Cost of living comparison
compared to
South Bend vs. Houston Cost of Living Summary
South Bend is 20.1% cheaper than Houston.
South Bend vs. Houston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in South Bend instead of Houston, you would:
pay 29.6% less for restaurants
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$15.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$7.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.76
|
$1.88
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
|
$1.41
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of restaurants
pay 18.6% less for groceries
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.23
|
$2.66
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.32
|
$5.87
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.44
|
$3.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.35
|
$2.97
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.20
|
$4.33
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.88
|
$2.00
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.67
|
$0.60
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.10
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.12
|
$0.80
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
|
$0.95
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.05
|
$0.72
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of groceries
pay 0.8% less for transportation
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.81
|
$3.16
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,278.39
|
$34,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.39
|
$20.70
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of transportation
pay 22.2% less for housing
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.76
|
$60.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,660.33
|
$1,625.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,287.77
|
$825.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$145.65
|
$93.79
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of housing
pay 22.1% less for childcare
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,258.33
|
$950.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$26,120.00
|
$21,000.00
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of childcare
pay 9.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.41
|
$4.88
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.95
|
$6.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$37.29
|
$42.47
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$14.00
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 38.0% less for clothing
|
Houston
|
South Bend
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$45.57
|
$39.33
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.00
|
$29.99
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$98.95
|
$50.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$116.43
|
$50.00
|
|
Houston vs. South Bend - 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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