for restaurants
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$15.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.76
|
$2.93
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
|
$2.67
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of restaurants
pay 67.1% more for groceries
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.23
|
$5.27
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.32
|
$10.35
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.44
|
$5.25
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.35
|
$6.50
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.20
|
$6.75
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.88
|
$3.53
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.67
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$2.90
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.12
|
$2.80
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$2.04
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.05
|
$1.55
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of groceries
pay 20.2% more for transportation
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.81
|
$4.79
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$65.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,278.39
|
$23,894.01
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.39
|
$22.70
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of transportation
pay 65.1% more for housing
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.76
|
$76.17
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,660.33
|
$2,989.17
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,287.77
|
$2,639.80
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$145.65
|
$244.30
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of housing
pay 81.2% more for childcare
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,258.33
|
$2,738.89
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$26,120.00
|
$37,770.00
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of childcare
pay 16.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.41
|
$5.33
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.95
|
$11.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$37.29
|
$60.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$14.50
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 6.9% more for clothing
|
Houston
|
Santa Cruz
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$45.57
|
$55.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.00
|
$56.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$98.95
|
$80.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$116.43
|
$115.00
|
|
Houston vs. Santa Cruz - 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: June 2026
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